What does your family and home mean to you?
What does your family mean to you? Maybe you have a family you don’t get along with, or maybe you have a family who you look forward to seeing every day. Regardless of the kind of family you have grown up in, most of us can think of at least one person in our family who would support us if we were going through a tough situation. Now consider what your home means to you. When you get home from school or from work, where is the first place you go? Do you have a garage where you work out to relieve stress? Do you have a reading nook in the corner where you go to be alone? What about your bed? Most people spend about a third of their life asleep in their beds. Yet home is not just a place where you sleep, eat, and shower. Home is where you feel safe. To me, home is where you can laugh and cry and be yourself – it’s where you have your own privacy. Imagine having none of that. What would you do if you didn’t have a single person in your family on whom you could depend? And what if, compounded with that, you didn’t have a home to return to when you wrapped up a long day at the office? Try to fathom the physical, emotional, and mental effects that kind of loss would have on you.
I have lived in Greenville all my life and have had several encounters with those experiencing homelessness. Unfortunately, in the circle of people I grew up in, there were lots of negative stereotypes and ideologies that were often held about those experiencing homelessness. However, I am thankful for parents who immersed me in culture from a young age and brought me with them to volunteer at soup kitchens, the Triune Mercy Center, and community outreaches. My dad in particular has always been a role model for me when it comes to approaching people experiencing homelessness. My dad is a good listener, and he sees people for who they are – people created in the image of God who are deserving of love and respect. He has taught me that those who endure homelessness are people who face hardships just like the rest of us, except that their hardships have kicked them to the street.
As many of you know, this year the Greenville Homeless Alliance hosted its inaugural iGNITE event where they were able to showcase the work they have been doing in Greenville for the past several years. During this conference, our special speaker, Alan Graham, spoke about homelessness in this way. He said, “Homelessness is not just a lack of stable housing – it is a profound loss of family.” Those words have since changed the way I think about homelessness.
During the iGNITE event, I was able to hear testimonies from several people who had overcome the hardship of homelessness and had succeeded in finding stable housing. Their stories were sobering. They were filled with pain, repeated obstacles, and unwanted trouble. But all their stories had something in common – someone saw their situation, had compassion on them, and did whatever was in their power to help that person find stability. You see, homelessness is not a predicament that will dissolve on its own – it is an issue that always takes more than one person to resolve. This fact alone should make us think hard and clear the next time we encounter someone experiencing homelessness. It should make us consider the resources we have, the phone numbers we can call, and the time we can spare to help someone. The saying is true – no man is an island. Therefore, the issue of homelessness should prompt our community to come together and become a family for those who don’t have one.
Working with the Greenville Homeless Alliance has answered many of my questions about homelessness and has taught me that there is so much more to the issue than what meets the eye. I have been privileged to have several lengthy conversations with Heather and Susan about the causes and ramifications of homelessness. They have been so kind in taking their time to walk me through what I can do personally to make a difference for someone experiencing homelessness. They have provided me with connections to other partnering organizations who are also working towards the same cause and have given me opportunities to contact those who are knowledgeable about the subject, including those who have personally experienced homelessness. I entered this internship knowing very little about homelessness and how to care for those walking through it. But because of what I have gleaned over the past semester, I frequently have conversations with friends and family about the topic and have been able to share what I know with other people. I am thankful for the time I had at the Greenville Homeless Alliance because, even though I know I have a lot more to learn, I now feel well equipped to play my part in igniting change to end homelessness.
Suzanna Thompson
Greenville Homeless Alliance Intern Fall 2021
Bob Jones University B.S. in Health Sciences