Publication Date: Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Board of Contributors: It's a small world after all...
Board of Contributors: It's a small world after all...
(September 28, 2005) by Nancy McGaraghan
Still reeling from Katrina, and as Hurricane Rita approaches landfall displacing another 2.5 million people, we see the world as a smaller place -- a place in which we all depend on each other.
When Hurricane Katrina swept through the Gulf Coast, she uprooted more than cities and the environment. As the floodwaters rose in New Orleans, the urban poverty living beneath the southern charm rose to the surface, as well. As one person commented, this natural disaster interrupted a social disaster.
Thank goodness.
Maybe it shouldn't have taken a wake-up call of this magnitude to get a reaction. By now, however, the magnitude of our reaction could make up for a multitude of sins. People from near and far have opened their hearts and their checkbooks.
Is it just happenstance that Katrina and Rita appeared when we were assessing Palo Alto's social consciousness? All summer long, the local news has been focused on how to respond to the people without jobs or homes who live day and night on our streets.
Happenstance or not, we might see this issue with more clarity -- and more heart -- than before. The problems are real. The need for medical care, shelter and education are pressing. And if we believe the statistics in the news these days, poverty and its related social problems are on the rise.
What can we do? Personally, my reaction to someone who is panhandling while I am busily tending to my personal needs is some degree of guilt. Judging from what I hear, guilt or a feeling of unease is a pretty common reaction.
I heard a good story on the subject of guilt. Anthony De Mello was a Jesuit priest who spent most of his adult life working with the masses of urban poor in India. At a dinner back home, with several dignitaries in attendance, steak was being served. One of the guests asked Fr. De Mello how he could eat steak when the streets of India were filled with starving people.
His answer sticks in my mind. He said the solution to poverty is not to deny one's self everything that the poor don't have, or to feel guilty for having more than others. Denying one's self out of guilt usually leads to resentment of the poor, and work done on their behalf will most likely be done with strings attached.
Guilt, De Mello said, turns the mind and emotions inward, on one's self, instead of outward, toward the lives of the poor, where the attention -- and action -- is needed.
In our area, an unbelievable amount is already being done. I spoke with Brooke Scharnke of Urban Ministry. She listed services the organization offers for the homeless, and those at risk of becoming homeless in the Palo Alto area.
Besides emergency beds and transition housing for upwards of 150 to 200 people, the ministry provides hot meals at no cost every day of the year, groceries for families in need and emergency financial assistance. Urban Ministry staffs two drop-in centers where case managers help clients find job training, housing, and medical and dental care. The list goes on.
Urban Ministry partners with many agencies and organizations on the Peninsula. But it is never easy. They do what they do on a shoestring, and that shoestring comes primarily from the strong, loyal support of foundations and individuals. And from the work of 400 active volunteers. That could be you and me, if we chose to help.
None of this takes the homeless and panhandlers off the hook. We have a right to expect civilized behavior and an obligation to keep our town safe. Most of the people living on the streets seem to be lost souls trying to find themselves. There are a few others whose behavior is out of bounds and who should be living where they can get the help, and possibly supervision, they need.
We will not eliminate poverty. But that is neither a reason nor an excuse to hide behind guilt or to choose inaction.
Katrina and Rita showed us in a powerful way that our lives are intertwined. De Mello's work taught him that our most intense human experiences are nothing less than glimpses of the divine. We can't not respond in some way to those who need us.
As with natural disasters, life is not always fair. Some of us need more help than others. If those who are able to help don't, who will? And who will be there to lend us a hand when we need it? We depend on each other to make our town a place where the full spectrum of residents can feel at home.
Nancy McGaraghan is a member of the Weekly's Board of Contributors, and a teacher and board member of Gracenter in San Francisco. She can be e-mailed at chezmcg@hotmail.com.
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