Thanks to Danny Fisher, who pointed me to Tom Armstrong—a Buddhist who blogs about his experience of being homeless at Homeless Tom. I appreciated the comment that Tom just left, in response to Danny’s post:
“I recommend that readers of your blog do a “plunge,” as they call it: Spend a day or two, or a week or two, in the Homeless World in your city or one far enough away that your co-workers won’t see you and worry….Yes, ‘pretending’ to be homeless is far from BEING homeless, but it gains you a lot of appreciation about what goes on in Homeless World. You’ll learn how nice and worthy so very many people are. You’ll also gain a sense of the frustrations and the Great Inescapable Bear Trap that makes getting out of the circumstance near impossible.”
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Since this is your introduction to Tom, please allow me to complete the intro by letting you know that he is the mastermind behind the Blogisattva Awards–which honor “excellence in English-language Buddhist blogging.” Amazingly, in spite of his present circumstances, it seems that Tom has things in place for the 2009 Awards. Check out the website here. The Blogisattvas are a really fun part of the Buddhoblogosphere, and Tom, as I have said at my site before, those of us who take this Buddhist blogging thing seriously have no greater champion out there than Tom. Between the Blogisattvas and his own blogging work, he’s done such an enormous lot to “introduce Buddhists–and others with a nascent interest in Buddhism–to some of the great many excellent, varied Buddhism blogs that are out there, as close as a click away.” I know I’m not alone in appreciating all that he offers.
Cool stuff. Thanks for the heads up, Danny and Shambhala Sun Space–I’ll check Tom’s writings out.
A list of some Street Retreats being held this year can be found here:
http://www.peacemakerinstitute.org/BW_street_retreat.html
I was homeless for 3 years. No vice causation only economic. Came to accept it. Enlightening to say the least. May choose it again. Only the need for companionship brouht me out.
Randall, it’d be great to know why it’s a path you’d choose again. IF you care to add anymore to your post.
Molly
Thanks for the attention, everyone. Oh, and happy Groundhog Day, my favorite holiday of the year.
I see that Kate Crisp put up an advertising link. I need to say that what I am suggesting as a plunge – a do-it-youself experience [which is easy to do, safe and really groundless] – is very different from what Street Retreat offers.
For men, what I suggest is rather easy. Get online and locate your metropolis’s prime homeless gathering place and a shelter. Dress down. Bring a backpack (and include a cellphone if you want). And then … just get out there.
The great majority of homeless people ARE VERY MUCH NOT the folks pictured if you look at google’s images (using keyword “homeless”) [ http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=homeless&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2 ] By itself, this is revelatory. But, certainly, too, there are people in Homeless World who are the images on google, are disfunctional and abandoned by society [AND mostly ignored by the Blue Meme and Mean Green Meme homeless-aid facilities.]
Homeless World is NOT an alien terrain. I have to say I am little repelled by Street Retreat’s $108 getaway adventure, an effort to dive into stinkiness, have support networks, and be removed from things by being highly analytical.
Truly, I think you can appreciate and understand the whole of Homeless World by coming, mostly, as you are. Just GO THERE. Interact with people, to the max. Suffer the disorientation of not knowing what to do at the aid facilities. Don’t allow yourself to be put off by the dirtiness or violation of personal boundries. Be observant.
For women, getting into Homeless World may be a bit more difficult. [The ratio of men to women is, maybe 6 to 1. It’s my experience that women are treated much differently than the men. The woman can be a ‘rougher’ sampling from the general population than is the case with the men. It is perhaps best that women get into the World with a friend and get advise from a Homeless-women help group before taking a plunge.
Anyway, these are my thoughts, off the cuff. Please care about the marginalized people in your community, y’all.
I was knitting hats for the nuns in Tibet. They are delivered every 2 years. In the meantime, does anyone know of an available women's homeless shelter in the Berkeley/East Bay area to give away more hats?
Being disabled and pretty immobile, this is a perfect venue to help in my Buddhist practice and contribute to homeless needs. Any other suggestions will help.
Is this Tom Armstrong aka Dogstar???