The Amazing Face

I have been working on this idea for over a year now to have some sort of event where our high school students spend the day learning what it would be like to be homeless. This past January I took part in a nationwide survey to count the number of homeless families and individuals in our county. The information from that survey was used in an event this past weekend that I called, "The Amazing Face." The goal was for students to not only learn about agencies that help the homeless in our area, but for them to see the faces of those who are homeless and get a feel for where they sleep, what they eat, and how they try to live each day.

Teams began at the bus station downtown and were given 10 envelopes with clues, challenges, and information about the various service agencies in town that help the homeless. The rules were as follows:

1.) Each team had to ride the bus to at least one of the destinations, and must walk everywhere else.
2.) Teams were only allowed to bring $2 per person for the whole afternoon
3.) You were not allowed to open the envelopes until you had found the corresponding agency.
4.) Each team needed to answer all questions on the worksheet provided about each agency.

The following is where the The Amazing Face took one of our teams this past weekend.

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Team One decided to walk from the Bus Station to the Habitat ReStore using the map that was provided. Once at the Habitat ReStore the students were given $15 to buy items from the store for an art project that we would be working on the next couple of Sundays at church. The items had to be things that they had no idea what they were or what they were supposed to be used for. This art project would focus on the theme of God's Redemption by combining these items that were tossed aside, or considered of little value and connecting them in such a way as to give them new life. This art project would also serve later as an analogy to the lives of those who are homeless that we seldom notice. Once these items were collected by members of the team they followed clues to find out that the average 2 Bedroom Apartment costs $200 more than a 3-4 Bedroom house provided by Habitat for Humanity. The first lesson they learned was that Affordable Housing is a huge challenge for those who are homeless.

The next stop was a Christian Organization that gives away clothes, food, and furniture for free in Jesus name. Once they arrived they found that the place wouldn't be open for 3 more hours which provided them with their second lesson in the reality of being homeless, you are on other people's schedule.

A few blocks away was their third stop at the Center for Women in Transition. Picture four white students carrying random stuff from a thrift store through a neighborhood that is completely African American. One student had a friend from school ride up on his bike and ask her with a completely straight face, "What are you doing here?!" Lesson number three concerning homelessness was the feeling of being totally in the minority and being starred at. At the Center for Women in Transition the team read an article about the new director of the agency and learned that there are four generational cycles that contribute to homelessness;

1.) Mental Illness
2.) Substance Abuse
3.) Domestic Violence
4.) And Poverty

When asked in the article how to break this cycle he suggested offering a higher minimum wage, improved education, and more affordable housing.

The fourth stop was to the local Men's Shelter. While walking there the team passed a field which will sleep many of the homeless men this summer who are not able to get into the shelter. Once at the shelter the students looked over a list of factors that can contribute to a person, or family, becoming homeless. After writing down two factors that they had never thought of before, the team continued further downtown. They had not even crossed the street when they found themselves waiting at the corner next to a man pushing a cart with all of his belongings. Literally one block later they were passing guys in ties and women in fancy dresses going to eat at the elite restaurants downtown. Lesson number four about homelessness became the fact that we shop and dine right next door to those who are going without and we should pray that God gives us eyes to see those in need.

Stop number 5 was to the Mental Health Center where the team read an article about a homeless man in our city who froze to death just 3 months ago. The article was a celebration of his life and charismatic ways. He was a grandfather who had raised his own kids before he started showing signs of mental illness. The team was surprised to find out that those on the street ended up caring for him instead of his own biological family. The difficulties of caring for someone with mental illness is hard to grasp until we realize that it is a 24 - 7 occupation. As strange as it sounded to the team they quickly learned lesson number five which is that when you are homeless those living on the street become your family.

The 6th stop was the Catholic Worker house. If you have never read anything about the Catholic Worker movement I would encourage you to check out this link. Here our students had to help clean up after lunch was served for free from the house at a dining room table. Our students have helped serve food here before on days they have school off. At the Catholic Worker House they learned that there are three types of homelessness; Transitional, Episodic, and Chronic Homelessness. There were some awkward moments when girls on the team were hit on by one of the guys at the house, a young man on the team was asked for some change, and I was almost puked on when throwing out the trash. Our teens were beginning to see that those who are homeless are real people with real struggles. The best part was the humbling moment when the team was thanked by some of the homeless men sitting outside of the Catholic Worker House as we left.

Stop number 7 was to Family Services where the team learned about how our own church is involved with the phone ministry that is run out of that building. It doesn't take long being in ministry to meet those with real needs and those that just want a quick buck. The team learned that when someone calls our church for gas money, rent money, or any other special need we refer them to 1st Call for Help, which has connections with all the churches and agencies in town who provide assistance. Once people have gone through an interview process to access their real needs, they are then referred back to the churches or agencies which have promised to help with various services.

The 8th stop was the public library where many of the homeless hang out during the day to escape either the brutal cold winters, or the extreme heat of the summer. The team had to search for the book, "Nickeled and Dimed, on not getting by in America," which is one of the best books out there on the difficulties of being poor in the United States. After looking over a checklist of places where the homeless in our community usually hang out, they were told to walk around the library and count those that they would assume were homeless. The purpose was to drive home the fourth lesson learned earlier about how we live life next to those in need and don't even realize it.

A few blocks away in an unassuming two story house the team found their 9th stop, which is one of the only houses for teen runaways between Chicago and St. Louis. Here they learned about how kids their own age sometimes get kicked out of their homes by parents upset over a teen pregnancy or finding out that their child is gay. This house gives teens a place to hang out until they are either reconnected with their family, foster care, or a job that allows them to live on their own. The sad part of the current system is that if a family ends up homeless then the father is sent to a men's shelter, the mother and infant children are sent to another, and depending on what happens with the Department of Children and Family Services, teens could be put into foster care. In our own community work is being done to keep families together as much as possible, but the way state and government laws are set up its pretty difficult. Lesson number 6 for the team was the sad reality that homelessness splits up families.

The tenth stop was back at the Bus Station. Here the students were given the challenge of figuring out how long it would take to travel by bus from one of their houses to the health department and back. They were then presented with the statistic that 92% of the people in the world don't own a car. Then they had to think of how convenient it is to own a car. What would it be like to drop your children of at day care, go to work, get groceries, or even visit the doctor all by bus? We take for granted that those who are homeless, or poor, spend hours on a bus each day doing the daily things we take for granted. The group then had to ride the bus to their final stop which had been closed earlier in the day. The bus driver and those on the bus realized pretty quick that the group of students were pretty new to the whole thing. The bus driver and those riding were laughing at the group because of their lack of experience, and possibly because they were white and getting off the bus in an all African American neighborhood. Lesson number 7 was the fact that those who ride the bus daily are a family.

So after 4 hours, 4 miles of walking, and getting off 3 blocks too early for their final stop they made it back to the Christian organization that gives everything away for free in Jesus name. There they learned about how volunteers help fix up houses, do food deliveries, and give away items from their facility for free and all through donations. The group learned that the food deliveries our own church does are directed by this organization and is something they can always help with. Overall it was a long day and the group was extremely tired, but it is my hope that they saw places they wouldn't normally see, and learned how to look for people they normally wouldn't. Jesus seemed to have a way of showing the disciples people that they never would have met on their own.

May God help us to see the amazing faces of those we are called to love each day.