Recently read an opinion article from the Chicago Tribunethat left me feeling very convicted. The writer explained two scenarios in which he had the opportunity to help someone in need. The first one was a disheveled woman on her hands and knees begging for food, and the second was an average citizen who slipped and fell. Thousands of people walked past the needy woman, completely unaffected by her pleas, and within seconds of falling down, the average woman was immediately assisted by bystanders.
Meeting the needs for people such as the begging woman (people who are homeless, poor, jobless, starving, etc.) makes people uncomfortable.  In fact, it makes some people angry; situations such as being homeless are often seen as issues at the hands of the victim and that they need to help themselves. Regardless of one’s belief about who is to blame, there are millions of hurting people in this world that fade into the background of day-to-day life.
When I was 16, I went to Mobile, Ala., for a camp that was centered on mission work. For me, this meant getting out of my comfort zone and talking to people who were going through things I don’t like to think about people going through. During part of the day, we went to downtown Mobile and spent hours handing out water and small care packages for the homeless community located in that specific area of town.  I nervously listened to their stories and slowly began to break down the walls I had built in my mind about homeless people. And now, almost five years later, I feel the same heartache I felt on the streets of Mobile as I read the Tribune article.
This brings me to the inevitable question: what can I do to help?
For starters, I can approach the people asking for help instead of pretending they don’t exist. If they are hungry, give them food. If they are cold, give them a jacket. I don’t have to give them money that they could potentially spend on something harmful; I don’t have to give them a food for a year or a down payment on an apartment; I can simply help meet their needs.
For the lady on the street begging for food, I could buy her breakfast.
As heartwarming as this idea is, I also have to consider the fact that many of the homeless do not have heart-of-gold intentions. I would be living with my head in the sand if I believed that if we gave every homeless person $20, he or she would not buy drugs or alcohol with it. That’s the stinger — people are given the opportunity to receive help, yet they mistreat it or refuse it. And that’s what leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of people who scoff off the homeless simply because they are homeless and mutter something like “get a job” when they encounter them.
Although I do believe there are people who could truly help themselves and get off the street, the phrase “why don’t they just get a job?” is a loaded question.
On a less extreme level, but still difficult, my father lost his job during Christmas of my senior year of high school. It was almost three months before my dad got another job and another year before he got one that was in his specific trade. The past two years for my family have certainly had their ups and downs, and after going through that, I will never take having a job for granted. While we were blessed enough to keep a house, have three meals a day and send me to college, I will never underestimate the weight of  the phrase, “will work for.”
I hope this reality check and conviction I feel will not be placed on the backburner of my comfortable life. I hope we can help those who will receive our help and that the ones who do not will find salvation at some point.
The greatest hope I have is that I will never feel superior to people who are begging to have their needs met or that I am too good to get my hands dirty and help them.
Mary Chase Breedlove is a sophomore majoring in communication. She can be contacted at [email protected].