All my life I have heard people say, "If you do that you will end up in the poor house."
Well, sure enough there was such a thing as a "poor house." I picked up a book on the history of LaGrange, Texas, and there was a picture of a "poor house." Established in 1881 for Fayette County indigents, it was a lovely white house on several acres of land, located two miles outside LaGrange. Citizens volunteered to assist their poorer neighbors by providing a garden. The city and county provided a staff and all the ham, biscuits, and molasses the residents could eat- which probably meant that they were the fattest naked people in Fayette County!
All this made me wonder why Houston and Harris County doesn't have a "poor house." I see indigent people on many street corners. I challenge you to drive downtown one day and see all the human beings stacked up like cord wood. Look on the side streets near where Interstate 45 and US 59 come together. If the milk of human kindness is in you, it will break your heart. Sure, there are faith-based benevolent agencies in the downtown area that do the best they can, but every night there are 40,000 people that sleep on our Houston streets.
Your post today is well timed.
ReplyDeleteHouston's homeless are unseen by the majority of the population in our area. All too often, those among us who do see them still treat them as if we wish we couldn't. The very few that see them and are compelled to reach out need now to take a stand to be a voice in our community.
It's a sad statement of our hummanity that most folks would sooner reach out to help a "homeless" dog or cat over a fellow human soul.