Boise's City Council To Allot $2 Million To End Homelessness

While it isn't the gold star that is needed to truly put an end to this societal problem, it's a very good start. I'd like to see the Corvallis City Council enact something similar.

Homelessness isn't an issue whereby we separate a class of people and attempt to figure out how to "fix" them. We're all susceptible to finding ourselves without a permanent home in which to live. Illness. Job loss. Underemployment. Divorce. Natural or man-made disaster. Spousal abuse. Death of a spouse.

To solve this problem we must look at our culture. We must look at what we believe, what we think about ourselves and one another. Quite often, when we are quiet, when we tune into that heart space, we tend to find out that what we really believe and feel is contrary to what we are taught, such attitudes taught in order to preserve the status quo, such attitudes taught to ensure our own personal survival out there in the jungle.

Survival of the fittest/competition is still indeed very much in play in our minds as it is sadly needed in our modern way of life. Just look at something as basic and supposedly benign as the holiday shopping frenzy. Not finding a parking spot can suddenly kick in a survival instinct. ME FIRST!! ME FIRST!! Or take the job search. Trust me on this one when I say I can become a tiger when I think someone else is competing for a job I really want/need/desire. Suddenly I think of no one but my own basic survival needs. The other person becomes my enemy, or at the very least, someone whom I hope fucks up in some way so that my chances of landing employment increase. I find myself disliking someone whom I have never met. Or at least sending them some pretty ugly thoughts.

So so sad.

We have a system that ensures not everyone gets what he or she wants or needs.

And yet it doesn't have to be this way.

Fixing the homeless problem isn't just about providing homes for people in need. It is changing how we live our day to day lives. It's closely examining and changing how we think about one another and ourselves. It is realizing none of us make it out in the world alone. The System in and of itself is cold and heartless. Some are fortunate to be born into a loving family, surrounded by amazing support in all areas with loving extended friends and community members also joining in that support. History (and common sense) shows us that, overall, those born in such conditions have a much greater ability to make it out in the world.

We all need to be told (and embrace) how amazing we each are. We need to realize (and embrace) that how we live is just one example of an endless variety of ways. Please don't ever let anyone convince you that "the way it is" is somehow permanent or cemented in stone.

So yes, let's throw money at a problem, but let's stop thinking this alone will fix the issue. Healing the human mind/body/heart/spirit takes more than money. It takes love (for ourselves and one another) on an on-going basis to heal ourselves of our ills. Love In Action. There is no other way.