By choice or due to life’s circumstances, homeless individuals are forced to live a life of hardship. Life as a Homeless Person.
Some call them clochards, others homeless, though the latter term is more politically and humanely correct, though it still doesn’t fully capture the situation. Regardless of the term used, in today’s world, there are many people living in precarious conditions, those who find nothing better than a cardboard box to shelter from the cold during the night’s rest on a bench or under the arches.
Cold is their number one enemy. There was mention of a cold assistance project, but recent discoveries of bodies make it seem like that project didn’t come to fruition.
On the internet, there are some blogs that denounce the lack of dignity and attention that the world of politics has given to this problem. It is local institutions, like some municipalities, or charitable organizations like the Red Cross, that take it upon themselves to provide heated field tents to offer minimal shelter and a modicum of dignity to those living on the streets.
Homeless individuals belong to a ‘population’ teetering on the edge of an abyss filled with pain and poverty.
Homeless people avoid exposure to the light, perhaps because they lack shade, or maybe they are ashamed to mix with others, the so-called ‘normal’ people. They are bundled up in rags, laden with bags containing their ‘wealth,’ whatever they scavenge around – food scraps, rags, society’s discarded items, and cardboard for shelter.
Their lives are devoid of anything, material or emotional, and they have no reference point except for a bench or an archway to spend the night. They are the lives of men and, increasingly, women, many of them elderly, but more and more often, young.
These are the lives of people who have chosen an existence based on freedom, but above all, they are the lives of sick people, disowned by their families, drug addicts, ex-convicts, or patients discharged from mental institutions. However, there are also unemployed, immigrants, evicted, and marginalized individuals due to life’s countless cirunwillingly
All these categories of people who have fallen into disgrace are a wake-up call to our dulled sense of justice. They are forced to humiliate themselves to ask for a piece of bread or a few coins because in their lives, they have received nothing, or destiny has played tricks on them, willingly or unwillingly.
In their defense, often, it would take very little to restore their dignity, a sense of purpose in life: a job for the unemployed, treatment for the sick or addicted, a room for those who have lost their desire
Homeless people, starving individuals, vagabonds – they all have a heart and a soul, a soul that becomes even more beautiful as it swells with desire.
If each of us had the experience of being homeless for a short while! To wear rags, stand at a crossroads, extend a hand to passersby, endure their disdain, or thank them for their alms.
What a lesson in humility!
The difference between the homeless and the poor lies right here; the former may not be wealthier than the latter, but they are content with what they have and ask for nothing from anyone.
Ps: I dedicate this article to Sir Dennis Pitocco, an extraordinary man who never tires in his commitment to addressing and solving the world’s problems. His dedication and compassion toward those living a difficult life, often overlooked by society, are a source of inspiration for all of us. With his constant commitment, Sir Dennis reminds us of the importance of extending a helping hand to those in need, and of restoring dignity and hope to those who have fallen into disgrace.
Editor’s Note: Help us help the unsheltered. Let’s listen and share their personal stories so we can change the narrative “for good”. LEARN MORE HERE
