No Wind. Just Gone.
On Friday night, the Night Watch team visited the MLK/Lee property (more here, here.) We were early and no one had come back to sleep yet, but there were signs that someone was still staying there. This afternoon, less than 48 hours later, I drove back by to check on a friend and discovered that the camps had been cleared:
I’ve known for a while that this was coming, but I still wasn’t prepared for what I saw. It was an eerie feeling to walk up to the place where a homeless friend was sleeping two nights ago on his bed in a shelter he’d built and now find only bare ground. My mind was racing and my heart was sinking, wondering what it must have felt like when he came back to sleep last night and found his bed and his belongings gone. I mean… I just cannot imagine.
I absolutely agree that land owners have a right to develop their own property. I recognize that this land did not belong to the homeless people who stayed there, and that they had no legal right to camp there. I acknowledge and am very thankful that City staff made repeated efforts to ensure that those staying on the property were informed that the land would be cleared, and that they were made aware of other possible options for the future. I am grateful for the concern and compassion showed by all the City folks I spoke to.
But I also know that the only reason that homeless people were camping on that property in the first place was because they had no place else to go. And my faith tradition tells me that I am my brother’s keeper. And if my brother (or sister) is homeless and lacks medical care, mental health treatment, substance abuse rehabilitation, affordable housing, or gainful employment, then as a member of this community, I share in the responsibility for making those things available. I still have a house and a bed, but I won’t rest easy until there’s a home for all of us.
And I can’t help wondering where our friends are sleeping tonight…
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