I just found this piece online and wanted to share it here, too. It seemed particularly appropriate seeing as Veteran’s Day was just 2 days ago:

“Virginia Just Became the First State in the US to End Veteran Homelessness”

Working in D.C., I pass by many homeless people on the daily. It forces me to think about what I’m grateful for more often than not. For example, in the short walk from the Metro elevator to my building, and it’s cold outside – am I really that cold, or is that man who slept underneath the bridge even colder than I am? What am I really going to open my mouth to complain about, you know? 

This season, I’ve confronted my own assumptions about homelessness through volunteerism. Carpenter’s Shelter is a nearby shelter that serves over 1,000 homeless and formerly homeless children and adults each year.  I’ve volunteered there a few times over the course of the past few months and, frankly, it hasn’t been as fulfilling as I expected.

Through my alma mater’s alumni group, we work together to prepare lunch for the residents of the shelter. But the actual interaction with the residents is limited. We hang out in the kitchen, prepare the food, serve it, and clean up. Yes, you feel like you’re doing a service for these people, but we don’t really get the opportunity to interact with them too much.

When I found myself thinking this I said – well, why do I need someone else to give me that opportunity? But the more I thought about it – I realized that it didn’t seem like they were too interested in any such interaction, anyways. Sure, I’m dying to know their story and connect with them, but do they want to connect with me? And who would I be to force that unto them? This is the same challenge I encounter when interacting with homeless people on the street. What level of interaction are they even interested in? What kind of help are they interested in when they ask for it?

Anyways, I’ve kind of gotten a bit off-topic here – the focus of this blog was supposed to be on the work that Virginia has done as a Commonwealth to eradicate veteran homelessness – I’m very impressed by that, especially because I’m familiar with the numbers regarding Virginia having such a large homeless veteran population.