One Size Does Not Fit All

One size never fits all. 

America has always been lauded as the country of rugged individualism, and teamwork. The two ideas seem to contradict one another, but there is no limit to what can be done when a group of visionaries put their heads together. That's the USA I grew up in, and the one that I love. 

I also feel that it is one that is fast disappearing. Everyone wants to dress the same, with the same hairstyle. The buildings all look the same in the same neighborhoods. Even all the new cars look a lot alike to me. 

Now I hear some of you saying, "You're just becoming old and jaded." Nothing could be further from the truth. Right now my life is better than it has been in a mighty long time. 

So why this unease about the current and future state of our nation? 

Because, even though many people are good at identifying our social issues, and some may even want to do something about them, most  embrace a one size fits all approach. This is especially true with homelessness and related societal ills, such as substance use/abuse, mental illness, health care and medicine, housing models, judicial, penal, and law enforcement systems. A homeless person is a homeless person, right? they are all addicted, crazy bums who need to be punished and locked up! 

Nothing could be further from the truth. Just as each of us is an individual, perhaps part of a family, so it goes with every single homeless person you see (or don't see, depending on how you position your nose). They are men, women, teens, and young children who were and/or are someone's baby, spouse, brother, sister, mother, father. They are human beings, stuck on the same twirling, speeding pebble as the rest of us. Most of them became homeless because the help they need is not available to them, or they were preyed upon by another person, place, or thing. Some of them continue to be victimized and suffer because of a system that either traps them in place, or has let them down completely. 

I began to care about myself again, and work toward stability and self-sufficiency because a few individuals made me feel like I was no longer invisible, was not an animal or a number, but a person who needed their help. I know that I wasn't the only person they helped, but they made me feel like I was, and that made all the difference in the world. It got me where I am today, and thinking about where I want to be tomorrow. 

Now each and every day I get closer to the person I always wanted to be. Because someone cared for me as an individual. 

We will never eliminate homelessness. For every person we help, another comes along that needs our compassion. 

But, if we start looking at people, instead of problems, individuals, instead of groups, and start applying healing to them holistically and personally, we will make greater progress toward a just and equitable society than we ever have in the history of humanity. 

It is up to us. No one else can do it.

Stay cool, and stay you. ---RGR

Visit the RGR Facebook Page