Transportation is a real obstacle for the homeless getting and keeping a job. Ok, I know what you’re thinking take the bus. Read your mind didn’t I.
If you live in a home here is your scenario. You are now homeless, you have no place inside to sleep, and you need to go to work tomorrow. You are going to be taking the bus, if you have never taken the bus try it once, and you will better understand this post. Since, it is against the law to sleep in public in Virginia Beach; you are not going to be able to sleep in a place you can be seen, so you’re going to have to find some place to sleep. Guess where all the bus stops are…. there in public places. You definitely can’t sleep at the bus stop, so next time you drive by a bus stop with a bench, you will notice the nice metal arm rest the city put on the benches. You will have to find a place in the woods or out of view that is close to a bus stop. Most homeless people who live in the woods or under a bridge get very few hours of really good sleep (comfort and danger issues), so when you get up you still feel tired. Now you have to walk several miles to a bus stop. If you are taking the bus to work and have to change buses it can take several hours, let’s say it takes you two hours to get to work.
Ok are you still with me. You get 3 hours of sleep at night, and you take your 2 hour bus ride plus 1 hour getting to the bus, then you work 8 hours. If you have been following the scenario and doing the math that’s 14 hours. Now you’re thinking if it keeps me off the street I would do it, go ahead and try it the next month. Sleep on your back porch for 3 hours tomorrow with only a blanket, then get up and walk for an hour to the bus stop. Now take the bus for 2 hours, and work your manual labor, minimum wage job for 8 hours. Walk 1 hour back to the bus, and get on the bus for 2 more hours. Walk to your back porch and sleep there for 3 more hours, and repeat all of the steps above. Now you need to do this for 1 month minimum before you have any hope of getting some place to live.
It’s not impossible, but the lack of sleep, taking the buses, living in dangerous places, can really take its toll. It may even be enough to break you and make you want to give up.
I can’t get a job because I don’t have an ID. Nobody will even look at me for fear that I might ask them for money. It seems like no matter how hard I try I can’t get back on the right track. I know it’s hard for most of the people reading this to imagine being in this position, but there are people who live in Virginia Beach who know these feelings all too well. People have different reasons for being in this position, but once you’re in this position it’s really hard to reverse your fortune.
Without an ID it’s hard to get a job, I should say a legal job. If you don’t have a birth certificate it can take months to get an ID card. In order to get an ID you have to have proof that you reside in Virginia Beach, you can use a bill mailed to your address. So you need an ID to get a job, and you need a job to afford a place to live, and you need to prove you have a place to live to get an ID….. See the dilemma once you get on the outside of this circle it’s hard to get back in. Without an ID you really feel like you don’t exist.
The other thing that makes you feel like you’re not a person is when people walk by you without making eye contact. Often we ignore homeless people because we are afraid that they will ask us for money; however, imagine you are someone that people won’t even make eye contact with. Combine not having an ID and the fact that nobody will make eye contact with you it’s easy to see how people can feel like less than a person.
Lets cut through all the “nicey– nice” and get right to the first issue you are probable thinking about “Why don’t you just get a job”. If you are being honest it has crossed your mind, go ahead you can admit it. Like I said the purpose of this blog is to talk about real issues, so lets get it out. Most people who have never been homeless will say why don’t you just get a job. What I hope to do in the next 5 post is to look at some potential barriers to getting a job. The cool thing about identifing barriers is if we can talk about them then eliminate them, It will put people in a better position….. OK Part 1 “Bad Choices”
Often times this category is identified as “Bad Luck”, and yes I agree bad things happen sometimes when you make good choices; however, most of the time it’s not bad luck that makes you homeless it’s usually a series of bad choices. I also like choices better than luck because I have some control over my choices. I believe making better choices is something we can learn. Maybe we had bad role models as a kid or maybe we look up to people who make bad choices. I once met a man who had been homeless for more than 20 years, and every time I saw him or heard he made a good choice I would praise him. This person began to try to make better choices, and every time I saw him he would tell me about the good choices he had made.
So lets say that as you grew up your mom was a drug addicted prostitute. You don’t know who your real dad is, but every man in your life seems to abude your mom. When you start in school the people with the bling are the people who are breaking laws. Who is teaching you to make good choices? Yes, I’m sure you can find an example of someone who has overcome that; however, that person is in the minority. PIN is using Biblical principles to help people to make better choices, and have seen some great successes. Maybe you can come out and help change someones life by building a friendship, and helping someone make better choices………
Next Post will be “I’m Not A Person Anymore”
Posted by dallasstamper under
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Thought I would spend the second post explaining a little about who I am, so you would know a little bit about me. My name is Dallas Stamper and I’ve been married to my wonderful wife Anne for 21 years. We have two children that we are very proud of Megan 19 and Kenny 14. I have a BS in Engineering Technology from Old Dominion University, so that explains why I now run a nonprofit organization now. After high school I spent 3 years in the Army (82nd Airborne Division), which was followed by a warehouse job in the day and college at night. It took me 8 years to get a 4 year degree (there is a line in Tommy Boy where Tommy Boy says “allot of people go to college for 8 years”, the response to that is yea “their called Doctors”.) The fact that I’m comparing myself to Tommy Boy in the second post explains allot about how my mind works. After, college I got a job at a software engineering company called IDAX which was eventually purchased by GE. Then on January 16, 2006 I began working at PIN fulltime… So who said you can’t love your job.
So why leave GE to work for a nonprofit that helps homeless people. I became a Christian in 1999 and decided that Jesus really cared about poor people, so I wanted to care about the people that Jesus cared about. I have to be honest before I became a Christian at age 33 I thought Christians were more concerned with judging people than helping people. So now at the age of 33 I decided that the best way I could change that perception was to change how I treated poor people. So in 2002 PIN began with one family (I introduced them earlier) talking sandwiches to homeless people. Now 6 years later PIN is this amazing organization that is making a huge impact in Virginia Beach, VA.
