Today we are going to talk about a topic that is to often the case when we think about the homeless; “The misconceptions between homelessness and addiction.” Eleftheria wants to help the homeless in many ways, one in particular is advocacy. We want to give a voice and create a picture in which we can all relate better with those struggling in our communities. Like a lot of us, I have often prejudged the homeless with struggling with addiction. This is simply not the case, not all homeless people struggle with addiction at all. In fact, several of them haven’t even touched drugs or alcohol once in their lives. This association between homelessness and addiction isn’t any one persons or groups fault, it is just a common misconception derived out of lack of understanding. This lack of understanding is caused by a gap between the homeless and the rest of the community. If only we knew these folks better, we could begin to work towards removing this stigma, creating lasting change. Like all misconceptions they are born out of ignorance and even fear. So perhaps you ask, how do we combat this issue? For starters we need to have a dialogue about homelessness WITH the individuals themselves, together as a community. This isn’t done often, and the reality is, for some reason you are looked at as, not being capable of being in this setting if you are with nothing. Why do we measure and judge who or what we don’t know by such superficial and material things? The answer is, how society has been conditioned to associate success with what you have, rather by who you are as an individual and the impact you make, no matter the size. I have learned so much about kindness and love from working amongst the homeless than I ever have anywhere else. When someone who as nothing has the desire to help someone without anything in return, it has an immense impact on you as a person. So, imagine the empowerment we bestow on our homeless when we warmly welcome them to tell us their story and discuss their situation with us. We aren’t going to get into anymore steps of the process in this blog to bridge the gap. I think this is a good first step and a big one indeed. The next step forward will simply follow the other foot, which is begin an open dialogue. Here at Eleftheria, (which by the way means liberty in Greek) we want to restore social liberty to those in the grips of poverty and homelessness by giving life back to the voices it so devastatingly hinders. Ultimately, putting an end to all misconceptions we may form within our minds about those struggling with homelessness, to get one step closer to ending this epidemic in our community.
(If you want to learn more about our upcoming discussion forums we will be hosting in Madison, simply email us at Eleftheria.madison@outlook.com with your interest and lets meet up to discuss how you can help facilitate the first step with us. We will be talking about an array of different issues within this topic such as: Public policy, occupational discrimination against the homeless and our solution/idea for reintegration back into the workforce and restoring sense of purpose. Along with these topics and others we simply want to be the bridge that gaps both sides to create social and public change to help get these amazing individuals the lives they deserve back. Comment below with your thoughts on this and feel free to start a conversation in the meantime with the rest of us!)
Finally, as an effort to getting to know our homeless community and what they face daily, I will be embarking on a totally voluntary immersion of what its like to live homeless for 48 hours. Documenting along the way my observations, individuals I get to know, and producing a short documentary of the realities, the faces, and the voices of those living without anything. We will be gathering monetary pledges for this effort to raise awareness and all proceeds will be used to fund a “Italian Dinner” event for our homeless here in Madison, where we will put on a Italian dinner at a local venue for those to come break bread and share their story with us and begin that dialogue! Join us and stay tuned for more details on all these events and pledge drive. https://www.facebook.com/kylewilke1eleftheria/ We appreciate all donations made through our Facebook page and website, your generous gift truly makes a difference!
Sincerely,
Kyle Wilke
Founder & Executive Director
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