Challenges, devastation, financial loss, natural disasters, death, destruction, heartache. Life will present knee-buckling challenges and it is hard to understand why it is happening to you, let alone accept that each occurrence is done with a divine lesson attached. We generally concur that a life challenge happens as a means to help us appreciate all that we have, or to obtain a greater reverence for the sanctity of life; a very beautiful lesson that most people will say is what they have learned through the experience of adversity. What if there is an even larger purpose that is small in scope but large in impact? What if the troubles of life are what God uses to help reveal a need that has gone unnoticed? God is using our experience as a means for us to discover how we may serve.
A paradigm shift has occurred through this very difficult time of my life. My eyes have been opened and a sense of sight has been given to me. It isn't as though I wasn't aware of or insensitive to the plight of those who are homeless. It isn't as if I never felt compassion nor tried to help wherever I can when I see someone in need. As of this moment, my family has dodged a bullet. My husband will be starting a new job this coming week and we will be spared what could have been inevitable foreclosure on our home with nowhere to go. We have reached the point, however, where we haven't paid our mortgage for February and may not be able to pay it for March. I am only sharing this because my circumstances have placed us in a position financially where we simply have had to apply for Public Assistance. I am truly grateful that such a thing exists. Although we have not qualified for certain services (long story), we were able to qualify for Food Stamps. It has been a God send.
There is a horrible challenge going on for people who are going through similar circumstances. Especially those that aren't as fortunate as I am. I have been able to persist through the application process and the myriad of requirements in order to secure some assistance. This has allowed me to reveal a need that is being ignored. We have been told lies about how easy it is for people to obtain public services. First of all, it took me the better part of an entire day to complete the online application which was redundant, complicated and frustrating. The whole Public Assistance process is so computer dependent now, you simply can't obtain services without owning a computer or having access to one. Even though there are centers where free computer access is available, you must have means of transportation to get there. How does that help those already on the street with no phone, no transportation, no family and no other means of transportation?
Through meeting a homeless woman on the street, I have also discovered that unless you have a verifiable mailing address, you cannot even apply for services. This woman told me she was living in her truck with her children. I was utterly appalled. Applying for Public Assistance has lead me to understand how challenging it is to find the centers that are throughout my state where you can have free access to a computer as well as utilize the center for a mailing address. I had to tab through six different levels of information on the website to find a physical location where I could find human beings that would provide Customer Service.
Even if you do have a phone, and can call to ask where to find a center, the phone lines are overwhelmed and will automatically disconnect you if there isn't a Customer Service agent immediately available. And, unless you have a computer, how are you going to find out where the centers are located? It's a Catch 22! It would certainly seem that the government is making it so onerous to apply for Public Assistance that they are hoping people will simply give up in frustration.
I have now seen a homeless couple and two other homeless gentlemen in my town who were all begging because they were reduced to do so by a system that makes it nearly impossible for them to secure assistance! I've heard the elite criticize and blame the poor for being poor. The poor are not at fault. WE are at fault for allowing this to happen! Please don't even get me started on how we have equally been lied to about the health of the economy and the false optimism generated by a spin on unemployment figures. All the people of whom I speak are those who are not being counted and are unacknowledged by the government. No one seems to care.
My mission isn't about being grand or establishing a foundation or visiting Congress to make a notoriety driven change in the world. This is about a small gesture that can still make an impact. It is about doing that which I can do, even if it may appear insignificant. I am planning on completing a list of services ON PAPER with centers and government contact information that I can keep in my car and hand out to those in need when I see them. It may seem like a little nothing, or may seem redundant, but I feel it is important that homeless people be given every advantage to attaining the help they need. Anyone can create a similar list if you're willing to invest some time and energy into creating one.
I wrote this post to simply show how adversity is a great teacher. Both lessons great and small are in the pain and we should be joyful to be given an experience with which to see an opportunity to make a change. I was given an opportunity to see where there is clearly a gap and a problem that I can help solve. All it takes is my time, some paper and a sincere effort. So little a price to help alter the course of a person's life. I have been given an enormous blessing and that is the blessing where I am able to serve.
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