The Social Stigma of Homelessness

742 Words2 Pages

In the early hours of the morning on Thursday, January 3, 2013, James G. Fulmer was found frozen to death on the steps of a Nashville Church. James Fulmer was 50 years old, homeless, and physically handicapped (wsmv.com). His tragic story is just one of almost 1,000 homeless men and women will suffer death caused by hypothermia each year. (nationalhomeless.org). Every night in the United States, over 600,000 people encounter homelessness. Their stories are diverse and their paths to homelessness, varied. Many have found themselves on the streets due to domestic violence, job loss and mental illness (npr.org). Some were teachers, accountants, musicians, painters, and even doctors. So many of the homeless population once lead normal lives. Yet, there is a social stigma that views the homeless as lazy, unwilling to work, uneducated and even untrustworthy. In a Capitalist society that places the highest value on image and the almighty dollar, there seems to be little desire to interact with these “outcasts”.
According to a recent New York Times article, there are people in New York with multiple jobs that still cannot afford to pay the rent on a apartment in the city. Therefore, many remain homeless and must find relief in one of the city’s shelters. (nytimes.com) The New York Times states that, “Advocates of affordable housing say that the employed homeless are proof of the widening gap between wages and rents — which rose in the city even during the latest recession — and, given the shortage of subsidized housing, of just how difficult it is to escape the shelter system, even for people with jobs….the jobs aren’t enough to get people out of homelessness” (nytimes.com). What we see modeled in New York City is a disturbing ...

... middle of paper ...

...nd policy concerns, all with a huge economic overlay” (governing.com).
What Jonathan Walters is so clearly observing is the need for men and women in all areas of life (education, government, psychology, medicine, etc) to become active in solving the issue….together. The church is undoubtedly filled with people of influence in all of the aforementioned areas and yet the church body is failing to obey fundamental Biblical commands that deal with social justice. The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., famously once said "it is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o'clock on Sunday morning”…and while he was referring to racial segregation, his comment holds true in terms of classism and social segregation. If we are to ever see an end to homelessness, the Church must become proactive, missional and obedient to the teachings of Jesus.

Open Document