In the last 3 weeks my eyes have opened up to a new wave of homelessness in our city

‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[a] you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:40

Have we become such cold and heartless creatures that we are blinded by the suffering of so many in our world? Have we fallen into the trap that believes that homeless people are only trying to manipulate us? I know one person who made a comment that a person uses a cane is only doing so to get benefits.

In the last 3 weeks in different parts of the city, my eyes were opened to the homeless problem. In one affluent northwestern suburb sat a family of 4 kids as one parent took turns holding a sign that said, 'please help'. In this one situation, the dad was playing with his children on the blanket beneath a shade tree. Where they sat you could see Nordstrom Rack and across the street the AMC movie theaters.

In another part of the city, I saw another homeless family. Like the first one, this family was also disheveled. The 3 kids in this situation were all playing amongst themselves with their dad as mom held a sign, 'please help-we're homeless.' My heart broke.

In still another part of the city, I saw yet another family sitting under a shade tree. As their kids played together each of their parents took turns holding a sign, 'please help- we're homeless'.

I remember years ago, Mary Jo Copeland tried to get various suburbs to approve her plans to build a homeless shelter. One by one each of these cities voted her down when overwhelmingly people said, 'not in my city.' Fortunately, she was persistent until the City of Minneapolis gave approval to what is known as 'Mary Jo's Place'.https://sharingandcaringhands.org/marys-place. This is a mere drop in the bucket until the problem of sustainable and affordable housing is addressed.

Unfortunately, many suburban cities aren't addressing this problem. Many would rather utter 'not in my city' with hopes the problem would go away.

Not everyone is living the American dream. Not everyone is receiving generous inheritances from their parents or grandparents. We seem to have this false sense of belief that if you can be successful then why can't they? We forget to see the stories behind their suffering. Stories like when disability forces them out of a job or being so overcome by trauma that they have a hard time maintaining employment. We forget to listen to their story.

I'm reminded of these words from Jesus in Matthew 25:36-40:

36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[a] you did it to me.’

One of those cities that voted down Mary Jo's idea of building a homeless shelter later approved to allow an NFL team to relocate their training headquarters.http://www.startribune.com/mary-jo-copeland-selling-site-once-planned-for-orphanage/316060741/

The reality is that unless we address the problem of sustainable and affordable housing the problem of homelessness will only grow.