HOPE FOR THE HOMELESS

SPRING 2020

TO TRANSFORM THE LIVES OF THE HOMELESS, our society has to build an infrastructure – physically, economically and politically – to support them. But what can we do as individuals?
We sat down with George Horton, director of social and community development for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York, to get the perspective of someone who has worked this beat for more than four decades.

Archways: What’s the most important thing we can do to improve the lives of the homeless?

George Horton: We’ve got to put resources into affordable housing and increase services for mental illness and drug rehab and helping people when they come out of prison. We also need to have a fundamental change in our hearts. We have to discard all of our preconceived notions and really listen to the stories of the people who have been through the wringer. Pope Francis has been strong in telling us to go to the margins and engage in dialogue with people. Unless we change our hearts we are going to live with these problems for a long time.

One of the things we do in this office is support the cause for sainthood of Dorothy Day. She was a model of openness to others. She also said we each have to do what we can. A handout is good. If people are on the street, we need to urge them to go to a shelter. But that’s not the end of the story. We need to be sure those shelters are safe and that they help people get into permanent housing. And most importantly, we have to think about how we can restore people to community, to a place where they feel connected.
 

“WE NEED TO DISCARD ALL OUR PRECONCEIVED NOTIONS AND REALLY LISTEN TO THE STORIES OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN THROUGH THE WRINGER.”

GEORGE HORTON

AW: Why is it so hard to come back from homelessness?

GH: So many people live paycheck to paycheck – becoming homeless is a threat to many more people than we imagine. Still, most of us never experience the kind of suffering that goes on when somebody doesn’t have a place to lay their head. It’s suffering on top of suffering. At some point a person becomes disconnected, they become unable even to avail themselves of the services that are available.

AW: What can we do as Catholics to help our homeless neighbors?

GH: We have to read the sermon on the mount again and understand the compassion of Christ
as our starting point. We need to think of the scriptures, the gospel, and see Jesus reaching out to people who are in need of healing, who are suffering, who are on the margins. When we receive the Eucharist, are we thinking about how we can love people who are left out?

Recently, when Cardinal Dolan dedicated new housing units built by Catholic Charities up at St. Augustine's in the Bronx, he thanked the audience of builders, contractors, and state and city officials for applauding, but then said of the project: “It’s our duty. It’s what we are required to do.”

To me, that’s a core message. This is not just a “nice thing to do.” We can be altruistic and we can be nice to each other, but we are required to reach out to people on the margins. Our faith demands it. Building a building is not easy, and building a community in that building is not easy, and building relationships to the surrounding community is not easy – but it’s our duty, and duty in the deepest sense.

AW: What can we do when we see a homeless person on the street?

GH: I would see them. I wouldn’t walk by. I would see them. And then I’m going to say to myself, well, maybe once a day I’m going to stop, and maybe I choose who I stop and talk to, and I give them money for coffee and I ask them how they are. I make some change in how I encounter a homeless person on the street. Just some change. Many of the stories I’ve heard from people who were homeless were of moments when someone stopped and expressed some care for them. How are you doing today? Where are you staying? Are you getting the help you need?

It was the philosophy of Dorothy Day: You encounter this person one on one, face to face, and see them as a child of God. See them as made in the image and likeness of God. And see Christ in them.

And what is the Christ you see in them? You see their ability to love. One thing I’ve seen is the incredible capacity for love among those who have been left out, disenfranchised. I have never encountered one who, in recovery, is not about asking, How can I give back? Because God has been good to me, how can I give back? And that’s a lesson for all of us.

We’re not asking everyone to become social workers. But in our mind we should say, Let me see this person. Maybe that’s the starting point. You don’t pass a homeless person on the street without seeing. You don’t just look the other way. You engage, you look, you encounter. That may be the starting point. It could be a smile, it could be a wave.

Once you see that human being, once you hear the stories, you will be changed. You will see the world differently. Jesus calls you to see that person. By the activity of trying to know them, you will change.