Not everyone wants to be homeless.

I was given an assignment recently by our web designer...try to get photos of several of our guests at Cleansing Hope Shower Shuttle for him to use on our new website, which you are now viewing!

One of our guests who definitely doesn’t look homeless.

My son and I were talking later, and I decided to show him some of the photos. He’s grown and lives in another town and our lives don’t intersect as they once did, so we don’t know many of the same people anymore. I asked him if he could tell which ones he thought were homeless friends and which ones were not. This man is intelligent and not naive to the world and yet, he guessed wrong at least 50 percent of the time. Was it because I tricked him? Nope...in fact, because it was MY phone, he could have guessed that most of the photos were homeless or poverty-stricken and he would have been right.

The fact is, most of our friends and guests don’t look “homeless”. They don’t look any different than you and I. Wanna know why? Because they AREN’T.

You have been deceived, my friends, if you think that most of the homeless WANT to be there. You have believed the lies of the media that every single homeless person is a criminal, a vagrant, a drug-using felon who wants to hurt you and your loved ones. That they will take advantage of you, steal everything that isn’t nailed down, poop on your sidewalk, and destroy the very fabric of society that you are trying to save.

Why do you think the news reporters will pick the dirtiest, filthiest person they can find to interview? The one struggling to find the answers to their questions, or perhaps the most altered and disheveled? The camera zooms in so you can see the bloodshot eyes, the dirty face, the missing teeth and you can settle in to their notion that the homeless are LESS THAN and deserve nothing better than hatred and neglect, deserve to be criminalized just for trying to survive. Most homeless people I know just want to have a life that includes a little love, a little money, a little bit of respect, and a safe place to lay their head at night. That’s no different than me or you, and it’s NOT too much to ask!

But jobs are hard to come by when you have no address, and places to rent are few and far between and nearly impossible to afford. So they do the best they can and take the good with the bad. What else can they do?

I’m not saying every person living on the street is an angel. I’m not saying that at all. But I will tell you that I’ve met more honest, loving people on the streets than I’ve ever met in any other place. Not in any hospital where I worked, not many of the churches I’ve attended, no group meeting I’ve ever been in. There is a story behind every face. There is a heart and a soul behind every smile.

Please don’t throw away ANY opportunity to be kind. And, I beg you, don’t ever disregard your own sense of right and wrong, your own wisdom in every situation. Goodness, I’ve met as many creeps in the grocery store as anywhere else!

But don’t let fear and hatred cloud your vision either. Choose for yourself your own beliefs and then act on them.

And we’re gonna keep doing what we do. Providing hope and dignity and showers and community. It’s what we’re called to do and it’s the right thing to do. Love God, love others, share what we’ve been given, and offer the hand up. Because it works. We are seeing the changes in lives every day and we are blessed.

I personally want to thank each and every one of you who supports us in prayer, who have sent us underwear, socks, made hygiene kits, knitted hats, held fundraisers, and financially supports us as we live out Matthew 25:40. We can’t do it without you and we are so grateful for you all!

If you have been thinking about joining us, becoming a crucial team member in this war against poverty and homelessness, you can give safely at showershuttle.org.

Thank you! 💙 - Kelli

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40

These lovely people are precious to me and I challenge you to look...really look...at these beautiful faces and decide for yourself which ones “deserve” a better life. Not all are homeless. Not all are in need. Some are my blood family that I threw in there just to make it interesting. Bet you can’t tell which ones.

Everyday people doing their very best to live their lives the best way they can. ❤️

Don’t we ALL deserve a little kindness and compassion and love?