Chess, chocolate and children. What do these three things have in common? It is from my interactions with Kenny and Ingrid, who are both homeless, that I have come to know more about these three Cs.
One Thursday morning earlier this semester, I was serving the homeless at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Hollywood, Calif. It is one of the four service sites of Magis Service Organization. I regularly help with a range of services from preparing and serving food from the kitchen, to handing out towels and soap bars for showers, and - what I know to be most important - sitting down to converse with the homeless.
I met Kenny when fellow Magis brothers Isaiah Arocho and Armando Lopez were looking for someone to play chess with. Kenny readily took the challenge, calling himself a chess master. We soon found out just how accurate his claim was when he called checkmate, beating me in three moves. Kenny and I then talked about how he travels to Venice, Calif. to play chess with other masters. If I had never taken the chance to converse with him, I would have never known him to be such a chess whiz.
Ingrid is a lovely and cheerful woman in her 50s. Our conversation began with the overcast morning weather but soon veered towards her culture. She is from Belgium, and we found ourselves talking about European chocolate. I asked her if American chocolate comes close and she politely smiled and said "no." She then told me about her son and how he loved to play with Legos as he was growing up. Perfect. I don't know much about European chocolate, but I do know my fair share about Legos!
My conversations with homeless people are always interesting and never the same. These conversations allow me to tear down the walls of stereotypes given to the homeless, brick by brick. From talking with Kenny and Ingrid, I was able to listen and relate to their experiences. With each new story I was able to remove the mask of homelessness and put a face and a name to the issue. The image of a homeless person should not be defined by one person harassing you for money or one person sleeping in the alleys of Westchester. Common misconceptions and stereotypes not only portray the underprivileged to be humans in disguise, but even go so far as to dehumanize them. Mother Teresa, an advocate, crusader and laborer for the poor, once said, "In the poor we meet Jesus in his most distressing disguises." Not only are we called in our Catholic faith and identity here at Loyola Marymount to help the poor, but we are also called in our shared humanity with the homeless.
Homelessness matters because it is not only a national issue, but also a local issue. There are hundreds of homeless people near our LMU campus in the community of Westchester who sleep in their vehicles along Manchester Ave. According to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), there are 51,340 homeless people in Los Angeles County. Of that, 63 percent are between the ages of 25-54.
This year, Magis collaborated with the Delta Zeta sorority and the men and women of the Black Student Union to bring awareness of this issue to our campus. This past week, we also embraced sleeping outside as opposed to sleeping inside our comfy dorms. We sleep outside because they sleep outside. It is on a daily basis that we take for granted some of the simplest of things, such as the opportunities to shower, eat complete meals, wear clean underwear and socks or to sleep in a bed.
It is not only important that we acknowledge what we have so that we may be grateful for our blessings, but also so we realize the unfortunate circumstances others are in due to systems of oppression, bad luck and a lack of support, to name just a few reasons for homelessness. We hope our week of awareness brings a better understanding of the issue of those on the margins of our society and that our opportunities for action bring about real, intentional and effective change.
Genuinely,
JRA '12
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