Scared Of A Homeless Shelter.... Or Discriminating Against The Homeless?

Every night I hear him, the trashcan rustles and he carefully climbs inside to sleep. I’m not talking about a raccoon, it’s the grey haired homeless man who has turned the trash compartment six feet from my house into his bed, for warmth and shelter. If my neighbors knew he was there, they’d probably call the cops.

Sarah, across the street, and I rarely speak, but the last time we did she vented about the homeless, explaining,  “I told my husband, you go to the bushes where they sleep and tell them to get the hell out of here... so he did... he walked up, kicked their sleeping stuff, and said, ‘Get your **** out of here’. And now? The chick... she mumbles when I walk by that I’m selfish. What a *****.”

I listened, the way you listen to neighbors you don’t want to upset, but plan on never speaking to again. 

Recently, one proposed site for a homeless shelter happened to be in the same vicinity. Now, the homeless already live around there en masse. They live, sleep, eat, acquire cash, and socialize where the homeless shelter was proposed. Other sites were also mentioned. Upon hearing this, fearful thinking broke out amongst the local residents. While most petitions are ignored, a petition against the shelter becoming a local reality was quickly signed by many. Suddenly the homeless who haven’t bothered anyone were looked at as a threat, a “danger to our children”, or likely to pollute the local parks or start fires while cooking their food.

You mean the homeless have to eat?

One of my favorite classes in college was Logic, you know, A + B = C, formulas for evaluating thought. Looking at the homeless as the ‘other‘ or ‘them‘, let’s call it B. Let’s term the tax paying, home owning citizens as letter A. If A doesn’t want B to live near them, is this fair and compassionate? What if B was a religious group or an ethnicity?

When debate was initially voiced, I heard a lot of mention by people concerned for their housing values. This is valid, houses cost a lot around here and many want to secure their investment. However, though it lingers subconsciously, those against the shelter have dropped that as their main defense. Currently, it’s about the ‘children’. Yes, on this we can agree, we all want our children safe. However, evaluating safety isn’t done through emotion and assumption. In the city of San Clemente, are the homeless currently responsible for a large percentage of violent crimes against adults or children?

I don’t believe so, but you’re welcome to do your own research on this. My final question is a moral one: Is there a valid drawback to helping others easily secure food and shelter from an accessible location? In my opinion, no. Helping others helps the whole, as well rested and fed people have greater access to jobs and future success. 

The best decisions are not made out of fear.