MEET THE SWEEPS:
THANKSGIVING is a day dedicated to giving thanks. We spend time with family and friends, grateful to be among those we love and those that love us. Life is GOOD!
How about we follow with a day of REACHING-OUT. A day of calling that friend you had a falling out with or a family member you haven't talk to in two years. How about we all make the call that is most difficult for us, putting judgment and hurt aside and give openness and LOVE.
IMAGINE a community spending time listening, loving and ultimately healing. This begins with each of us reaching-out. Facing Homelessness believes we heal community and end homelessness one relationship at a time. We can do this!
So let's talk about City of Seattle SWEEPS.
Let's begin by reaching-out to find common ground. Let's hold these two thoughts: 1.) Sweeps are traumatic for those being swept, and, 2.) Homelessness is traumatic for those with a business or a residence when it comes to bear at their doorstep. These are both truths.
Even though we can agree with both individually we spend much of our time polarized into one of the two camps they represent. We have turned the sweep conversation into 'Should they stay or should they go?'
This means we have not evolved the conversation. The discussion has been reduced to one devoid of creativity and compassion for the homeless, producing cruel and wasteful solutions such as sweeps, fencing, hostile architecture, lack of garbage service, lack of bathroom facilities, and more.
We have also abandoned our business community and certain neighborhoods to take the brunt of a societal breakdown. This is simply not fair. Homelessness should be addressed by all of us, not just the few where it shows up. For those that have received this burden, solutions offered have also been devoid of creativity and compassion, producing hardships across the board for so many.
We must reach-out to each other. We must begin by having all voices at the table. Specifically the voices that have been and are being traumatized on both sides. All as equal voices. We lean into the harder work of an equitable solution by knowing we will need to give to get, finding deeper solutions that answer to both. Anything less just continues the trauma.
Our turn to be homeless could be around the corner, or someone homeless could come to our doorstep. The time to reach-out and have the difficult conversation is now. We must acknowledge that we are all connected, we are all one. Let's get busy finding our common ground.
Seattle neighborhoods | Rex
A QUIET THOUGHT - If you're moved by the goodness of this community, please visit http://www.facinghomelessness.org/ and click on the 'donate' button and consider a "monthly recurring" donation of just $5 in support of the work. THANK YOU!
#Kindness #JustSayHello #FacingHomelessness Crosscut
