by Jeff on January 5, 2012
Well, well, well – the beauty and the danger of the blog is that it allows me some free speech and the chance to influence. Normal people can get their say whether they have power or no power. I am somewhere in between. Because of the impact of Common Ground Santa Barbara, the vulnerability index, and how that may help people get housed gives me some influence.
I remember taking a course on “power.” We all have some level of power – it is whether we use it and how we use it. And it is those who have some voice, some power, who must speak up for those who do not have much, have little, have none.
Many of our street friends live within that reality of “limited power.”
While I believe that my friends on the streets must also recognize their own power in making decisions toward health (that is a human decision making process we are all involved in), I believe many of them have lost hope or have been beaten down so many times and left by the side of the road. Think of young men and women un-parented or consider perhaps the fact that 50% of our street friends suffer depression or that there are 300+ with a high diagnosis of mental illness…
Homelessness is complex for sure – we can discuss it some time.
But, here is the truth. This past year I have been more involved with the professionals and electeds – and I recognize that it those relationships that need to be better oiled with grace and understanding. I am now including myself in that equation as a member of Common Ground Santa Barbara. It is how we relate together and work together that will impact whether our friends get housing, needed resources, healthy community. That also includes the involvement of faith communities and volunteers.
So – mayors, supervisors, shelters, homeless advocates, mental health workers, public health workers, housing authorities, street outreach workers, meal sharers, Jesus Followers, volunteers, police officers, business owners, funders… the list goes on and on… how we work together will determine our success.
We need to consider last year Registry Week and all those it took to successfully converse with over 1,000 street friends and do the Vulnerability index in order to work better to get the sick in housing. It is great that we could do it for a week, but it will be more difficult to get it done for a year, 3 years, 5 years…
Those with power need to recognize how it influences those without power.
My gut tells me it could swing either way with us housed people. We are fickle. We often take our toys and go home.
Here’s to a new year of sticking together I hope. And, I also hope that the volunteer movement will grow as funds may decrease. Average people can do great things.
by Jeff on December 15, 2011
Several times in Christian circles I have heard this – “Now remember, we don’t do this because of the need…” I now see that statement as classic “pass the buck” theology. It is the thinking that has placed us in such a situation of great and overwhelming need… and so the story goes on…
I do what I do because of the “need” – while I admit the there was a calling when God asked me to open the door of the Uffizi for the church in Santa Barbara… to open the door of the Uffizi was to open the way to “incarnation.”
For Jesus surely came because of “our need.” At Christmas time for Christ followers – it is primarily to admit our own need. Christ would have no need to come at all if it were not for our “sickness.” He was the “doctor” who came for the “sick.” If the founder came because of need, then we can surely embrace doing what we do because of this same need.
Calling can be true but waiting for it can surely be escapism. Scriptures on how to “be with” and “care for” the poor surely are a calling… and don’t forget that discipleship in rabbinical times certainly had no “escapism” within it. Take a look at Mark 9 and witness how Jesus travels from a safe mountain top experience to one down in the valley with a boy in extreme crisis and in need of healing.
We have to examine our hearts. We have to embrace the power of love in Jesus. We have the opportunity before us to create solutions and ways for others out of extreme poverty.
Solutions:
#1 – We are currently creating a new model county wide to make a serious dent in local homelessness. This plan involves the training of volunteers to work with friends living on the streets, in vehicles, and moving into housing. It involves normal people like us who are there to insure that people don’t fall between the cracks (which often happens to people as little creases in our systems and programs exist). It also involves a revolutionary new structure that all stakeholders in local homelessness need to agree upon and begin working better together.
You can sign up for the training at – http://www.commongroundsb.org/empowerment-training.html.
#2 – Santa Barbara has another secret side – it has a conflicted relationship with its Latino residents and sojourners. It does not know how to deal with the crisis of “citizenship.” And the church does not know fully how to express its relationship now to scriptures on how to care for “visitors.” We may try to pretend the issue is not really there, or there are no solutions – so we will remain silent on the issue. However, we are taking one bold step toward a solution with Immigrant Hope. Today several of us are meeting to begin phase one of Immigrant Hope, which will be a way for our Latino friends to find the love of God and begin the real work of attaining US citizenship. Though it will take years to establish – we believe it is a holistic solution to what is clearly a Santa Barbara citywide “need.”
Don’t practice pass the buck theology when you have two hours a week to work toward a greater incarnation in Santa Barbara. Let this Christmas compel you toward living the Way.
I myself would much rather be doing something else – and I will when everyone is off the streets and when the West Side is a place of peace. I can retire at the true establishment of the loving Kingdom of God.
