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Homelessness Terrifies Me- John in Ghana [1]

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Date: 2023-05-01

Homelessness terrifies me. It is my one, absolutely greatest fear. No place where one has a right to lie down and rest, no place to sit, not even to stand, no right to set foot on the ground- not anywhere. Absolutely no basic right even to BE. And no sense of a place that is one's own, a place to crawl into and to feel safe and secure against the world.

I live in a small town next to a slightly larger town, very conservative, very traditional, where housewives keep the floors spotless and people take off their shoes in the house so as to not mark up the floors. Basically good, kind-hearted nice people who mostly would not hurt a fly. And yet we have a homeless camp by the railroad yard. They are not only a big-city problem.

And they are not even invisible. Some of them stand in the entrances to the mall parking lots with signs begging for money. They sit at the outdoor tables of local fast-food restaurants (before they are driven away by management) and they wander the streets.

Everyone knows that they are there. But no one does anything about it.

Even worse, the homeless are not welcome anywhere. They are not wanted or respected, the good Christians here do not think, "There but for the grace of God go I." They do not want the homeless around. They blame them, look down on them, and treat them like stray animals they can shoo away with a broom. (No, not everyone acts that way, but I have seen much more cruelty than kindness toward the the homeless.)

Three years ago I was almost homeless. I had been given an eviction notice and the landlord had taken me to court (I had no transportation and no money and could not even go to court to defend myself, as if I had a legal leg to stand on anyway.) I had called all of the social services offices and they told me that it was a legitimate debt (well yeah, that was not the point) and there was nothing they could do. One of them said that they had to save their funds for people who needed it more. I was 70 years old at the time, absolutely impoverished, living on three pancakes and one grilled cheese sandwich made of one velveeta cheese slice a day. Need it more...? Well, I digress.

No car to live in, no place at all to go. I couldn't even make it to the homeless camp because that was too far away to walk. And no local bridges to sleep under, just absolutely nothing. I was seriously trying to figure out the best way to kill myself.

At the last minute a very dear friend bailed me out and paid the rent. He literally saved my life. I owe him everything. But I was damned lucky. I almost went under.

Over the weekend my friend John in Ghana was homeless. He has done much for others, even while extremely poor himself. But he was flat up against it. No place to stay, no money to buy food, just absolutely flat on his back. He had been forced to leave his family behind and his wife and his 7 year old boy and 2 year old daughter had no food. (they were still in their home but under the circumstances John couldn't stay there.)

John had just about given up. He was in the dark night of the soul. He was going to sell his phone for food, which would have cut him off from everyone (including me) and just give up.

I was virtually helpless. I was out of money too, as I usually am at the end of the month. But I did manage to scrape up enough money for him to eat for a few days. And some very very kind people donated to help, which is... I have no words to say what a blessing that is. John is alive today because of those people.

So for now John is surviving and he has heart again. I copied out to him the kind things people here had said to him in the comments to the stories I had written about him and believe me, that was true balm to his soul. He is ready to pick up and fight again.

But we almost lost him. And if goes down everyone he is helping there will go down too. John is not perfect and he is wretchedly poor, but he is the only foundation of support for many people.

It was a bad, bad weekend, but joy cometh in the mrning, I think we will make it through.

(If anyone reads this and feels it in their heart to say anything to encourage john and to show him some appreciation for all of the work he does for others I will be overjoyed to pass it on. No pressure, but it would surely help.)

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/1/2166896/-Homelessness-Terrifies-Me-John-in-Ghana

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