An interesting opportunity has come up in my neighborhood of Meadowbrook. The Maple Leaf Lutheran Church is proposing to host the Tent City of Seattle in December.
Most people never inter mingle with the poor, homeless, or disadvantaged. The separation of classes is universal. This opportunity puts the homeless in the middle of a residential, potentially more affluent, neighborhood. The juxtaposition is a good opportunity for making something positive out of it.
Most Americans will never go to huts, or a refugee camp, anywhere in the world. This is as close as, I think, any one will ever get to seeing that the world isn’t all four walls, good schools, and color TV. It seems cruel to compare the homeless of the United States to say a Palestinian refugee camp in Jordon, but it is an idea. Millions of people in Africa live in tents, on ground that is granted to their use. South America has some remote areas also, but from my experience is more stable.
So what I propose is, to do some education of the culture using Tent City Seattle. It is really a stretch, because even the homeless in the United States live a level of comfort. We have a great safety net in this country. What is unfortunate is that we have this class struggle.
I don’t know what the answer is, but it’s something that seems to fit here.
Thanks
