dictionary.com – humanitarian – having concern for or helping to improve the welfare and happiness of people
So I attended my first ever elementary school PTA meeting today. And it sucked. I hated it and I just wanted to get out of there. Everyone knew everybody and that was fine because it is almost the end of the year and I was expecting to be a little uncomfortable there anyway. But then the issue of homelessness in our community got brought up and I was so upset at the way they wanted to address it. Our school is in a pretty affluent neighborhood and I’d guess the majority of families are upper-middle class and fairly privileged and wealthy, my family included. It was brought up that homelessness seems to be getting worse and is encroaching in our neighborhood and our school. Parents are unhappy and they want them out of our neighborhood. They want the parents and PTA to attend county meetings and write to council members to do something about getting rid of the homeless people and their tents in our area because “we have rights too, we pay our taxes and we deserve to have our kids feel safe.” So many things said there that just made me sick to my stomach – prefacing it first with yes, it’s hard for the homeless and it’s not easy for them BUT… they are unhygienic and therefore a health hazard, they are not “normal” people, my kids are scared, the local park and library is filled with them and has become a problem, and it went on and on. The mom spearheading this issue went so far as to say, “Yes it’s a tough issue and requires a humanitarian effort but that’s not our jobs. Our job is to keep our family and our kids safe.” And I could not disagree more with their viewpoints on seeing the homeless as less than. Since when has humanitarian acts been limited to only my family and my neighborhood with people who live just like me? My fiery outspoken mom says I should have spoken up. I’m sure there were probably others in the room that also were uncomfortable with the views and didn’t agree with everything. Maybe I should have said something – shouldn’t I be advocating for something/someone I believe in?
I didn’t realize how strongly I felt about this until the meeting. I was on the verge of tears and wanted to walk out of the room because I was so upset. Where is our compassion? How about just seeing them as humans and treating them as such instead of things to be gotten rid of and pushed into someone else’s neighborhood? I hate the idea of people seeing homeless people as a threat and a smear in our pleasantville neighborhood. I understand that parents want their kids to feel safe but that’s not the most important thing to our family. I won’t be reckless with my kid’s lives but we want our kids to have hearts for the most vulnerable, to understand that not everybody lives like us, and that there is a story behind everyone’s lives and how they got to where they are now. We have taken our kids to Skid Row, we pack care packages and put them in our car so when we see a homeless person holding up signs we can give them a bag with snacks, water, and a clean pair of socks. We hosted a teen in our house for a few weeks when him and his mom were homeless and “one of those” that were living in a tent on the streets.
At the same time, I don’t have another solution for the growing homeless situation in our neighborhood. I just know that finding ways to push them out and into another area where we don’t have to see them or deal with them and let some other city/town deal with it instead is not going to solve anything. It just seems like the PTA is taking the stance of – not in my backyard.
PS: I did end up talking to a couple moms randomly some time after the meeting and they encouraged me to continue to attend the PTA meetings. They both told me this one was a weird and uncomfortable one and the meetings aren’t normally like today’s.
I feel the need to blog 