The Case For Skipping Christmas.
This has been a long year so we are skipping Christmas. Although we will be up bright and early on the 25 opening presents and spending time with family, the case for skipping Christmas comes from the idea that as an organization, we cannot see engaging in Christmas the way that we have in the past.
We are going to focus on the spirit of the season, all year long. A few years ago, I spent 30 days on the streets of Atlanta. I started on October 25, and went until Thanksgiving of that year. Over the course of that 30 days, I was robbed. I was witness to a beating in the middle of the night that was was so affecting that I can still hear the hollow thud of a human skull against the sidewalk when I think about it. But I also remember late night conversations with people who are dealing with homelessness on a daily basis. They talked about how they don't go to shelters because they are MORE likely to be robbed or raped there than anywhere else. They talked about how they lost their freedoms and choose to live on the street rather than having to observe a curfew or be forced to go to church in the morning just to get a hot meal. They talked about those who "game" the system; who know exactly when to show up at a particular shelter to get the best beds for the night or whatever.
The whole thing started when someone on Facebook, of all places, was upset upon visiting Atlanta. They had gone out to eat at a particular restaurant, emerged from MARTA and offered the homeless person there their leftovers. The homeless person did not take it and she was upset. She was angry that this person wanted money instead; money, she thought that he would go out and spend on booze or drugs. She felt the person was ungrateful. I said that there had to be some reason.
During one of those late night conversations, as the night got colder, I talked with one old pro and asked him why someone would not take food that was offered to him. He told me that it was kinda simple. A lot of homeless people will not take food from people this time of year because of cold and flu. In the spring and summer, sure, but rarely in the winter. Think about the last time you were sick. Chances are that you got to stay home and binge watch Game of Thrones or something. Eating food and possibly getting sick is sadly, a difficult thing for people who are on the street. It is rare that they can spend a day in bed.
A lady the other day was ranting about taking leftovers to a shelter and they turned her away. She was angry and felt rejected. They told her that they would prefer a donation of clothes or money. How dare they? Well, that is part of the problem. This time of year, people love to give. Consider, though that some of these shelters are fixed for refrigerator space and would rather have another refrigerator rather than food that would more than likely spoil before it can even be given away.
The overall question is why December 25? Why Thanksgiving day? That year, we ended on the day before Thanksgiving so that I could go back to my nice warm home, shower, and get ready to serve dinner at a shelter the next day. As I was waiting for a news interview, I asked some people that I had met what was going to be happening that day. They told me that they were looking forward to stuffing themselves on Thanksgiving day, that they knew of one shelter where they could even watch a game or a movie. The main thing though, was that they are just going to get hungry again. They were scrambling to get Ziploc bags and whatever else they could find that they could use to take food with them where ever they were going, but they knew it would only last a day or two beyond Thanksgiving and the same for Christmas.
"We just gone get hungry again."
The case for skipping Christmas is based on this idea. We want to focus, for everyone, on a bright new year. We want to put the sadness and the mistakes of this past year behind, enjoy time with our loved ones, but to uphold our mission to focus on the substantive and the real changes that we can make all year round. In my opinion, as we are cleaning up and putting away, we tend to lose sight of the fact that there are people on the street. Remember Haiti? Japan just suffered a massive tsunami. There are people in North Dakota who are digging in for a long winter. There are Where ever your heart is, know that there are people who are dealing with those tragedies every day, long after the hashtag fades.
If you would like to be a part of the conversation,
find us on instagram at @thelifecooperative
Find us on twitter @thelifecoop
Email us at thelifecooperative@gmail.com
We are going to focus on the spirit of the season, all year long. A few years ago, I spent 30 days on the streets of Atlanta. I started on October 25, and went until Thanksgiving of that year. Over the course of that 30 days, I was robbed. I was witness to a beating in the middle of the night that was was so affecting that I can still hear the hollow thud of a human skull against the sidewalk when I think about it. But I also remember late night conversations with people who are dealing with homelessness on a daily basis. They talked about how they don't go to shelters because they are MORE likely to be robbed or raped there than anywhere else. They talked about how they lost their freedoms and choose to live on the street rather than having to observe a curfew or be forced to go to church in the morning just to get a hot meal. They talked about those who "game" the system; who know exactly when to show up at a particular shelter to get the best beds for the night or whatever.
The whole thing started when someone on Facebook, of all places, was upset upon visiting Atlanta. They had gone out to eat at a particular restaurant, emerged from MARTA and offered the homeless person there their leftovers. The homeless person did not take it and she was upset. She was angry that this person wanted money instead; money, she thought that he would go out and spend on booze or drugs. She felt the person was ungrateful. I said that there had to be some reason.
During one of those late night conversations, as the night got colder, I talked with one old pro and asked him why someone would not take food that was offered to him. He told me that it was kinda simple. A lot of homeless people will not take food from people this time of year because of cold and flu. In the spring and summer, sure, but rarely in the winter. Think about the last time you were sick. Chances are that you got to stay home and binge watch Game of Thrones or something. Eating food and possibly getting sick is sadly, a difficult thing for people who are on the street. It is rare that they can spend a day in bed.
A lady the other day was ranting about taking leftovers to a shelter and they turned her away. She was angry and felt rejected. They told her that they would prefer a donation of clothes or money. How dare they? Well, that is part of the problem. This time of year, people love to give. Consider, though that some of these shelters are fixed for refrigerator space and would rather have another refrigerator rather than food that would more than likely spoil before it can even be given away.
The overall question is why December 25? Why Thanksgiving day? That year, we ended on the day before Thanksgiving so that I could go back to my nice warm home, shower, and get ready to serve dinner at a shelter the next day. As I was waiting for a news interview, I asked some people that I had met what was going to be happening that day. They told me that they were looking forward to stuffing themselves on Thanksgiving day, that they knew of one shelter where they could even watch a game or a movie. The main thing though, was that they are just going to get hungry again. They were scrambling to get Ziploc bags and whatever else they could find that they could use to take food with them where ever they were going, but they knew it would only last a day or two beyond Thanksgiving and the same for Christmas.
"We just gone get hungry again."
The case for skipping Christmas is based on this idea. We want to focus, for everyone, on a bright new year. We want to put the sadness and the mistakes of this past year behind, enjoy time with our loved ones, but to uphold our mission to focus on the substantive and the real changes that we can make all year round. In my opinion, as we are cleaning up and putting away, we tend to lose sight of the fact that there are people on the street. Remember Haiti? Japan just suffered a massive tsunami. There are people in North Dakota who are digging in for a long winter. There are Where ever your heart is, know that there are people who are dealing with those tragedies every day, long after the hashtag fades.If you would like to be a part of the conversation,
find us on instagram at @thelifecooperative
Find us on twitter @thelifecoop
Email us at thelifecooperative@gmail.com
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