You may need to lose everything to find that God is all you need

I was taking my bike outside when Lisa approached me. I wonder if she noticed me, but I noticed her. A thin, pale woman in her thirties and a bandana on her head. She always carries a badge that she holds when she approaches people. She offered the street magazine published to help the homeless. I didn't have any cash with me, since i wouldn't need anything while biking.

I told her that I live here and asked where she lives (you never assumed that someone is homeless). She said that she lives in two places, one in Over-the-Rhine, the other one is in Northside, which explain why I see her in that neighborhood. First she said that she needed money for the rent, since she has a little boy, a two year old, and she is currently in disability, because her lawyer told her to, and she had a fellony one time, but it wasn't anything major and she did her time, which is fine with me.

When I asked where her son is, she said he was with her dad in mt. Healthy. And when I asked, if she didn't mind, how much the rent is, she said she didn't really need to pay because she lives in people's couches. Which was a different explaination than the one she told me.

Lisa is one of the many people who hangs around my neighborhood. Her story is different than the other people, who have their own circumstances and other problems that got them on the street at the first place. It can happen to anybody in any given day. But looking at the numbers of homeless people in Cincinnati alone, is discouraging. 2,500 people in a given night is a scary number for a city that is inhabited by 300,000 people.

The solution sounds easy, but it's hard to implement, especially with so many different interest and needs. My neighborhood is overwhelmed with social services. I don't want to point fingers, but sometimes I question if they would provide the roots of the problem at the first place. Most of homeless people work, they just can't afford to have an apartment, or they can't because they didn't have a place to start at the first place. How sad is that? Rent in downtown Cincinnati is not as high as in LA, for example, but yet, they can't afford it because of other things.

But when enough is enough? Shelter and social services might answer the immediate problem that will avoid people to spend the night on the street, but looking at the definition of "HOMELESS", we should realize that a home is what they need, not shelters. Even in one of the most successful cities that did they right thing for their homeless, Philadelphia, providing enough shelters is not enough. After the release of the book "UndertheOverpass" by MikeYakonski, many do-gooders and college kids live on the street to find the experience, which created more problems instead of reducing it. Jesus asked us to have emphaty, and it doesn't mean we have to create more problems for people whom we thought we touched.

Lisa and other people need an access to housing, but they can't do it alone, they need a support to help them to go back in the society. In her case, her record might prevent her from finding a job, then why not assist her to access jobs that will not discriminate someone with a crime record (they did their time, give them a chance!). She might have addiction problem, why not help her to recover or rejoin her father in the suburb.

The irony is that there are more than 500 vacant residential buildings in Over-the-Rhine, which made it more absurd because renovating one building is seems like pulling teeth when dealing with regulations over regulations that didn't even address the root problems. I am talking about the ridiculous lead regulation. Yes, lead is dangerous, but who in their right mind would let someone to live in a house full of poison for their children? I know I won't. And sometimes the rules were so strict, it leaves the main purpose of removing the lead and create a healthy home and deal with the checklist of regulation.

But deeper than just housing, these people need God's boost in their minds. Not just them, but all of us. We need God that will help us to endure anything. God that will connect them to their innerselves, that will help them to go on with life with joy.