The Homeless: Revisited

By Rebecca Hill, a junior at Syracuse University

I am a Junior at Syracuse University in Upstate NY. This issue on homelessness really gets to me. There were so many important aspects of it brought up in this post and as the leaders of tomorrow, wouldn't it be amazing if we started to understand this problem in our society? I just want to mention a few ideas (some aforementioned here), but more importantly they are tied to my personal experience as an individual.

One of my former employers opened my eyes to the problem of homelessness in America. The biggest problem may actually be how those who have homes regard those who do not. How can we improve their positions when we don't truly value them as much as ourselves or pass off their homelessness as a consequence of their inability to produce a steady income?

If you have the opportunity: talk to a homeless person. Ask them why it happened. Ask them how they feel about their current position in society. I am confident that in many cases, you would be extremely surprised by what you hear. The last man I talked to was on a subway train in NYC. No one else on the train acknowledged him, and all I asked was "How are you today, sir?" He replied promptly with "Honey that just made my day." We continued our conversation talking about his story... I listened. Then I gave him some food that I was carrying.

We can help people in so many ways, but one of the greatest ways is direct involvement. We can also share with each other our experiences and talk about what can be done outside of what we personally do. A lot of times, though, it requires us to go far out of our comfort zone. That is often when I find the greatest reward.

You can have your thoughts published by the ALO, just comment on our posts or send us an E-mail!