Day Three: the Politics of Homelessness

Today is Election Day. I know, because a homeless man yelled at everyone lined up for breakfast in the food lines.


On social media people are clamoring about the lines at their polling place. The photo above is of a food line that stretches more than three blocks. The participants waited more than forty minutes for these trays.


How long would you wait for three teaspoons of eggs, watery malt-o-meal and a moldy piece of bread? How long do you think hundreds of others who are primarily surviving off disability benefits ought to wait?

The reductions to disability benefits are something you vote for when you approve elected officials and their plans for creating a budget.


Voting, may let you choose between a candidate who will hose down the homeless at night while they sleep, or let them sleep in peace. At least that's one difference I see between Newsom's administration and Ed Lee's. There is a lot less of the needless shuffling around of homeless folks. But, there is also a lot more public drinking and drugging. By which I mean, that in past street retreats people at least attempted to hide it.


The man in front of me had the Ten Commandments written on his jacket. Well, he kind of did. Commandments 7-9 were etc, etc, etc. And the tenth was: only marry 1 nut, not two.

I wonder if our desire to resolve domestic poverty issues is a lot like his jacket. We start off strong and really want to help, but we get a little tired and hope our etc, etc, etc while help. We need creative approaches that will make a real difference and most importantly our tenth commandment for helping the homeless (well perhaps it should be the first) should be compassionate mental health care.


Last night I found this art installation at UN plaza: four mirrors with a bible at the center. If we, our congregations, our cities and our elected officials took a deep look into those mirrors could we say we're doing everything our faith requires to respond to homelessness and hunger? If you answered yes, I'd ask you why there are two homeless children under the age of two behind the art, if we are doing everything we can?

So this Election Day, I hope you will vote.

Then continue voting everyday, by working to end poverty, holding those elected officials to account for addressing poverty issues and vote with your donations to organizations who can make a real difference.

And, as I will do everyday of this street retreat I'll beg you, if you are able, make a secure online donation to Welcome, or participate in our reverse auction.

Today I pray that all individuals elected today will understand their responsibility and obligation to support those who are most vulnerable.


Blessings,
Pastor Megan

Meeting Jesus in the Food Line

Jesus told us that however we respond to those who are naked, hungry, homeless or in prison, we are actually responding to him. This week, I am spending a week in San Francisco eating with the homeless to commune more closely with God.

I've seen Jesus in the dinning halls throughout San Francisco. In the scorching heat, Jesus waits about an hour and a half in the food line, not because of a natural disaster that unexpectedly plagued the area, but because we've grown too used to the many unnatural disasters that keep people living on the edge.

Even if he's managed to avoid or recover from addiction, Jesus's wilderness walking and slipping mental health will likely keep him wrestling demons (present and in haunting flash backs of the past) no one else can see or hear.

Once inside, Jesus devours the food put in front of him, rejects the items that are too hard to chew with a toothless mouth and rarely washes his hands before or after eating. Distant screams of scripture might be a sign of things to come or they might be the product of having thousands of Jesuses in this food line.

In Mark's Gospel, Jesus leads the disciples through a cornfield to show them how to feed themselves and the other followers who are hungry. Jesus embodied the command that we feed people and ensure they have the basic necessities to allow them full participation in the life of congregations and temples.

The story of the widow putting in her last two pennies in the temple offing boxes, is not only an illusion to the fact that those who are the most vulnerable don't get to chose if they'd like take up a cross and follow. Rather, it's tied to their wrists for them daily by our inability to respond.

Regardless of the choices that create poverty, hunger and homelessness, we are called to be a community that sells all our things and gives it to the beggars.

We couldn't imagine actually doing this, because we don't trust our pastor, our neighbor or our family members to do the same once we become the ones in need of care and support.

And like Mark's Gospel, I end this blog without comforting you in hopes that it will inspire you to do something - whatever it is that is yours to do.

Perhaps you help with my goal of raising $3,000 while on street retreat. You can make a secure online donation to Welcome, or participate in our reverse auction.

Or perhaps you will learn more about these and other lessons in the Gospel of Mark. join me Tuesday night at 6pm (PST) for Bible Study that Doesn't Suck or pre-order the book which will be out in early December.

Our first book in our trademarked series Bible Study that Doesn't Suck, will be released in early December.  You can help us get this book printed by pre-ordering your copy now at a reduced rate. 


All the proceeds from the book will benefit Welcome's work feeding the hungry, advocating for the homeless and educating faith leaders across the country about poverty issues.

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Day Two: An intensely sad, lonely crowd

I've been very tired at the beginning of this street retreat. Perhaps it's because in the days before I was keynoting at a nearby conference and I always feel worn out at the end of a conference. Perhaps it is the switching of the brain from academic thoughts to those of basic survival that have me all worn out. Or, perhaps it was the memories if how exhausting on all levels my street retreats are and a bit of my exhaustion was pre-emptive.


Regardless, I spent much of the afternoon yesterday resting on the lawn in front of San Francisco's City Hall. I have some delight in the ability to be so anonymous in that space, because lying on the sidewalk makes me unrecognizable as someone who used to have meetings and official business in there just a few months before.


I also rested there because there are no meal programs that are open for dinner on Sunday and often times, churchy do-gooders will bring snacks and toiletries to those gathered.

It was my lucky day.

While many shelters offer dinner to guests with week or longer reservations, often those who are only able to get an emergency slot or only have a one day reservation are not entranced until after dinner. Sometimes they don't get in until well after midnight.


I panhandled some funds to buy something at a local coffee space so I could use the wireless Internet and talk to my family.

The ability to charge phones, have access to bathrooms and stay in contact with family members is one of the reasons coffee shops have replaced the drop-in centers that the Newsom administration worked so hard to close.


After saying goodnight to my family I went to the Fools. Since most shelters have either a 6 or 7pm curfew or lose your shelter bed, I made sure to make it back around 6:30.

The curfew leaves very little time for socializing with friends who work or participating in church or community events.

This morning, despite going to bed around 9:30 pm, the morning came too quick. I had a horrible time trying to get up at the 6 am wake up call most shelters have and the requirement to be out the door by 7am felt like a punishment.

Even without the difficulties of being woke up every hour or staff that had changing rules, I found the curfew and shelter hours to be oppressive on my body even without actual shelter conditions.

So today, I again felt incredibly lethargic and in need of more rest. So I went to St Bonifice Catholic Church.



This church allows folk to sleep in the pews in the morning and keeps them safe and sheltered. It was here, amongst my hundreds of sleeping companions, that I realized that I'm a bit depressed.

I miss my family and my baby. I know they're coming soon, but dreams of getting in trouble by Child Protective Services for simply being in the same spaces as homeless folk have been haunting my dreams.

I imagine this is just a small fraction of the fear homeless families experience. How much more will I feel this when my son is actually here?



As I wandered into a side chapel area, I saw this icon of St Bonifice and remembered that he was the patron saint of children, who helps women get pregnant and helped keep children safe.

I began to trust that I am in the right place to feel these feelings and remembered that I have lots of support and that millions of families experience homelessness in the U.S. and by peering into the margins of their world I will become much better equipped to support them.

Today I pray for all the parents who are busy finding food and shelters for their families. Give them more than their daily bread. Give them safety and the ability to know their children are safe.

And, as I will do everyday of this street retreat I'll beg you, if you are able, make a secure online donation to Welcome, or participate in our reverse auction.

Blessings,
Pastor Megan
P.S. email me at megan@welcomeministry.org if you'd like to provide me with food, beverages or a meal companion at any point on my journey.

Location:Golden Gate Ave,San Francisco,United States

Street Retreat Begins: The Philosophy of My Street Retreat

Over the past ten years, I've been on many types of street retreats. Some have been chronicled in my blogs here.

In previous years on retreat I spent a whole week in the shelter line, to highlight the lack of space, I've stayed in the youth shelter twice and at an adult women's shelter and experienced the disorientation, fear and trauma of that experience and I've always eat at the meal programs around town with the homeless and hungry.

As I journey through my street retreats, I never lie about who I am about my economic or professional status. I fill out all surveys and shelter access information with my real information and I leave the decision of whether or not to admit me or if I have more or less need than others to the agencies I'm visiting.

I do not go on the streets to pretend I'm homeless.

I go on the streets to experience in my bones some of the feelings and experiences of life on the streets and in the services for homeless individuals. But, I fully acknowledge that I have access to resources and privilege that others do not.

I retreat to the streets by a choice others don't always get to make.

I retreat to the street before my bridges have all been burned down and people are often more generous to me than they might be to others who are even more vulnerable than I am. As someone who is always giving so much, my work on these streets is to learn to be better at receiving.

So I beg for all I need. And if people give me the funds or offer it to me, nothing is off limits. But, I continue to follow the ethics that guide me as a pastor and minister to anyone who asks.

I retreat to the streets to educate you and other readers about homelessness and hunger, particularly during this time that our nation is focusing on the election, poverty in other countries or responding to natural disasters.

People care more about issues when it affects someone they love. Often I'm told that people worry about all the homeless more while I'm on the streets.

I'm making good choices, am highly trained and have a large support network. but, i will not try to lull your fears and I hope you will worry about me and all of my actually homeless brothers and sisters who need your support.

I retreat to the streets because I want to beg so others don't have to. I have a goal of raising $3,000 for Welcome by sleeping on the streets. Your support the homeless and hungry every day of the year and to expand our work around the country. Because our donations are down this year, your support or lack for this street retreat, will help determine if I get my real pay check in December.

I am one of the countless Americans who is one paycheck away from homelessness. This retreat, I'm particularly interested in sharing the stories of this I meet who have fallen to the other side of that crack.

I retreat to the streets because Jesus told us he would be found there and each time I eat a meal with the homeless, I'll be sharing a meal with him.

This year, my partner Alisa and my two month old son Graham will also be joining me on the streets. We will be staying at the Faithful Fools Street Ministry and following the rules of the local family shelters. You can bet that my desire to be safe will increase when my family joins me. I'm particularly interested in learning more about the struggles of families who are homeless this week.

I hope that you'll follow my blog each ay to see what I've learned. And please, if you are able, make a secure online donation to Welcome, or participate in our reverse auction.

Tonight, I pray for all who are living on the streets, that they find shelter, food and support for their journey. On this scorching San Francisco day, I pray that it doesn't aggravate violence or health problems. May all children have enough to eat and ready hands to attend to soiled diapers and calls for cuddles.

May you have all you need and the courage to be your fullest self everyday.

And to everyone who wonders where they will get their daily bread, how they will pay their bills or get out from under piles of debt, I pray we'll all find jubilee.

Thanks for paying attention....

I'll talk to you again tomorrow!

Blessings,

Pastor Megan

P.S. email me at megan@welcomeministry.org if you'd like to provide me with food, beverages or a meal companion at any point on my journey.

Join Pastor Megan on Street Retreat, November 4-12

Pastor Megan will be spending a week on the streets in San Francisco again to raise awareness about homelessness. This year Megan will be focusing on homeless families. In the past, Megan has slept on the streets or in local shelters to feel in her bones a part of what it is like for the homeless in San Francisco, this year Megan will be following family shelter hours at the Faithful Fools Street Ministry (so as not to displace any homeless families who are in need of shelter. Joined by her partner Alisa and baby Graham, Megan will be blogging throughout the week in hopes of educating readers about the needs of homeless families. From November 4th through the 12th, you can follow Megan's street retreat at: http://mystreetretreat.blogspot.com/

In the News: Bay Area Reporter

'Encampment' brings attention to homeless LGBT youth

NEWS

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Published 05/19/2011

by Matt Baume

	Homeless youth and their allies staged a "street sweep" in the Castro last Saturday to bring attention to budget cuts for social service programs. Photo: Matt Baume

The May 14 encampment was part of a nationwide demonstration to raise awareness of homelessness among a demographic known as transition-age youth. Homeless and foster youth between 16 and 24 years old can face unique housing challenges, particularly as they age out of the foster care system and learn to navigate services for adults.

"We're here to engage the community on homelessness, and specifically queer homeless youth issues," said organizer Beck, who uses only one name. "We're in kind of a state of emergency, saying, 'hey community, wake up.'"

Saturday's action started at Civic Center with games, an unveiling of protest banners, and hot meals served by Food Not Bombs. A march proceeded to Harvey Milk Plaza, where speakers read poetry and called for improved access to services to get off the street.

Their requests included housing with kitchens, rather than single room occupancy hotels with no facilities for food preparation; employment opportunities for youth who are unable to complete school; and an end to the sit-lie ordinance.

According to local organizers Trans Youth Rise Above, there are 5,700 homeless youth in San Francisco, of which at least 1,000 are queer.

Operation Shine America, which coordinated similar rallies in other cities, estimates that there are 2 million homeless youth in the country. Queers for Economic Equality Now also organized the San Francisco event.

Beck explained that organizations like the Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center and Larkin Street Youth Services' Castro Youth Housing Initiative have faced repeated budget cuts, reducing services that can prevent youth from living on the street.

Jodi Schwartz, executive director of LYRIC, agreed that times are tight. "There has been a sizable decrease in investments in LGBTQ youth services," she told the Bay Area Reporter. "Just for LYRIC, if we were to lose the last piece of dollars for transition-age youth workforce, our decrease in funding would be 72 percent over the last four years."

Larkin Street Executive Director Sherilyn Adams told the B.A.R. that the extent of cuts won't be known until Mayor Ed Lee releases a budget later this month.

"There's no proposed cuts to the Castro Youth program," she said, but added, "it does not begin to meet the need."

To address the potential consequences of such cuts, Lee recently convened a stakeholder group consisting of representatives from organizations that advocate for homeless youth. Based on feedback from that group, the mayor asked that the Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families prioritize funding for LGBT and undocumented youth.

While organizations hope to turn around the recent budget cuts, local organizers are seeking ways to demonstrate how the city's rate of youth homelessness could worsen.

After Saturday's protest concluded, about three dozen homeless youth spent parts of the night camped out around the Muni station, according to organizer the Reverend Megan Rohrer, director of the Welcome Ministry, a coalition of 12 churches that seek to provide a faithful response to poverty.

Rohrer is currently working with the GLBT Historical Society to raise visibility by drawing inspiration from past struggles. She incorporated a "street sweep" into Saturday's protest, in which participants swept Castro Street sidewalks with brooms to evoke a similar 1960s-era protest.

In that action, LGBTs protested the city's negligent sanitation and police roundups by pushing brooms through the Tenderloin.

Chosing Not to Sleep on the Streets

I made a decision last night to not sleep on the street as planned. At first I was ashamed of my decision. The Rev. Megan Rohrer told those who gathered there that sleeping on the streets that night would not make you a better person but if you went home, just remember you could not do it even one night, when all these youth don't have that choice (paraphrasing there to get the gist!) She was right, it would not have made me a better person, but knowing myself well enough, it would have made more smug. I would have been more critical of colleagues who didn't even show up at all. She was right, I could not, of my own free will, choose to sleep out after all.

But I do know a little something of what it is like to no longer have the choice. I did spend one week of my life homeless, but unlike these youth, it was thru my own stubbornness, my own stupidity. Every day I saw where people had found my clothes and possessions that I tried to hide, since I couldn't carry them all, having been ransacked and little by little I lost them all but for the one small bag I carried with me. I did not have to sleep on hard streets, like most of the youth and other homeless folks do here in the city, I had park, I would crawl into the underbrush and cover myself with leaves so no one would see me. However, I did only have to do this for a week. And I did move on from there. But that experience stuck with me and is why I work with SF Night Ministry and it was why I joined the rally and march last night.

But I still chose not to sleep on the street.

One of the things I have learned in ministry is that it is tough to find out you have limits. There are just certain lines you come to and cannot cross at that moment. Sometimes all you can do is bear silent witness to others suffering, pain, anger etc. and even there, you still reach your limit. I heard things last night that I did not agree with, things I did not want to hear, things I needed to hear. And sometimes I could not hear a thing as I began to wrestle with what it all really meant, what was I supposed to do, how was I supposed to witness?

I chose to stay as long as the speeches, then I chose to go home. My limit, that line last night was that I could not sleep on the street.

Will I go to another rally like this? You bet I will! And another, and another and another, for as long as I am able. And who knows, maybe next time, or the next time or the time after that, I may cross that line and choose to sleep on the street! or Maybe that will never happen. We will see.

-Bishop Rusty Clyma