Last Sunday I went with
Tammy Kling to help the homeless in downtown Dallas.
I learned a lot. I’m now frustrated with the system, mad at myself for being so stuff greedy, and frustrated that
I can’t do more to help.
There were people living with
newborn babies on the streets of downtown Dallas. The first thing I wanted to do was take those babies straight home and give them a crib to sleep in.
How are those tiny babies going to survive in 108 degree heat?
I actually haven’t been able to get those babies off my mind. But the suck part is-
I don’t know how to help them.
Show up on Sunday mornings and make sure they’re still alive? That kind of seems like a colossal waste, and then what happens if I show up and that lady doesn’t have her dirty stroller with her? I don’t know how I could handle that.
My next question is–
Is that the best place for that baby? Well, obviously that woman loves the child and wants to keep the baby with her, she wants to raise her- but what chance does that baby have? Does anyone really think that newborn is going to grow up on the streets? There’s just no way. I can’t see a way- and, again-
I don’t know what to do about it.
So, now I know there’s a brand new baby living on the streets of downtown Dallas, her mother hopping from one shelter to the next just to take the time to find a cool place for a baby
less than a month old.
I am at a total loss, I have no idea how to help that baby, and I feel pretty helpless. The selfish part of me is VERY glad that my daughter has a safe, secure place to grow up- but what about that poor baby?
I want to drive back there- load that kid up in my extra three hundred dollar car seat and drive her away from that place- raise her as my own and NEVER tell her about how she was born to some homeless person and spent the first month of her life living on the street.
Honestly, that’s the only way I would be satisfied with the outcome.
So, now what do I do?
photo credit: Alex E. Proimos
What an agonizing experience. I think the only way to help that poor baby is to help the mother. Like you said, it appears that the mother loves her baby and wants to keep her, and I think any child has the opportunity to thrive as long as it is loved. Obviously the mother needs some sort of income so that she can provide a better life for herself and her baby. Is she physically/mentally capable of working? If so she may need assistance finding a job, and then she’ll need someone to look after her baby while she’s working. Are there programs that offer this type of assistance? This makes me think of the movie Happyness with Will Smith. He was homeless and jobless for a time as well, all while taking care of his small son. It was hard, but through his determination he made it work. I think if this mother truly wants to keep her baby, she will be determined enough to figure out a way.