The Problem of the Homeless

In New York City, there stood a beautiful apartment building. The tenants were understandably proud of their building: they all had fabulous views of the city, the lobby was always impeccable, and their doormen kept the front sidewalk in pristine condition. The tenants lived there very happily for many years. And then one day, the building next door began an extensive renovation project. The scaffolding that was installed proved to be a wonderful shelter from the elements. Soon, the tenants noticed that every night around six o’clock, a group of about twenty people gathered to build sleeping quarters under the scaffolding out of cardboard boxes. In the morning, apartment maintenance men would remove the boxes and the trash and hose down the sidewalk. the homeless people then dispersed until 6 o’clock the next evening.
Soon, co-op meetings were being held to discuss “the problem of the homeless.” “the homeless are dirty!” one tenant cried. “They get drunk and throw up on the sidewalk!” “They’re bums!” said another - “One even asked me for money the other day!” “They could be deranged,” said a young couple. The consensus was quickly reached: the homeless were dangerous.

A woman named Mary Ann stood up to speak. “I’ve watched these homeless,” she said. “I’ve seen outreach counselors from the homeless coalition speaking with them about other options, but I notice it’s the same people who return night after night. They choose to remain here. Perhaps we should realize that they are our neighbors now. They seem to be a pretty quiet group, and I haven’t seen any signs of violence among them.”

An awkward silence followed. Then the discussion began again: “I’ll speak to the building manager,” one woman said. “Perhaps if we stopped cleaning up after them, they’d leave.” “I think we should call the police,” said another man. “We could tell them that the homeless have been threatening us. Maybe they can force them to move.” “Where would they go?” said Mary Ann. “To someone else’s street!” several voices replied.

The meeting ended. But several days later, Mary Ann overheard a conversation in the lobby. “We need to talk to Mary Ann again about the homeless,” a woman said. “I think she’s feeding them.”

[from Spiritual Literacy by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat]