I have a neighbor who started a business on Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis decades ago. Business was not always easy, but they survived, employed others, paid rent and taxes, and lived on whatever was left.
Just as his business was allowed to reopen after the mandated shut down, a number of homeless people camped outside his front door. Some, he said, pursued his clients. Others left deposits on the sidewalk, still others were dealing drugs. Customers called and told the shop owner they had to go elsewhere. Diving deeper in debt, he let his employees go and closed for good.
There has been a new group of homeless people in the downtown area recently—people who are new to those angels who daily work with homeless individuals. Some believe that they may have been released early from incarceration due to the COVID virus—others just don’t know. One thing is for sure: Retail and homeless tents don’t seem to coexist to anyone’s benefit.
Downtown business people affected by this include folks like sandwich shop owners at the City Market, masseuses, and beauticians. They have families to support and often are at risk of losing businesses they have invested their lives in for years. They have asked the mayor’s office for help to make the area more accessible to their customers. In response, the city said it would launch a $1 million advertising campaign to encourage people to visit downtown. Hmm. Advertising?
Here’s what the Bible says about situations like this: First, the Bible doesn’t use the term “homeless” but we recognize that someone who has adequate funds, will, sooner or later, put a roof over his or her head. It doesn’t take a genius to conclude that someone who lives on the street—whether without money, or with a terrible addiction, or one who deals with mental illness, is poor. And the Bible has a lot to say about how we are supposed to treat the poor.
We are to be radically different than the world in providing help for them. In this case, we have to get treatment for those who have mental issues or are truly involved with drug and alcohol addictions, and find a way to help those who cannot work. We are to give a hand up to people who can become self-sufficient, and most importantly, we can’t just chase homeless people from one area to another.
I’m sure the ad campaign idea came out of a sincere wish to help many good people stay in business. That is an important goal. But before we spend $1 million to advertise, we must first get radical help to the homeless on our streets. None of this will end until we get to the root of the issue here, to see each person as having individual obstacles, and help each to find real shelter where needs can be met, answers can be found, and lives can be improved.
Let’s put the dollars there.
Nancy
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