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| editorial January 14, 2019 |
For
the benefit of residents who don't have access to the Daily
News-Record (now under new management), here's an example of why I
subscribe:
When the mercury drops and the snow falls as it did this weekend, many of us have an extra pep in our step as we make the frigid journey from the car to the front door.
Maybe
you put on a kettle to make tea you can sip while snuggled under a
warm blanket and perhaps in front of a wood stove or fire.
It
times like these we might acknowledge the pleasures of creature
comforts, but we suspect many take them for granted. It’s times like
these that some in our community flock to the Open Doors emergency
shelter.
They
don’t have a home or most likely even a car to seek refuge from the
elements, and Open Doors is often their only option other than
sleeping outside or committing a petty crime to get a roof over their
head for the night in Rockingham County Jail.
Called
the Harrisonburg And Rockingham Thermal Shelter when it opened in
2007, Open Doors is a seasonal shelter hosted by faith-based
organizations, which supply volunteers to help serve a nightly meal
and visit with guests. Its location varies each week.
Open
Doors guests may not be able to get into other shelters because they
have substance-abuse problems or are registered sex offenders. Not
all fall under those categories, and many are simply down on their
luck and had nowhere else to turn.
Regardless,
the volunteers and staff who provide these folks with a hot meal, a
little dignity and other support are to be commended for what they
do.
Cynics
say organizations like Open Doors enable homelessness, a ludicrous
assessment of the work it does.
The
goal, foremost, is to prevent people from dying of exposure, with the
long-term aim of helping people gain permanent housing, which Open
Doors has successfully done.
Is
there potentially someone who would take advantage of a well-meaning
group of people? Maybe, but that’s better than living in a
community that doesn’t care if marginalized people die in the
streets.
At
least that’s what Matthew 25 might lead you to believe.
“...
I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you
gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me
in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in
prison and you did not look after me.
“They
also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a
stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help
you?’
“He
will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of
the least of these, you did not do for me.’”
2 comments:
Thank you for sharing this, Harvey! I was not aware that people say that places like Open Doors "enable" homelessness. The idea is ludicrous. I know that many of the people there with employment or other income have the budgets to afford some of the cheaper apartments in town and have applied with rental companies and been denied or flat out ignored (potentially due to low credit or their rent to income ratio). Open Doors is not a perfect solution by any means, but this is in no way the fault of the staff, management, volunteers, or many of the guests. It's a way to keep people safe and warm in poor weather and freezing temperatures. As one of the staff members has said, "we're just here to give [the guests] a meal and a bed." no questions asked.
The sad fact of the matter is that in Harrisonburg the JMU (and maybe EMU to an extent, I'm not sure if they must live on campus or not) students often have the means to pay ridiculous amounts for their housing. I live in a 4 bedroom house with 3 other students, and our rent is about $1200 a month; between 4 people, that's not expensive at all. But say you're the head of a larger family who needs a place to live - then it's a ridiculous price for the condition of the place and likely unaffordable for many working low-wage jobs. No that they'd get a chance to lease the place anyway, because my landlord was showing the house and had the next batch of students for next year sign in October! it's ridiculous and obviously unsustainable for many of the locals.
There's a lot more thoughts i can write about this issue and Open Doors, but I don't want to take all day typing a comment! Thanks again for sharing.
Oh, and one more thing, tangentially related: open doors will allow people in if they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, as long as 1) they don't bring it into the shelter and 2) they behave appropriately and don't cause problems.
This is actually something I adore about the shelter. Ideally? Yes, sobriety is a good goal. But it's honestly not something that every addict is thinking of/willing to do/ I'd wager that a homeless addict has more to focus on in the short term than getting clean.
At some point it becomes about harm reduction, and that's kind of one role that the Open Doors shelter takes. The shelter reduces the risk that someone who is addicted to substances will freeze to death because they were turned away from a warm place to sleep because they were intoxicated or high.
As the opioid epidemic is coming more and more into the forefront of our societal consciousness, I think the discussion about harm reduction is getting louder and louder. The hope is that people will listen and less people will die drug-related deaths.
Told you I could talk about this at length! ;)
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