Just so you ALL KNOW…I have technically been HOMELESS (or “Houseless”, as some of
them prefer to be called!) for over 3
YEARS NOW –TRUST ME, it is NOT EASY! Being HOMELESS is ONE of the BIGGEST FEARS in this country (*but not other
countries!) and I am LIVING IT but
YOU probably are not even AWARE that I
am HOUSELESS because SOME of MY FRIENDS
and SEVERAL STRANGERS have ADOPTED
ME!
 |
| Especially Melissa Pabst and Myan Binder--who were once STRANGERS!!! |
And in many places,
even OUR NATION’S CAPITAL, the HOMELESS
are STILL TREATED MUCH like the LEPERS were treated in JESUS TIMES.
There
have been MANY MORNINGS, where I wake up (in LA, St. Louis, Miami, Reno, Shasta,
Chico, Reykjavík, Ojai, etc.)
and I have NO IDEA where I will be staying that same night, but somehow I STILL
MANAGE to HAVE FUN and BE of SERVICE
to OTHERS…but IMAGINE what I could DO CREATE,
BE of SERVICE, IF I did not have to worry about where I am going to sleep each
night?!!! *And who KNOWS what or how THAT HOMELESS DUDE or GAL you see regularly
“loitering” could DO, CREATE or BE of SERVICE to Life and Love?
 |
| Jesus and the Leper |
To this day, I
STILL don’t understand WHY we, the UNITED STATES, one of the WEALTHIEST (Developed) COUNTRIES in the
world (“America! Fuck Yeah!”) have HOMELESS, when I have LIVED in muy POOR (Less Developed) COUNTRIES (ie,
Tanzania, Dominica, Honduras, parts of CHINA, etc.) and THEY DO NOT have a
HOMELESS POPULATION…WTF?! Or WHY we have SO MANY EMPTY, UNOCCUPIED HOMES
and BULDINGS all over the country but yet NO
SQUATTER RIGHTS like they do all
over EUROPE!
Therefore, I am suggesting the ADOPT-A-HOMELESS PERSON movement as just ONE possible SOULution,
out of many possibilities, because as far as I can tell, the homeless
population has RISEN since my first encounter with the HOMELESS, growing up in Washington DC. **Ask my mother-- even in middle school, throughout high school
and even my ONE year at Boston University…I consistently volunteered at
Homeless Shelters in Northern SubUrban VA, DC, South Philly (!) and Boston! *And
it BREAKS my HEART that we have not TRANSFORMED this STORY yet.
 |
Just IMAGINE if everyONE who SAYS they “care” about
HOMELESSNESS, were to ACTUALLY CARE for a HOUSELESS PERSON!
I can see how ADOPTING a HOMELESS PERSON would REDUCE PETTY CRIMES (The Homeless are
not stealing your new 80 FT Television Screen—I mean, where are they going to
put it?!); ADOPTING a HOMELESS PERSON
would significantly INCREASE NEIGHBORHOOD
BEAUTY, SAFETY and SECURITY; and SAVE
TAX PAYERS a lot of bloody $MONEY$!
 |
| I once was ADOPTED by a FARM! Lucky ME! *Thanks Jimmy and Macai! |
*I think you would be very surprised how EXPENSIVE EMERGENCY HEALTH CARE for a SICK or INJURED HOMELESS PERSON
costs YOU, dear TAX PAYER! Or a
NIGHT in JAIL…which is where A LOT of HOMELESS end up for lack of place to
stay. (But don’t listen to me, go do your own ECONOMICS 101 homework!) Also look up how the MORMONS in UTAH are
HEALING the HOMELESS POPULATION---YEAH MORMONS!!!
And please KNOW that ADOPTING-A-HOMELESS
does not mean you have to give them a whole room in your house (*even though that would be something JESUS/Allah and
Buddha would do!) but just ACKNOWLEDGING them, SEEing THEM as PEOPLE…and since
I have spent A LOT of my LIFE among the HOMELESS in THIS COUNTRY, I KNOW there
are POETS, MUSICIANS, HEALERS, ENGINEERS, lots of highly SKILLED VETS…actually
every single ONE of them was truly
GIFTED in a UNIQUE way and I SEE the HOMELESS POPULATION as a VALUBALE
(untapped) RESOURCE to US ALL IF they have their BASIC and most importantly, EMOTIONAL NEEDS MET and guess what?! It does really START with YOU and ME! We
can ALL START by REGULARLY COMMUNICATING, authentically CONNECTING, CHECKING in
on OUR HOUSELESS NEIGHBORS which is the TRUE DEFINITION of LOVE and CHARITY.
And just so you know, at this very moment, CREATION STATION,
which is a Visionary Community House and Non Profit Office in Cha Cha
Chapmantown, Chico, has ADOPTED ME for the past week-ish…which ALLOWS ME the time, space and safety to write this
blog and BE of SERVICE to YOU.
I would also like to take this OPPORTUNITY to THANK everyONE who has HOSTED ME over the
PAST 3 YEARS…YOU are ALL PIONEERS in the ADOPT-A-HOMELESS MOVEMENT, who
knew?!! THANK YOU!!!! You did DO what Jesus would do!!!
Hahahahahaha!
I BELIEVE the ADOPT-A-HOMELESS
MOVEMENT, in combination with all
the other great projects and programs going on across the country (Shout out to
UTAH and DETROIT!), WILL END the
HOMELESS STORY (FEAR and LEPERS!) FOREVER and EVER. Amen! A-Ho! YATZEE!
**And I would LOVE to HEAR more brilliant SOULutions to the
HOMELESS EPIDEMIC in this country!
This is Kelly N Patterson Reporting from CREATION STATION, Cha Cha Chapmantown, California
1 comment:
I cannot believe in the lack of response here. This is beautiful beyond words. Bless your sensitive nature!I hope it digs as deep in the hearts of others who read your truth.
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