There's No Place Like Home

While on my walk this weekend, it was interesting to approach the Riverwalk with Jim Burklo’s claims in mind. I focused on the traditionally “homeless” areas more than I normally do—the paths and overpasses around Wingfield Park and through the open arena-like space near Java Jungle. The homeless have never particularly bothered me, although I sometimes feel uncomfortable if they don’t conserve my personal space. For the most part, however, I think of the homeless—or perhaps houseless—as real people in an unfortunate circumstance. I can’t imagine living without a home—I would consistently feel terrified and completely directionless. For this reason, I try to do what I can to help out when I can—the last two years I participated in Cardboard Box City, which is a fundraiser for the homeless that requires you to sleep in a cardboard box in Wingfield Park for a night. This experience opened my eyes to the struggles of the homeless, and I was reminded of it on my walk today.

                With this is mind, I contemplated Burklo’s ideas about the homeless. At first, the distinction seemed rather pointless—houseless and homeless do imply the same thing in regards to people without a dwelling. However, I began to understand what Burklo meant when I considered the difference between the words “house” and “home.” A home is much more than a house: while a house is simply a structure that supports us, a home is something we create. A home does not have to be enclosed; it can refer to relationships, memories, community. The people we call homeless may not have houses, but it doesn’t mean they don’t have homes somewhere—within the people they love, within their lifetime experiences, within the areas they inhabit. As this occurred to me, I was reminded of an excerpt I read my freshman year of high school entitled Dumpster Diving. It is written by a formerly homeless man, who had to survive without a house for about a year before he could find a job. He entailed his experiences as a homeless man in such an intelligent and engaging way that I was baffled he had ever been through what he had. He was most definitely still integrated into his community when he was homeless, and he became even more aware of the wastefulness of our society through his experiences. He may have been without a house, but he was assuredly not without a home. I can imagine that this is the case for many of the people in this situation in our society. They deserve credit for maintaining a home, for there are those who will be adequately sheltered their entire lives, and never expend the energy to create a home in the area they occupy.