Former American Press staff writer Sunny Brown Farley writes "Naked Faith," a look at faith in its natural form: lived out in the day-to-day lives of ordinary people.

One Night without a Home

Posted November 18, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Filed Under Faith & Religion | 2 Comments

Last night, I was homeless.

So were about 150 others and we all spent a long, cold night in our city park to gain a better understanding of what it is like to live without a home.

The event was called “One Night without a Home” and it started at our local Salvation Army homeless shelter.

We registered and were directed to the shelter’s cafeteria, where we waited in line for food. One of the ladies serving dinner instructed the men in the room to remove their hats.

We were each given a plastic tray with a square of lasagna, some green beans and three wafer cookies. We drank ice water from small plastic cups.

The lasagna was clearly of the frozen variety and the beans were from a can – nothing special, but we were encouraged to eat every last bite. To do otherwise would have been a tremendous offense to those who were staying at the shelter, we were told. After all, this is their very sustenance.

After dinner, we marched with our sleeping bags a mile-an-a-half to the park. There, we listened to music and testimonies by a man and a woman who survived being homeless.

The man described how he was reduced to homelessness by Hurricane Rita.

He said he never imagined he would be homeless, but the storm took away all he had. He ended up in the Salvation Army in Tyler, Texas, looking for hope. All he wanted was opportunity and hope.

Now, back on his feet, he instructed the participants in the homeless awareness event not to make false assumptions about everyone who is homeless.

The director of an agency aimed at assisting the homeless here in East Texas said about half of the homeless in our area are women and children. Many live in their cars – too proud to seek help from local agencies. Half of the homeless here are also employed, she said.

After the program, we all unrolled our sleeping bags and settled in for hours of shivering sleeplessness.

I slept near a tree with friends – two college students and a fellow clergyperson.

We searched for constellations, played a game where we tried to come up with song titles and talked about profound personal God-moments.

There was really no comfortable position on the cold ground and I am not really sure that any of us slept.

I rolled from side to side. I alternately covered my head so I would be warm, then uncovered it so I could breathe. There were cars passing, people talking and dogs barking. I was disturbed by the sound of leaves crunching. I wondered who was walking around and why.

Mostly, though, I was freezing cold.

Temperatures dipped into the low forties or upper thirties. As a camper, I thought this would be no big deal, but then I am used to being inside a tent.

Not even my mummy sleeping bag, long johns, fleece shirt, gloves and hat could fend off the bitter cold.

Every time I thought about my suffering, I prayed for those who face the cold because they have no other option.

It was a very long night.

Finally, someone announced it was morning. It was still dark outside, but the Salvation Army’s mobile canteen (something that looked like a gutted-ambulance-turned-kitchen) had arrived with coffee and a hot breakfast.

It was a beautiful sight.

This time, there was no need to instruct the participants to eat everything. We hastily spooned steaming oatmeal into our mouths and wrapped our frozen fingers around the Styrofoam cups of coffee.

As the sun rose, we gathered together to reflect on our experience.

A college student remarked that he was sore and could only imagine how much more he would hurt if subjected to the elements night after night.

A woman talked about how hard a night of cold would be on a child.

I thought about how homelessness exists in proximity to the rest of society. Sometimes, poverty is in the very shadows of affluence.

We marched the mile-and-a-half back to the Salvation Army and our cars.

I thought about a hot shower. I thought about brushing my teeth. I thought about my warm bed in my comfortable bedroom.

I could hardly wait to get home.

I think this is how the homeless must feel. I reckon they can hardly wait to get home.

Comments

2 Responses to “One Night without a Home”

Brad Stenberg on November 18th, 2009 11:41 pm

Hi,
I’m Bradley Stenberg Sophmore and Intern at the TJC Wesley Foundation. For a class requirment I had to see a theatre production that night that was very well performed as well as written. When I arrived to the site I founf out 1st hand that it takes a long time to become a well rested homeless person. With the sounds of passing vehicles, the city lights, the weather, as well as the chatter of constant passerbies or other homeless people it a wonder how they even stay sane! Well I tip my hat to the homeless. My plan is to one day have a church with an apartment in the back for the homeless. They can help with the church and still have a place to stay in the meantime, while learning skills on the job. I am touched by what the homeless go through day to day and pray that I will never have to go through that.
Dee on December 31st, 2009 7:02 pm

Many of us take for granted the things others don’t have. We complain about insignificant things while others like the homeless do without. It’s amazing the sacrifice these people experienced. Many more of us should do it.Then we may not be so critical and judgemental of the homeless citizens of this world.

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