Homelessness in Fayette County is not a myth

I well remember the many street corners in Phoenix and Tucson in the 1980s and 1990s, where thousands of homeless people and others from the Boston-to-Chicago megalopolis were given one-way tickets as part of the social agenda of “Greyhound therapy.”

It was a not-so-social pronouncement of the out-of-sight, out-of-mind cop-out by state and local governments wanting to remove the homeless from their street corners. The reason, ostensibly, was so that people would not freeze to death in the winter. And, oh yeah, with their homeless out West the cities and states no longer had to ante up for services.

Many major intersections in Tucson, Phoenix and San Diego were populated with destitute men and women holding signs saying they would work for food. Most of us would sit in our air-conditioned cars at the red lights, sometimes looking and sometimes not, at the disheveled clothes and haggard appearance of those less fortunate as they sweltered in the 115-degree heat. For many reasons, it was a sad and embarrassing commentary on the Land of Opportunity that had passed so many by. It was easy for all of us to say, with supposed impunity from being called judgmental, “Well, let the lazy bums go find work,” even when there was no work to find.

Then as now, many of those comments are lacking in the experience of not having walked in some of their shoes. Like with any other large group, the plight of homelessness has many players and many reasons, not all of which involve the unwillingness to work.

Today in America, and on a much, much larger scale, many of us are beginning to experience what so many homeless people have known for a long time. Georgia’s unemployment rate is now over 10 percent and climbing, Michigan is at nearly 15 percent and more than a dozen states are in between. And with it all, the reality of economic desperation that seemed to many to be so far away only a year or two ago does not seem so far-fetched today.

Even in places like New York City and elsewhere, two or more generations of a family will commonly share the same house. Several friends will share a small apartment. And for the same reason. Without doing so they would not have a place to live.

For increasing numbers of people everywhere today, high prices for housing prohibit such luxuries as having your own place. But the economic realities faced by increasing millions, including those with no roof over their heads, should serve as a reminder of what we have and how quickly we can lose it, even in a county as affluent as Fayette.

Here in Fayette County, Agape Faith Center of Hope participated in January in the county’s first-ever attempt to respond to a federal census of the homeless in our community. Census forms were given to the 18 non-profit service providers in the county to help identify our homeless population (by their initials only).

And while doubtless that not everyone was counted, the result was the identification of 81 homeless persons in Fayette County who sought help. The adults identified in the census ranged in age from 20 to 66. And of the 81, 40 were children.

And what of the others who were not counted? I don’t know if you have ever known a homeless person or someone who will eat from a dumpster rather than steal food, but from my experience I can tell you that some, especially some new to being homeless, are less likely to ask for help or come forward in a census. Their embarrassment is usually something we can only contemplate from our recliner in between snacks in front of the flat-screen TV.

The blunt reality is that America is not in a good way economically and growing numbers of people need a hand just to get by and to help themselves. And it is not just adults who need help. Children and families are not exempt from the reality of homelessness and the hunger and other problems that can flow from it.

Perhaps it is not too much to ask that our readers consider sending a $10 donation to Agape to help cover efforts such as providing a couple of days at a motel, purchasing a much-needed prescription, paying for gas for a job interview or securing a down-payment on an apartment. Agape’s only expenses are for things like stamps and box rental.

Donations for the homeless project can be sent to the non-profit Agape Faith Center of Hope at P.O. Box 142131 Fayetteville, Ga 30214. Tax deductible receipts will be issued. Agape can be contacted at 770-716-3238 or at www.agapefaithchurch.org.