The homelessness situation in America is sad, severe, and getting worse. As the US Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates, there are more than 554,000 homeless people in America, and in many major cities, particularly on the West Coast, the problem is very severe.
Tent cities and homeless camps are now a typical feature in several American cities, and when ordinary Americans try to help out, they're often stopped by law enforcement agencies who have been arresting citizens and members of churches and charity organizations that feed the homeless in public spaces.
So what can be done? It is unlikely that housing prices will fall enough to allow more people to afford housing. It’s doubtful that the opioid epidemic will end itself overnight. It’s doubtful that the criminal justice system will all of a sudden stop turning people that choose to possess and consume a plant into felons who are not allowed to get work or decent housing. It is unlikely that the endless wars will finally end and our soldiers stop coming back from PTSD causing deployments.
We need to help other people, and the charitable organization, ‘A Better Way Detroit‘ is doing exactly this by paying local homeless people 10 dollars an hour to clean up the city and empowering them to participate in the betterment of the community. The project is funded partly by donations raised in charity from members of the church and surrounding community. The idea is giving hope to members of this community.
The homeless people involved in the project agree that it's exceptional and of great benefit to them in such challenging situations, and the project is working closely with Detroit's parks organization to help improve public parks so more people and children will spend time outside.
Here's a video of Father Djonovic talking about the project and the impact it is having on the city. He also notes here that the project is fiscally unsustainable at present, given that it relies on charity and on his own personal contributions, and that financial help is needed to keep it going and to help it grow. You can contribute to the project, here.
Reference: The Mind Unleashed
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