This is an age-old debate. How much should you do to help the homeless?
There are those who say the more you do for the homeless, the more you will have them around. When you provide them with meals, clothes, shelter, it just gives them more reason to not do anything differently, goes the argument. So, yes, if you want to have homeless in your community, help them all you can, and they will always be there. If you give them what they need, they don’t have motivation to earn it.
Then, there is the other side of the argument. Those who have should help those without. Feed the hungry. Clothe the poor. Lend a hand to the weak. There are men, women and children who need food, who need clothes, who need a roof over their heads. And if no one helps them, how will they ever break free of this cycle they are in? By donating money, time and goods, we can improve the lives of those around us and, in turn, improve the community we call home.
We bring this up because the story of Suzanne Pearson in our Sunday paper raised that question. She gives clothes, blankets, pillows and hygiene items to the homeless. Now, for the most part, no one objects. It’s nice she raises donations through friends, family and her church, Koloa Union Church.
Pearson found not everyone was pleased when she started giving to those in the homeless encampment behind the Haleko Shops Complex. Now, it’s not that people who work there are against homeless. But when those are the folks behind the vandalism, theft, litter and other problems in the area reported to police, it’s easy to understand why those at Haleko Shops Complex would prefer not to have a homeless encampment out their back door, and why they objected to Pearson bringing them donations each week.
So, what’s the solution?
Help the homeless or leave them alone?
Help them, and they may stay. Leave them alone and they may move on and look elsewhere to pitch a tent.
In this case, we would opt for leaving them alone. While we advocate for helping others in need, when you have people who work at Haleko Shops Complex voicing concerns about a homeless encampment, and reports bear out the police have been called numerous times, it’s a situation that can’t be ignored.
People like Suzanne Pearson have big hearts, and this world could use more like her. They want to do what they can for the homeless and, in our view, that eventually will lead to an improved situation for all. God bless her.
That said, we can’t discount police reports that indicate this homeless encampment is responsible for activity that hurts businesses in the area. And if there are those who ask you not to help the homeless because it is hurting their businesses, we should respect that request, not discount it.
Here is what we suggest. Help the homeless if you can. It might be just what they need to take a few steps in the right direction toward recovery, and they won’t forget that someone reached out to them. But don’t help them to the point where they surrender personal responsibility for whatever situation they find themselves in, to the point where they no longer feel the need to take the steps to make a better life. Some will stay where they are no matter how low that may be.
You know the old saying: “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
How true.
You’ll have to decide which one works for you.
