Treat homeless as real people

My heart was filled with gratitude on Thanksgiving morning as I read the article, “Living on the Streets,” by Elijah Decious. With great sensitivity, Elijah opened our eyes to the challenges that people who live habitually outdoors face, but also the deep sense of community that is created by the people living in tents and other temporary shelters along the Cedar River south of the New Bohemia district. Having recently been introduced to some of the residents of that village, I was delighted to read how the residents of this village were presented as real people, living differently than most of us, but trying to live the best way that they can under difficult circumstances. My personal experience with some of these residents confirms the sense of genuine community, generosity, self-sufficiency, ingenuity, creativity, and self-determination alluded to in this article.

But my heart was filled with desperation and sadness on the morning of Dec. 1 as I scrambled to help some of these residents save as many of their belongings as they could as a city crew moved in to destroy the encampment. Although identified as “homeless,” the residents of this village were not really homeless until the city destroyed their homes. Instead of destruction, perhaps we as a larger community could find more creative and positive ways to address the needs of people who habitually live outdoors. A good way to start might be to ask them what they need and how they would like to be treated.

Gary Sneller

Cedar Rapids

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