| September 07, 2018 

BY MICHAEL PERKINS

Among the homeless in America, many have the same challenges as immigrants at our southern borders: A disorienting milieu of having to prove who we are after losing all identification papers, debit cards and checkbooks bit by bit in the snow, in flooded campsites or maybe liberated by others attempting to come out of their struggle to regain personhood and even proof of citizenship.

I have witnessed the frustration and utter disbelief of those trying get their identities back so they can sign up for programs and services that will help them gain a foothold again in their communities.

There is a Buddhist saying that has always given me inspiration: “The obstacle is the path,” but this time I don’t see how this advice could be helpful to me in this challenge of being homeless myself.

There is a stagnation of progress starting at the very beginning of trying to make our way back to the surface after drowning in the hopelessness of losing our homes. Just trying to claw our way back to respectability and inclusion in the community at large without suffering the indignity of judgment by others can try anyone’s soul. Many homeless have ended up in the hapless category of “Undocumented” (if you can believe it), through no fault of their own. So many young people are forced from home because of domestic violence, sexual abuse, and substance abuse or because of sexuality or gender issues. Too many moms and dads have lost their jobs and are evicted from homes and apartments. The lucky youth are able to “couch surf” while they try to get identities back. Many homeless families are a pay check away from homelessness and have no indication things will get better.

Imagine being picked up for vagrancy by the authorities and not being able to prove who you are? If you were from Guatemala you would be deported back to your country to fend for yourself. If you’re from here you literally get put back on the street where you’re vulnerable to every indignity imaginable. I’ve witnessed homeless individuals crawling out of bushes like animals to avoid detection and arrest as vagrants and heard stories of homeless people being followed by police in vehicles each night, just waiting for them to lie down somewhere only to keep them moving all night long.

All this reminds me the homeless in our community have shared the lifestyle of illegal aliens.

I know there are community members who would like to help in some way; it shouldn’t be just left up to the public safety department to police.

This is where The Gathering Place comes in. The Gathering Place, located off Union St. at Tenney Way, is a day shelter open to all, for warmth in the winter and cooling off in the sweltering summer, for the homeless, recently homeless and the volunteers who truly care and want to help make a soft landing for the disenfranchised. The Gathering Place is the home for hot coffee, tea, cocoa, baked snacks, cards, games, knitting, coloring, wifi with computers, copy machines, along with a place to meet social workers. The Gathering Place is most of all a place to meet friends and make new friends, a place for companionship and a kind ear with true caring amongst all volunteers and guests.

The Gathering Place exists because a caring group of members in our community saw the need.

If I have learned one thing through my own homeless adventure and what I have experienced at The Gathering Place it’s that we can all be members of one team, the team of rightfulness and forgiveness among family members, friends, coworkers, our community and country. We are not just a “population.” If we need help, we should ask for help. If we can help someone, we should help them. The smallest gesture to let each other know we are there for you and that we have your back helps bring trust and hopefulness back to each and every one of us.

After being acquainted with the folks at The Gathering Place and the services there, I began working on a program I call Almost Home Woodworks to train and hire the homeless to learn carpentry and furniture making, “Because the ladder out of homelessness doesn’t quite touch the ground.” Almost Home Woodworks has had its challenges; I have found it’s hard for the homeless to commit to a full-time schedule without having a roof over their head. I should have known that I would have had trouble myself, but in the fog of war!

To solve this conundrum I’m now using my background in wood products design and manufacturing to work with Habitat for Humanity in developing prefabricated tiny homes as a form of affordable housing in hopes of helping to solve the homeless needs in our community and beyond.

I think there is some poetry here, maybe in a unique way the Buddhist advice, “The obstacle is the path,” was the way. It has helped me learn how my unexpected homeless adventure was my path to help those in need.

GIVING VOICE is a weekly collaboration among four local non-profit service agencies to share information and stories about their work in the community

MICHAEL PERKINS is now a volunteer at the Gathering Place.