We are all connected
Jan. 3rd, 2018 10:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ivyficWhen I first came to New York as an intern in the summer of 2001, I gave a woman in Penn Station $20. She told me she would pay me back, and took down my address, and that was all the money she needed for a ticket home. Of course she didn't, and I felt taken. I felt like a rube. And then I thought—I had the money to give, does it really matter if she lied to me or what she did with it?
I see homeless almost every day. In a city like New York, it's unavoidable. Especially now, as years of neglect of the welfare systems that keep people in their homes and the homeless services that keep people off the street have led to an explosion of homelessness. Back in that summer in 2001 I wrestled with what it meant to live in a place where I walked past human beings sleeping on the sidewalk every day and decided that if I chose to live in the suburbs where I didn't have to see that, it wouldn't be a moral choice. It would just make me feel better by not being confronted with it. The suffering would still be there.
Lately I've been struggling with what my personal responsibility is. A few years ago, I passed a mentally disabled black man in a wheelchair, naked from the waist down, yelling for someone to call an ambulance. So I did. And then was horrified to think I'd just called the NYPD on a mentally disabled black man. I stayed until I saw the EMTs arrive and start talking to him, long enough to see he was a regular customer, and in no immediate danger. Does the fact that an NYPD officer choked an unarmed black man to death mean that another unarmed black man, asking someone to call 911, shouldn't get it? Should I be the one to make that choice? I believe in a social safety net. I need my government services to be better because I need them. I understand the terrifying power of the state, but that doesn't mean I don't want a state.
Today I passed three people curling up for the night on a subway grate on Broadway. There are always people on this grate. But tonight the temperature's going to drop, and it's going to snow, and if they sleep there, they will likely not wake up. So I called 311 for homeless services. Because of the weather, I was told, it is "code blue," which means all calls about people sleeping outdoors are rerouted to the EMTs. They always ask if the person you are calling about has weapons or is violent, and I'm very aware of how very badly things change if I say yes. I of course told them no, that they were healthy and not in immediate danger, but shouldn't sleep outside. Then I waited ten minutes for an ambulance to arrive. When I left, the EMTs were very calmly talking to the people.
I spent the next eight blocks kicking myself for not talking to them myself. At the time, I couldn't think of what to say, but I realized all I needed to say was: "Do you have a place to sleep tonight? Would it be okay if I called homeless services for you?"
Eight blocks later, I saw another woman on the sidewalk in a sleeping bag. So that's what I said. She told me she and her boyfriend had talked to them before, they knew their options, but they'd have to split up. She said they knew of a friend with an apartment and they weren't going to sleep outside tonight, her boyfriend was just trying to work it out. So I wished her a good night and left.
I don't know if she told me the truth; I don't know if she's still there in the cold. But all I can do is offer help and respect her decisions.
So this is my New Year's Resolution: Talk to the homeless. Ask if it would be okay if I call 311 for them.
For anyone who is also struggling with what to do about the homeless, the Coalition for the Homeless has a Resource Guide for What to Do If…. Take a look, find out who to contact for Homeless Services in your city, and donate if you feel you can.
I'm still struggling with what I should do, but indifference is death, especially on a night like tonight.
ETA: In New Jersey, it appears the number to call is 211, but it's unclear. It seems like they'll just give you contact information for shelters. It doesn't look like we have a centralized helpline like NYC's 311. If anyone has better information for who to contact for homeless services in Jersey City, please let me know.
I see homeless almost every day. In a city like New York, it's unavoidable. Especially now, as years of neglect of the welfare systems that keep people in their homes and the homeless services that keep people off the street have led to an explosion of homelessness. Back in that summer in 2001 I wrestled with what it meant to live in a place where I walked past human beings sleeping on the sidewalk every day and decided that if I chose to live in the suburbs where I didn't have to see that, it wouldn't be a moral choice. It would just make me feel better by not being confronted with it. The suffering would still be there.
Lately I've been struggling with what my personal responsibility is. A few years ago, I passed a mentally disabled black man in a wheelchair, naked from the waist down, yelling for someone to call an ambulance. So I did. And then was horrified to think I'd just called the NYPD on a mentally disabled black man. I stayed until I saw the EMTs arrive and start talking to him, long enough to see he was a regular customer, and in no immediate danger. Does the fact that an NYPD officer choked an unarmed black man to death mean that another unarmed black man, asking someone to call 911, shouldn't get it? Should I be the one to make that choice? I believe in a social safety net. I need my government services to be better because I need them. I understand the terrifying power of the state, but that doesn't mean I don't want a state.
Today I passed three people curling up for the night on a subway grate on Broadway. There are always people on this grate. But tonight the temperature's going to drop, and it's going to snow, and if they sleep there, they will likely not wake up. So I called 311 for homeless services. Because of the weather, I was told, it is "code blue," which means all calls about people sleeping outdoors are rerouted to the EMTs. They always ask if the person you are calling about has weapons or is violent, and I'm very aware of how very badly things change if I say yes. I of course told them no, that they were healthy and not in immediate danger, but shouldn't sleep outside. Then I waited ten minutes for an ambulance to arrive. When I left, the EMTs were very calmly talking to the people.
I spent the next eight blocks kicking myself for not talking to them myself. At the time, I couldn't think of what to say, but I realized all I needed to say was: "Do you have a place to sleep tonight? Would it be okay if I called homeless services for you?"
Eight blocks later, I saw another woman on the sidewalk in a sleeping bag. So that's what I said. She told me she and her boyfriend had talked to them before, they knew their options, but they'd have to split up. She said they knew of a friend with an apartment and they weren't going to sleep outside tonight, her boyfriend was just trying to work it out. So I wished her a good night and left.
I don't know if she told me the truth; I don't know if she's still there in the cold. But all I can do is offer help and respect her decisions.
So this is my New Year's Resolution: Talk to the homeless. Ask if it would be okay if I call 311 for them.
For anyone who is also struggling with what to do about the homeless, the Coalition for the Homeless has a Resource Guide for What to Do If…. Take a look, find out who to contact for Homeless Services in your city, and donate if you feel you can.
I'm still struggling with what I should do, but indifference is death, especially on a night like tonight.
ETA: In New Jersey, it appears the number to call is 211, but it's unclear. It seems like they'll just give you contact information for shelters. It doesn't look like we have a centralized helpline like NYC's 311. If anyone has better information for who to contact for homeless services in Jersey City, please let me know.