They are us.
A growing homeless population: a growing concern
With love and understanding, right? That’s how we’re supposed to think and act toward one another. The End of the Tunnel project is about homelessness in America: communities and individuals in austere circumstances, everyday, in record numbers, living in unorthodox places collectively called, “the tunnel.” To date, the majority of our staff and associates are currently living in or have experienced homelessness. Along with its aptly named sister newsletter, The Tunnel, we strive to educate people about life lived on the street. Through this education, we hope to enhance the understanding, but you have to provide the love.
The End of the Tunnel project is a beacon of hope, a guiding light, and support to those who want help now.
We are dedicated to making a difference through on-the-ground, eye-to-eye interaction, bridging the gap between our fellow citizens in need and concerned people who can help.
By promoting organizations serving the diverse needs existing among homeless people today, and by filling in, case-by-case, where unique needs must be met, we change lives.
A Couple of Misconceptions
“Homeless”
The End of the Tunnel gives assistance on a case-by-case basis because, contrary to popular belief, “homelessness” is only a common symptom of a variety of different problems. The term, homeless, is a fine label, but it grossly oversimplifies the problem when you’re trying to focus on solving it. “Homeless” is no more accurate a diagnosis than “sick” is to describe the patients in a hospital. We could come together as a society and raise money to give everyone in the hospital an appendectomy, and for a small number of patients that might be just the thing they need, but for most of them, it wouldn’t address the real reasons why they’re there.
Too much emphasis has been put on addressing the symptom, “homeless,” rather than addressing the causes that led to each person becoming homeless and the roadblocks that stand in the way of pursuing their preferred lifestyle.
Ready to go?
One of the first things you learn in the tunnel is that most people aren’t ready for help. Most people are not psychologically ready to accept the kind of help that our society wants to give. Perhaps you’ve seen, in movies, where a guy gets to sleep in a nice bed for the first time in years. The writers tug at our heartstrings by showing him take the pillow down and lie on the floor, unable to adapt to the softness of his bed, or perhaps suggesting a secret desire to return to the primitive world from which he came. That one scene, the man and the bed, is only the tip of the iceberg.
Our common mistake is to use ourselves as the norm. We see what would be uncomfortable for us, and we make it a goal to provide our idea of comfort to the person without. But to them, that’s not normal. Think about camping–there are differing degrees of “roughing it.” One person’s idea of camping might be pulling into a paved parking lot of a fully-developed recreation site in their $300,000 RV with triple slides-outs. That person may look at a guy lying on the ground in a sleeping bag and think, “Oh, that poor man!” But if you took that guy and his sleeping bag and put him in a $300,000 RV, yes, he will appreciate the luxury, but he may not have the money to drive the rig back home, or the knowledge to operate the hydraulic leveling system, or the understand the grey and black water systems, etc. The complexity, in his case, might be the very reason he wanted to get away and go camping in the first place. You can’t simply take someone who’s been living a life almost completely free of responsibility, hygiene, and etiquette, and drop them into a world where they once again have expenses, neighbors, appointments, toothpaste, deodorant, home maintenance, and a GE washer/dryer stack unit. It’s overwhelming–so overwhelming, in fact, that it’s scary–unwanted. Most of these folks don’t want a mortgage or a landlord, they just want to be left alone.
This is why we have to accept that transitioning into a lifestyle that better fits our definition of “normal” or “comfortable” might actually be completely unacceptable to most of the people whom we think are suffering. We all need to accept the reality of this situation and realize that the solution probably looks nothing even remotely close to what we imagine.
Misunderstanding goes both ways
It’s a common understanding in the tunnel that “society” wants to solve the homeless problem in either of two ways: conformity or removal. Either way, the message is that they are an undesirable population. It’s hard to invite people to leave the lifestyle, uncomfortable as it is, and assimilate into a society that has shown contempt for them for years. That’s why we work case-by-case with people. People are different, they have different needs, different circumstances, different psychologies, and different philosophies. It takes time to restore a sense of self-worth.
Belonging is an attractive state of being. Among the others in the tunnel, despite the danger and distrust, despite fear and famine, and despite the harsh realities that can scarcely be tolerated without being blurred by a glass pipe, there is still a sense of belonging. Convincing them that they belong in a house, in a family, at a job, or to a church takes time. They’ll be leaving friends they’ve known for years and years on the street, and led by social workers who will disappear upon completion of their respective programs, into a world filled with strangers too busy to stop and say hello to their clean-cut neighbors, let alone to condescend to share a word with someone who hasn’t bathed since last month. It’s a challenge sometimes, particularly with those who have been homeless for many years, to convince them that there are millions of concerned people who really do want them to be healthy, safe, and comfortable, not just clean and self-reliant.
Our goal
The vast, vast majority of the time, the only thing these folks are going to get from us is a business card with phone number on it, which reads, “When you’re ready to get out, call me.” In fact, only a few will get a conversation that stretches beyond, “Are you hungry?” and “Is there anyone you’d like to call right now?” A mere handful will present themselves in such a way that they’re considered candidates for assistance, and a lot of them will say they don’t want it anyway. This is the reality of it. There is an almost incomprehensible truth we all need to let sink in: any homeless panhandler on a street corner will thank you with tears in their eyes if you handed them a fifty-dollar bill, but also offer them a home, medical treatment, detox, drug rehab, a job, debt assistance, and financial education, and they’ll say they’d rather just take the fifty bucks.
We’re not trying to disillusion people by saying we aim to get eighty or ninety percent of homeless people off the streets—that’s a pipe dream—and it’s not even a dream shared by the people who live on the streets. We can, however, completely change the world for that fraction–that handful of people–who do want to get off the street if they are psychologically ready to make the changes in themselves necessary to stay off the street, and are decent enough people to deserve the opportunity to take advantage of the help we provide. They’ll truly appreciate the opportunities afforded them by folks like you who so generously subscribe to the idea that your hard-earned money might be better spent invested in someone in need, rather than spending it on a… banana, a cup of coffee, or a spatula or something—whatever a buck and change buys you these days.
Our goal, made possible through the efforts of our associates and colleagues in the vast network of professionals and volunteers, and by working with people who live in the tunnel, along with your support of the End of the Tunnel initiatives, is to provide truly life-changing opportunities to the people who are most likely to become success stories. More, as others become ready, we’ll be there for them, too. Our goal is not to end homelessness, but to end homelessness for those who are ready to get out for good.
Writing for a Reason
If you want to become a contributor to The Tunnel newsletter, or have written any work of social significance and are seeking publication, please contact LeCrae Publishing to inquire about information.