There were two letters published in the N&O today about the Project Homeless Connect event held in Moore Square.
The first is a friend of mine, fellow writer, Hugh Hollowell. Homelessness is an issue in our community and so I thought I would share them with you…
The Project Homeless Connect event held in Moore Square was a source of both pride and frustration to me. It showed Raleigh is a city with a heart. However, it also showed that Raleigh sees the homeless as an issue to be fixed, not as people deserving dignity.
From Wake County Commissioner Lindy Brown welcoming us all whether we were “homeless or law-abiding citizens” to the mayor, Brown and others wearing power suits and being quite dry under the protection of an awning while we were soaking in the rain listening to them, it was obvious that Raleigh officials see this as a case of “us” lowering ourselves to help “them.”
Your editorial policies fare no better. In your Oct. 26 story “Help for homeless,” you said, “From under bridges, roadside camps, park benches, church basements, junked cars and the other makeshift places where the homeless sleep …” Talk about your pejorative, sweeping stereotypes. I am certain your editor would allow no such sweeping generalizations to be made about where the members of the NAACP came from, were they to meet in our city. But then again, they would no doubt be law-abiding citizens.
Hugh Hollowell
needingagape.com
Raleigh
Here is the second letter to give you a different look at the same event…
Our common cause
On Oct. 25, the Triangle hosted the region’s first Project Homeless Connect with events in Durham, Raleigh and Chapel Hill. As I visited each of the sites with Philip Mangano, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, I saw collaboration and the power of partnerships in action. As a key sponsor of Project Homeless Connect, I applaud the volunteers who worked countless hours setting up and planning the event. I commend the elected officials and everyday citizens who united for a common cause — to connect people who are homeless to essential services in one location.One gentleman I spoke with talked about the efficiency of having so many services in one place at one time. I saw a young mother who had recently moved to the region registering for the WIC program and getting a free car seat for her 2-year-old daughter. I met a veteran who just wanted a warm coat, a haircut and dental care. Most of all I saw compassion and the power of a caring community in action.
Thanks to the Triangle United Way Community Care Cabinet’s vision and valuable partnerships, Project Homeless Connect was a success and a step in the right direction to achieving an important goal — preventing and ending homelessness.
Craig Chancellor
President & CEO, Triangle United Way
Research Triangle Park
From an outside writer, who wasn’t at the event, but who has worked in a church for over a year and befriended many homeless people, both of these letters break my heart. Hugh makes an excellent point that our society does a terrible job of putting labels on a people group and singling them out. Unfortunately, thats part of being human… I think all we can do is try to try our best to love people for who they are and where they are, all the while, trying not to judge how they got to that point.
This is where, I feel, the city and Mr. Chancellor miss the point. We can’t cure homelessness. It’s not some tangible goal that is one day going to vanish from our society. It’s not about a community of homeless people, a cause, or even people getting on WIC, it’s really about loving people because they are people, not because they have less or more than you. The homeless are no more “Non-Law-Abiding Citizens” than the rest of us… We all speed, run red lights, lie, steal, cheat at some point in our adult lives. Why is it that not having a place to call home make us “Non-Law-Abiding”…?
Events like this frustrate me…Why do we need some event to raise awareness that people are hurting… Can we not just walk down Fayetteville St. and see that there is a need?
People need to wake up and realize that life isn’t about curing the world of all its problems, almost all of which where around before and will be around after we all die… It’s about loving people…
PS. I just broke the law by re-publishing both of those letters… Sorry N&O… oh… and http://wvs.topleftpixel.com for the image… Lock me up now…
One Comment
Dang buddy, well said.