By Howard T Spence
“The man who lived beneath the bridge”
Yes, it has been very cold this past month here in the greater Lansing area. Many of us have avoided being out and about in this weather, and rush back into warm homes and workplaces to keep from being frostbitten. But not every body has a warm home to go to to avoid this frigid Michigan winter weather. Homelessness here in mid-Michigan is very real. The plight of being homeless is especially bad during winter months and times when the weather and elements are difficult and sometimes even life-threatening.
The homeless include men, women, and sometimes even children. People who are homeless come from every demographic and ethnic background. The reasons that these individuals or families may find themselves homeless are varied, and the length of time that they are homeless varies from a few days to extended periods of chronic homelessness.
You probably have seen some homeless people as you drive on the streets and observe individuals standing on corners with signs asking for financial help or handouts. Some of them seem to be obviously homeless and impoverished – dressed in unkempt, ill fitting, worn and sometimes dirty clothing. Many stand asking for help on corners with backpacks which contain most of their worldly possessions. Sometimes these people seem to be somewhat scary and threatening and people look the other way when they drive by them.
Homeless individuals show up at public or non-profit shelters which are sponsored by religious organizations or community assistance grants. Some of the larger homeless shelters in our area include locations like Siren House, the Lansing Rescue Missions, and shelters maintained by organizations such as the Volunteers of America or the Salvation Army. Another organization which tries to assist the homeless and hungry and destitute of our community is the Homeless Angels organization. More recently the homeless Angels organization has established a shelter with limited bedspace in what was formerly the Burkewood Inn.
During the recent bitter cold which has engulfed our region, all of the homeless shelters in our communities have been full everyday and have had to turn away people seeking shelter overnight. Normally the shelters for homeless people are only open during night hours so that homeless people may have a place to sleep which is sheltered. You can see lines of homeless people standing outside of such homeless shelters each evening between 6:00 and 7:00 PM in line waiting to try to secure one of the beds for overnight shelter. The Homeless are not allowed into the shelter until a given time in the evening, and they must be out and about on the streets the next morning at a very early hour. Some shelters offer food and a bunkbed, and also exposure to spiritual encouragement.
I recently met a young 26-year-old black man named Allen S. who is chronically homeless and wandering around the downtown Lansing area. Allen was originally from Jackson, Michigan, where he had been in foster care for most of his adolescent and adult life. He had a history of being a sexual assault victim during his early years, had been in foster care at various times including in an emancipated status, and had never graduated from high school or achieved a GED. Allen stated that he had ADHD and an anxiety condition. Allen had been incarcerated in jails for “2 or 3 times” already in his young life. He knows some of his family members and foster parents who have “given up” on him, and he spoke somewhat wistfully about a grandmother who used a cook for him but who had now apparently also given up on him. Allen looked sad and ashamed when he stated that he did not have a family or a place to go, but he believes he does have “a future.”
Allen survives by panhandling, finding cans to trade for deposits, and apparently even occasional earns money from sexual favors or “tricks” from people he meets in the downtown area or on the Internet. His major connection to the world seems to be an old, battered cell phone which he uses whenever he can get to an open or public hotspot for wireless connection.
Allen is an alcoholic. Sometimes he has to prioritize between getting food and getting alcohol. He drinks every day that he can, and he states that his favorites are E & J whiskey and a beer-like alcoholic drink called “Natty Daddies.” When I interviewed Allen, he had a water bottle in which he had a concoction consisting of a mixture of cheap whiskey and a “Natty Daddy.” Allen also seems to be constantly wanting marijuana which he claims helps him with his “anxiety.”
Allen states that he wants to get a job and work, but he apparently has never been able to do so. He basically lives and sleeps each night outside beneath one of the bridge overpasses along the Lansing Riverwalk Trail. He has all of his worldly belongings in a backpack which he carries with him wherever he goes. He also has some blankets that he received from the Homeless Angels which he carefully hides in a location beneath the bridge where he often sleeps.
Allen described the life that he leads as a homeless person. He usually is up early in the morning and likes to go to a nearby Bisbee coffee shop where he orders coffee and sits for extended periods of time listening to music he has downloaded to his cell phone. Another way that he likes to pass his time is to get on one of the local CATA buses and ride aimlessly and endlessly around the greater Lansing area while sipping on a beverage in his water bottle and listening to some of his favorite music.
Allen showed me a beat up and small New Testament which he says he carries everywhere with him inside of his backpack. He states that he likes to read it. He also states that he has received help and encouragement from some of the members at Central Free Methodist Church which is located only a a few blocks away from the location under the bridge were he usually sleeps.
Allen is just one of the stories of homelessness which is being told every day here in the greater Lansing area. He was really worried about his immediate future when I interviewed him during the record bitter cold during mid-February here in Lansing. He stated that there were a number of his friends who were living like him outdoors in the cold weather, and one of their major objectives was staying alive and not having severe cases of frostbite or worse. During the recent bitter cold weather, a homeless person almost lost his life and froze to death in Reuters Park downtown near the library.
All of the homeless shelters in the Lansing Lansing area have been full during the recent weeks of cold weather and had been turning away homeless people who went there seeking a place to stay for the night out of the frigid weather. Allen stated that there had been a couple of times where he had become very desperate and frostbitten, and had gone to the Sparrow hospital emergency room where he had been able to stay for a few hours and warm-up.
All of the homeless shelters do solicit and accept donations from the public to help them feed and shelter the homeless and distressed in our community – especially during these challenging winter months.
This article is an opinion piece.
