Imagine you need to clean up but the only privacy you can find is between the wall on a freeway overpass and a cement barricade. That’s how I met William and Senina while walking in Atlanta. No one in America should have to live like that!

“People are going to judge you by what they think and not how it is”! William is spot on with that statement. The reality of life on the streets is people have to survive and will do what is needed to make it through the day. Society looks on as though homeless people are criminals when they are often just doing what is necessary for food, water and shelter.

This is a very honest story about life on the streets. I hope you take the time to watch it to the end and forward it to someone.

After walking out of this hotel room I broke down. To be honest, I don’t know how Jean does it all. She tries to be a good mother to her five children. Every day, even in the Missouri rain, she rides a bicycle to her minimum wage job. But minimum wage is not enough for the family to break the weekly rate hotel cycle.

This is the invisible people we need to make visible. Luckily, this family and many others found a very kind man in St Charles County that is helping homeless families get back on their feet. I have traveled all over this country visiting people in hotels. Thanks to Paul Kruse these families are staying in a fairly decent hotel. But it’s still not home.

Many of the affordable, weekly rate hotels are run down. Most places are filled with drug dealers, criminal activity and are unfit for children. It’s a vicious cycle of homelessness because while paying to stay at these hotels it’s nearly impossible to save for first and last months rent to get out of the situation.

Jean once had a home, a car, and a better life for her family. Unfortunately, we are going to see more families losing everything and facing homelessness.

I am glad that we have people like Paul taking real action to help people. We need more to step up. We need you!

This is the real face of homelessness that is rarely seen. Candace lives in a weekly rate hotel with her four children in Wentzville, Missouri. Even the federal definition of homelessness does not see this family making all the numbers the government publishes on family and child homelessness at best a good guess. The numbers are much, much higher.

Candace had the courage to leave an abusive relationship. Most women stay. But if it wasn’t for the help a kind man helping the unseen homeless families in St Charles County, Candace and all of her children would be literally out on the streets.

All the shelters are full. Hopefully, Candace will find an opening soon. But there are far more homeless families than there is help. This is a real crisis.

In a past life I worked for a church in a neighboring community. There are many churches in this area, as there are lots of churches throughout America. Unfortunately, the average church in this country spends more money talking about impact trying to fill seats then actually doing something to help hurting families in their own community.

As the economy gets worse we must get better. My prayer is that the faith-based community will wake up and stop wasting money and resources trying to fill buildings, and start working with their communities to solve this social crisis.

The church needs to be more like Paul. Not the Paul in the Bible, but the Paul in St Charles County who has become the real hope to so many. Paul is helping homeless families not because he’s trying to get people to go to church or win “souls”, Paul is helping simply because it’s what we all should be doing – helping our neighbors without an agenda.

Please support First Step Back Home

.

Dianna just landed a new job but that may not be enough. She lives in a weekly rate, rundown hotel and will be homeless again by the end of the week.

Dianna is single with no children and there is very little support. She keeps fighting for a better life, yet in today’s economic crisis a better life is nearly impossible.

Please watch this short video. Dianna shares the reality of homelessness.

Emil is what the media has dubbed an “economic homeless”, which is a term I hate because I am close to being one myself.

We met in St Petersburg, Florida, where is has lived on and off the streets for two years now.

“Things got complicated” is how Daphne describes living homeless. She was laid off then unemployment checks stopped.

Living outside homeless is not camping. If you are the outdoors type and enjoy camping you know it’s choice. After a few days or a week you can go back to living with a roof, shower, fridge and bathroom.

Long time ago when I started this I learned my lesson with pit bulls in homeless camps and cars. But a ‘gator’ is whacked.

Earlier that day Daphne visited the ID clinic I highlighted here

Richard is living in the woods outside Sanford, Florida. He lost his job because of health issues, eventually ending up living on the streets.

The only work he can find is one day a week at an auto auction. Live is bleak, yet Richard says there is always hope.

Ed moved to New Orleans because of a new job. Homelessness was never part of the plan. Even with a college education he can’t find work.

Ed talked about the New Orleans Mission recent decision to charge people $5 a night. Yes, $5 is not a lot of money. To most people anyway. When you are homeless $5 can often be a fortune out of reach.

There is a lot of controversy over this “pay to stay” charge. One person who works in New Orleans homeless service said the Mission is out of money and had no other choice. That I hope should get your attention as homeless service organizations around the country are faced with more demand and far less support.

Ed openly talks about being an alcoholic. Most people don’t understand it’s nearly impossible to stay sober while living on the streets. Imagine you had to go to the bathroom outside in public. Not just once after a ball game, but all of the time. You’d want to drink to forget too.

I hope you see what I see.

I met Magic in New Orleans. For some time no one was even approaching her. I am sure most people look at people like Magic with disgust.

What I see is a girl who grew up hard on the streets having to do things to survive that no person should have to do. What I see is a lonely woman who has a lot of hurt.

I hope you see what I see.

The eyes say it all. I literally can feel Dennis’s pain. He got out of prison and moved to New Orleans. All of his relatives are dead so Dennis has lived on the streets homeless for 10 years now.

Dennis says he’s making the best out of a bad situation.

No one should live on the streets homeless. We can do better than this. We must do better!