We are in one of our rainy seasons here in South Florida. When the downpours come along, I especially say a prayer for those who have to find shelter under an overpass, or the overhang of a storefront.
I have seen the makeshift tents and large umbrellas that are used to shield people — sometimes entire families — from the elements. And I think, “That could be me.”
Then I read in the paper where a new law is now in effect, outlawing sleeping on the streets of our cities and counties. According to the Herald story, the new law, signed by Gov. DeSantis and enacted Oct. 1, would allow residents to sue a county or city in Florida for allowing homeless people to sleep on public property, whether it’s out in the open or in a tent. The provision to sue goes into effect Jan. 1.
READ MORE: It’s now illegal to sleep in public in Florida. What happens to Miami’s homeless?
The law also says local governments can create temporary camps for one year if they don’t have enough room in shelters. The encampments, which would be monitored by the Department of Children and Families, would be required to be clean and safe and can’t border residential areas.
But with there not being enough beds in shelters, my question is: What are we supposed to do with people who don’t have a home to sleep in? Are our law enforcement officers supposed to arrest them every time they find someone sleeping on a bus bench, in a park or under an overpass? How can this be a workable solution?
Could have been me
When I think about people who are homeless, and that is every day when I say a prayer for the Lord to provide for them, I think of myself. I think of the times when I could barely pay the rent and have enough left over to buy a stick of butter and a can of mackerel and a bag of grits.
My late husband, a veteran, was attending college at the time under the GI Bill. Times were hard, but I always had hope that things would get better once my husband finished college and got a decent job. That was not to be. Times got even harder when we separated, and he later died.
By that time, I was a mom of two and lived on $8 a day as a domestic worker and the few pennies I got from my husband’s Social Security. Had it not been for a caring mother I, along with my babies, could have been sleeping on a flattened cardboard box in the corner of some storefront or under an overpass.
I shudder to think of what could have happened to me and my children if that had been my fate. But God...
That’s why I can feel for the homeless people and why I keep a few dollars in my cup holder, just for them.
I know my meager donation is just a drop in the bucket for what their real needs are, but I like to think that my donation will, at least, help buy someone a hot meal from a McDonald’s, a Burger King or a Wendy’s, you know, one of those restaurants where they have the specials.
As a mother, I also like to think that if my son, grandson or great-grandchildren needed help, that someone would be kind enough to extend a helping hand to them.
I know many of you frown on giving money to complete strangers on the street. I understand why — there are many so-called homeless who are just out to scam others. Some of them are on drugs, who will take the money and go to the nearest drug house. And some of them just don’t want to work for a living.
Follow the scriptures
But friends, let us not judge. Let us do as the Holy Bible instructs, that is, love your neighbor as yourself.
You say the beggar on the street is not my neighbor? I say he or she most certainly is. Our neighbors don’t have to live in the house next door, or across the street, or over the backyard fence.
Our neighbor is also the stranger on the street, who is dirty and ragged. Our neighbor is the person who is hungry and hurting and depressed, and who meets us at a red light, with the lost look in his/her eyes, reaching out a grubby hand to us for help. That, my friends, is also our neighbor.
This is why, I believe, that we must find a workable solution for our homeless brothers and sisters. Until then, if you are so moved to offer a helping hand to a homeless stranger, don’t stop to worry about where the money is going.
Simply give in the name of the Lord, and let God do the rest.
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