So yesterday as I was dropping off cold medicine to a dear friend of mine, we noticed a man wandering around her apartment building. She doesn't recognize the man and I surely don't so when he approached us, we were nervous to say the least. He began to tell us a story of how he fell asleep on the bus and missed his stop in Detroit where his premature baby was being born and then told us he was not sure if she was going to make it. After he poured out his life story to us, he asked for a couple dollars to catch the city bus to Pontiac. My friend and I refused the man (She didn't have any cash on her and I wasn't sure what would happen if I reached in my purse) and with a defeated look, he thanked us and walked out the door. As we stood there conversing, I watched the man cross the street and go in and out of buildings probably telling the same story.
This is where my dilemma starts...
How do you know when a person less fortunate than you is being sincere and really needs your help as opposed to a person who may only want your money for their next hit? It's a hard "mind battle" that I have been facing for the last couple weeks. A few weeks ago, while I was driving my mother and I home, we saw a man standing on the corner of Corunna and Ballenger with a sign that read something beyond my memory now. After a moment of silence, I asked my mother, "how do you know when you should help a homeless person?" her reply was "you don't know. But you never know what Angel you may be blessing so you have to have faith." That's a hard thing to do. I don't want to support a person using money to buy drugs or alcohol; however, I don't want to bypass an angel. A couple years ago, the homeless shelters in Flint did a report on the percent of homeless people in the city. In 2009, there were 2,961 homeless people in the city. There's no telling where that statistic is now. The state of homeless people is a national crisis. Not since President Clinton have we seen anyone is a strong position try to eliminate this problem. So when will it end?
