Feed homeless on street

  • Thread starter Thread starter robertmidwest
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Most people who pay rent or a mortgage; are only ever a few months away from being made homeless. It just takes for a break down in relationships, loosing a job or being ill and not being able to pay your way.

When I was growing up, I always felt the support of my family. If things went wrong, there was always someone I could turn to. Sadly, marriage has lost its meaning, and many family bonds are weak. When things go wrong there does not seem to be that loving support.
 
People like Fr. Richard HoLung and Mother Teresa created whole Orders to care for the homeless. Missionaries of Charity & Missionaries of The Poor hopes, prays fervently, and facilitates avenues of getting off of the streets.
But meeting people where they are with a 'there but for the Grace, Divine not Merited Favor of God goes I, gives the mercy regardless of the reaction. Only God knows the heart of a person. Only God knows what each of our status would be given precisely the same life experience of an individual who is homeless. Providing basic needs shows compassion and concern and
does not provide an ‘easy’ life for a homeless person. If it were not for the blessings that God provides, I would be a homeless person dependent on the kindness of others, and I have been acquainted with homeless people from time to time.
Like, as been posted here, seek charitable organizations in your community,
to learn about the needs, as opposed to the ‘wants’ of the homeless. Jesus said, ‘freely you have been given, freely give.’ Yes, mainly sharing the Gospel, but whatsoever we do to the least, we do unto Him. Some Saints have testified to Spiritual experiences when providing for needy person to have a tangible knowledge of giving to Christ Himself. I have failed in attitude toward them, but strive for God to humble me to have a ‘there but for the grace of God, goes I,’ attitude.
 
We need a lot better medical support as well. Very many homeless have serious mental health problems. Many could be treated, but treatment is difficult if you don’t have stable transportation and a safe place to stay and regular support. “Stabilize and release” models don’t work well when there’s a lack of supportive follow up.

That’s actually another major issue with addiction. Teens and young adults who aren’t receiving needed mental health treatment often turn to other substances to cope.
 
Last edited:
Blessings
I wasn’t saying not to help. I was brainstorming different ways to help the homeless.
In Christ’s Love
Tweedlealice
 
Absolutely! 🙂

I just know a lot of people get discouraged when people don’t respond the way they ought to, in our imaginations. 🙂 Like, for example, I had a friend who saw a panhandler. Rather than giving him money, he gave him a baked chicken from the rotisserie. When he came back out again, he found his baked chicken dumped on the ground in the parking lot… because the guy didn’t want a rotisserie chicken; he wanted money. My friend’s feelings were very hurt, because he himself was in a very precarious financial situation, and didn’t really have a whole lot to spare, but was still trying to reach out to someone in need.

But when the time comes for God to review my friend’s life, the fact that he gave what he had trouble sparing is going to count for far more than what I give out of my surplus. And when the time comes for God to review the panhandler’s life, I suspect that it will be far more costly than just the worth of a rotisserie chicken… there will be the hurt and sadness that came of rejecting the gift so crassly, as well as the repercussions of whether the memory of that interaction prevented my friend from helping the next guy he felt an impulse to help, and so on.
 
Blessings
All this is true. Pope Francis said, GIVE EHEN THEY ASK! I do. But, I disagree if you know they are going to buy booze or drugs, I won’t.
God blesses us for our giving and kind hearts.
Bless us all!
In Christ’s Love
Tweedlealice
 
I befriended a homeless man on my corner. His name was Mike. I sometimes gave him money. If not, I would chat with him at the traffic light. I forget the exact details of his story but he was in an accident and no longer could perform his job and had no family anywhere even close to being nearby. I’d run into him in the grocery line at the corner store where he would be buying food. Not cigarettes or alcohol. He slept under the roof of a bank’s drive thru across the street. I remember one Thanksgiving he was so appreciative that people brought him turkey and all the fixins. But someone once tried to mow him over with their car and he since left the corner. I pray he is well wherever life has taken him.

I also have given food and clothing to a local Episcopal food pantry which provides for the homeless and needy free of charge. That’s important to me. I don’t see charging people who are already in need. I had a hard time finding places that did not. When my mother passed, a local Catholic church collected clothing for Goodwill who charges so I did not want that. At that time I discovered an Episcopal church that did not charge the needy so I was led there. But I have found others since. There are faith-based and other groups you can get involved with.

Some have the means and time and capability to give more than others of us. But Jesus called his followers to serve the poor and the sick. So give what you can. And don’t fret about dependency. Just leave all that stuff for God to sort out.
 
Last edited:
You’ll certainly foster dependency. There’s no avoiding that. That doesn’t mean it’s bad to feed the homeless, though.
 
Medical support costs money. That’s the reality. That’s why mental institutions were closed over the decades. To save money. Anyway, contact your Diocese or talk to Catholic Charities. I’ve had mental health issues for a long time, was hospitalized twice and went to two Church-based support groups but neither was Catholic.

Of course, “self-medicating” is the other problem. One young lady I met at a support group told me she tried that but then she realized she would have two problems. Fortunately, she got help. The clinic I go to offers a sliding scale of payments for low-income people. For others reading, try to get help.
 
Hey guys,
This is not rocket science. I’m hungry= feed! IM NAKED=clothe. Sheltering is a little dangerous. Well ppl would not be homeless. We’d fight to not go there. Broken families. Look we know all the pros and cons. If Godputs a burden on your heart, do what you can!
In Christs love
Tweedlealice
 
Even IF one is addicted to some substance, pro-
viding the means to procure it CAN help them
kick the habit, in their own time, no one who is
sane will be content w/ their addiction… Esp. to
illegal substances if they truly are a believer in
our glorious Lord Jesus, who even tho He was
rich became POOR, so that we thru His poverty,
might become rich!! (2 Cor. 8:9)
 
Last edited:
Part of the problem with self-medicating is that a lot of people start as teens. Teens often can’t get help, because they don’t have the resources unless their parents agree. There’s still a lot of parents who don’t really understand mental illness. Sometimes stigma can be an issue too - I know it can be a big deal for people to be the “crazy person,” while addiction is often easier to deny.

(My own personal experience also pointed out that homelessness with a job is an issue. Most every service basically expects the homeless to work around their hours. Most lower end jobs also expect that you will work around whatever hours they give you. This creates an obvious problem.)
 
One example. I knew a young man who got into drugs in his teens. I understand the money issue and yes, a number of people (including myself) could not understand what was happening. Or know what to do. For others reading, try to find a way to express yourself to someone you know and trust. It’s not easy but doing something needs to happen.

I understand there are people living in cars or abandoned homes. Again, if you know of circumstances like this, reach out to Catholic Charities or your parish priest. As far as low wage jobs, and their hours, all I can say is some income is better than no income. Even part-time work can help. Or get some legal help. If you or someone you know or see is mentally ill, it’s worth a try.
 
edwest211 said:
One example. I knew a young man who got into drugs in his teens. I understand the money issue and yes, a number of people (including myself) could not understand what was happening. Or know what to do. For others reading, try to find a way to express yourself to someone you know and trust. It’s not easy but doing something needs to happen.
Click to expand...
I expect I had mental illness as a teen, but I’m not sure what I would have done. When I expressed myself I was basically told to stop complaining, every teen thinks they have it hard, and if I didn’t stop whining and sulking and put a smile on my face I’d get in trouble. Other adults presumed if my parents were aware, then that was everything and they would take care of it. I wasn’t permitted to see a doctor without a parent present until I was over 18. That’s fairly normal in my experience - people get the idea that teens are moody and just need to get over themselves, and it really backfires on teens with mental illness.
edwest211 said:
I understand there are people living in cars or abandoned homes. Again, if you know of circumstances like this, reach out to Catholic Charities or your parish priest. As far as low wage jobs, and their hours, all I can say is some income is better than no income. Even part-time work can help. Or get some legal help. If you or someone you know or see is mentally ill, it’s worth a try.
Click to expand...
The problem I had with low wage jobs, when I spoke to the charities around here, the answer was basically “in order to get help you have to show up between X and Y hours.” There was no sort of alternate arrangement for people who had jobs that prevented them from showing up at those hours. If you didn’t show up on their schedule, you didn’t get help. Especially with shift work - the shelters had specific hours available for sleeping. If you had a job where your sleeping hours had to be different because you were working during their sleeping hours, then you couldn’t use a shelter. Same thing with food - in order to get food assistance, you had to show up when they were providing food, no matter what, and if that didn’t work with your job you didn’t get food.

I managed, but it was perhaps closer than I would have liked. I can see how someone else wouldn’t. In my own situation…I could see how someone could stay in a bad situation because it’s better than being on the street. At the end I was wondering if living in my car would be better than living at home. I managed to find an apartment without too much explosion, but I wasn’t sure, and I was afraid that I’d have to run the minute I said I was moving out.
 
Last edited:
Besides giving MONEY, one should give them
a show of compassion and listen to their story
if time allows, Money + Love goes a long way
in reaching the heart of the beggar!!
 
I don’t think giving a person food is encouraging dependency. Being homeless is miserable, with or without food.

Where I live, there are a ton of homeless, they are camped everywhere, and on every on ramp. It is overwhelming sometimes. From what they have told us, they don’t have as much trouble getting food, but housing is just out of reach, even for those working minimum wage jobs. For those with substance abuse or mental illness, or some combination of these, it is impossible.

Really, giving food is not going to be what causes dependency. It does not change the circumstance. A more likely consequence is that the homeless person might feel like someone actually cares about them, and doesn’t think he/she is a nuisance for taking up space, and have a few hours comfort of a nice meal/full tummy.
 
Giftcards are often better than money. A $5 McDonald’s giftcard may be used where a sandwich will be thrown away. If a dopesick person is looking for drug money they will have little interest in food because of cravings and the fact that they are nauseated. Cash will go straight to the drug dealer.
 
An organization I volunteer with sometimes recommends doing “food packs”. Get a small dollar store backpack (sometimes they have really simple ones with a draw string cord that doubles as shoulder straps) , a package of el cheapo generic socks, underwear, or t shirts, put in some toiletries, a water bottle, and fill the rest with non-perishable snacks. I usually make a few per month for them to hand out and they usually run me about $15 per pack to make. Because of the climate here, I’ll put a cheap fleece blanket in them during the winter and a tarp when I can find inexpensive ones.
 
Giving money to homeless is a HUGE issue.

I would never do it unless by some very big message by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

The missionaries at Christ in the City ministry who are catholic young missionaries who got out on the streets of Denver say that as an individual, they would never give money, unless they knew that person well and knew they needed the money. Other homeless they did know and they would never ever give them money.

I believe it’s a big mistake to hand out money to the homeless, but we’ve had this conversation before on CAF. If you want to help out and or support financially your local Catholics soup kitchen and shelters, do so. There are various ways to help but giving money is a bad idea.

The vast vast majority of Catholic who have experience among the homeless in this sort of ministry and care deeply in word and deed for the homeless say never to give them money.

One thing that I personally do is to buy a gift card at McDonalds. This is hard to misuse and most really appreciate it. I’m not sure about gift cards from supermarkets.
 
Great ideas. But it seems like backpacks would be money better spent elsewhere as they all have something like that already.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top