Christmas in the Trailer

Last year my husband and I assisted in the task of feeding the homeless breakfast in downtown Little Rock. It was Christmas morning, and the group met at City Hall in order to feed the growing crowd but also to express the very real need for a permanent location. A year later the problem has been temporarily solved since the city has supplied a small trailer that sits near the Broadway Bridge where many of the homeless live. We arrived early yesterday morning with our cinnamon rolls in tow to a waiting crowd. Ms. Jessie soon arrived with the trailer key and allowed everyone to come in, sit in the chairs around the room, and wait for the other volunteers to bring the coffee, juice, fruit, and more food. I talked to Ms Jessie for a few minutes before the others arrived.

As I glanced about the chairs, I noticed several seemingly well-dressed men whom I assumed to be helpers. Later, as I saw them in the breakfast line, I realized they were indeed among the homeless themselves. Others were easier to identify: a young man who sat immobile without blinking his eyes and only occasionally twitching his right hand; a man without any crotch in his pants; and a tall man who delivered a wonderful prayer and blessing for the meal after singing quietly to himself, "Little Drummer Boy." Ms. Jessie also was telling me of some of the individual stories of the regulars as she pointed them out. "That blond woman thinks she has a chip in her head and that people are trying to do her harm. I just tell her to put a piece of aluminum foil over the spot, and that will protect her. One man was out of work and ashamed to go home for three months. Finally, his son found him and took him back with him. That couple over there get to have a king room tonight at La Quinta. Our group is renting fifteen rooms for them just for Christmas night. . . ." Although I tend to watch a lot of news regarding the homeless (I guess again I am interested because my father was always homeless himself), I was somewhat surprised to hear Ms. Jessie confirm what the newscasters tended to report. "About forty per cent of these folks are veterans, many are addicted to drugs and alcohol, and some are just down on their luck."

After breakfast, Ms. Jessie announced to all that, instead of going to the Economy Inn this year, they were going to a nicer motel. Everyone seemed excited about the upgrade and especially that the check-in time would be 8:30 this year, not 11 like last year. She passed around a bucket and asked that each one put some pennies, or whatever change or dollars they had into it, to help pay for the cost. I am sure she did not collect much, but her policy is to try to communicate the idea that one needs to try to help oneself, rather than to be a recipient only.

As a society, we still do not have any answers for those who are homeless. Many states try different approaches such as soup kitchens, temporary shelters, permanent apartments, jobs, and so on. The Bible says, "You always have the poor with you," and many use it as an excuse not to help at all; it should not be.