Homeless People are People, Too!

Homeless Ministry: Deborah Long
Tuesday, May 1, 2007

How many of these myths about homeless people have you heard?

  • All homeless people are older, alcoholic males.
  • All homeless people are lazy and refuse to work.
  • All homeless people are uneducated.
  • All homeless people are addicted to drugs and/or alcohol.
  • Homeless people are transients, just traveling through.

In the same way that one cannot use a broad brush to characterize any particular group of people, so too making these kinds of assumptions about the homeless population of Wichita is unfair and incorrect. Although all of these statements are true about some homeless people, the stories of many of the individual homeless are very different.

Take for example a single mother with two children. Although she is willing to work, she is unable to find employment that pays a livable wage. She must find a job that pays her enough to pay for childcare. Let's say she has one preschooler and one in school. The average cost for the preschooler is $100.00 per week and $50.00 for before and after school care for the other child. Rent can be anywhere from $350.00-$500.00. Now, add on utilities, transportation costs, food, medical, car insurance, clothes, school supplies, diapers, etc. and you can see how expensive it is for this mom to survive. Sometimes it is just not cost effective for her to work.

Deuteronomy 14:28-29 tells us to provide for the widow and the fatherless (as well as the priests). Not every single mom chooses singleness and children have no choice. How is the church doing in taking care of these who cannot take care of themselves? If you would like to know how you can help, call Deborah at 316-204-9517.

We will be celebrating Memorial Day with the homeless with a picnic at Heritage Park, May 28 from 11:00 am to1:00 pm. We will be serving sloppy joes, potato salad, baked beans and desert. We need volunteers to help prepare the potato salad and deserts. Please contact Deborah if you can help.