I've heard before that there are a lot of homeless people in the bay area, and I've seen it a little during previous visits here. But now that I'm actually living here and have spent a bit of time wandering around town, I'm starting to get a sense of just how pervasive the problem is.
An article in the San Francisco Chronicle mentioned yesterday that the city spends $200 million a year to help support the homeless, but the problem keeps getting worse. There's enough support available to draw people here (and the fairly constant weather helps, since people can--temperature-wise--sleep outdoors safely), but not enough support to actually get people out of this awful situation. What that means is that if you spend a full day out wandering around the city, your sightseeing will be peppered with vignettes of lives spent in constant desperation. There are a lot of dirty, hungry people around this city, on a level that I haven't really seen in all my years in Boston.
It gives you some perspective on your own minor struggles, like yesterday when I saw a man with shoes that had the toes worn off, dirty legs and diseased feet, sitting on the ground shoveling food into his mouth from a trash bag. My God. And I think it's an issue if I have to pay a bunch for rent per month? At least I can manage to pay rent at all, and I never worry about whether I'll be able to eat.
I'd like to say I want to help, but really I have no idea what I could do, personally, to make anything better.
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1 comment:
Maura, this is one of the things about you that I so admire - that you are deeply troubled by others' suffering, and though you recognize the vastness of the problem, are determined to help rather than feel defeated. I think this is quite obvious in your current path towards tackling the issues with our healthcare system. Never doubt that you are doing your part to make the world a better place :) Miss you!
-Virginia
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