To Sleep or Not to Sleep

I recently had a memorable discussion with a visitor at the Free Market. Before going into detail about what we discussed, I'd first like to say that sometimes the staff of the Free Market have to take the stories we hear at face value. We are not always able to validate the situations that are told to us, and I do not believe that it is up to us to do so. We have a certain level of trust and respect for our visitors and can be assured that there is some truth to the things that are told to us.

This guest asked me to look up the price for a round trip bus ticket. As I did so, I asked him if there was a situation. Due to his fourth citation and third time being arrested for trespassing, he was looking at the prospect of between 6 months and a year in jail. My first thought was, "ok….you were trespassing and were probably doing something you weren’t suppose to do." Why else would the police pick on him, right? He further explained that these citations were issued because of where he was sleeping. 

It turns out that he's homeless, and has no family or close friends to room with. He tells me the shelters are no safer than sleeping on the street, so he picks a spot that he considers to be safe enough to sleep and tries to steer clear of private property and inner city buildings. There are supposed to be green flyers posted in places where the homeless are prohibited from sleeping or hanging about, he tells me, and yet most of these flyers are no where to be seen. Even when no notice is posted, the first trespass is a written warning and other violations after that is 30 days in county jail. 

As I looked at his his face and listened to his story, I realized I had no words to respond. I consider myself an intelligent individual, and yet I could not find a good enough excuse to explain away what had happened to him. There simply wasn’t one. It’s absurd, it’s unfair, and it’s so hard to accept that stuff like this happens to people all the time. 

His public defender informed him, “Well at least when you're serving your jail time, you won’t be homeless.” Of course, his response was that even with guaranteed meals, clothing and a bed to sleep in, none of it was worth losing his freedom. For the crime of sleeping, the comfort of a jail cell could never justify having his rights taken away for something so natural - something that we all must do. 

I'm struck by the realization that he is only one such person. Can you imagine the amount of people who fall prey to similar situations such as this one? Are the homeless always going to be victims of this kind of tomfoolery?

I haven’t the slightest clue of what will become of this situation, but I am glad that this individual is not playing victim and plea bargaining out. There are many homeless people who think they have no voice and feel they have no rights. They think that no one cares or no one is going to want to hear their story, but they're wrong. I care. The staff of The Well care. Many people in ministry care. But is that enough? Is it enough to merely care and show some sympathy? 

I’m not going to offer a spiel of things that you who are reading must do or believe. What I will do is issue a challenge both to you and to myself to refuse to fall victim, whether minor or major, to this type of injustice. I challenge all of us to also help those around us to not fall victim either. 

I know it sounds cliché, but there is great truth to the saying that education is the key. By learning the local statutes, we are equipping ourselves to fight back when we're being taken advantage of. We're better prepared to ask questions. We are then able to object to both unfair treatment and unfair laws, and we know better how to make our voices heard. Because we do have a voice, and together our voices are powerful.