This weekend I had the opportunity to feed the homeless with my church. They usually go once a month and I hadn’t been in a while. The location had changed since I was last there and the number of people increased. But there was one thing that remained the same. Most of the people out there were black males.

I used to work in Downtown Dallas and was able to meet some very interesting people while I was there. If I met someone needing something to eat, I would take them to lunch and they would tell me about their life and what the faced in the streets. I usually didn’t ask them for all this information, but for some reason they opened up to me. The stories I heard were definitely an eye-opening experience that I will never forget.

I met one guy who used to be a computer programmer (just like me). He told me how he used to work for a large company and made good money doing it. Now one thing I learned is that you can’t believe every story you hear, but he went into detail about his job. So as a fellow programmer, I knew he was telling the truth. His life was good until he got into drugs. Not thinking he could be addicted, things went downhill from there. He lost his job, family and support from the people around him. His relatives tried to help him, but he’d let them down too many times. He told me he lived in a drug house not far from the Downtown Dallas area.

This is just one of the many stories I’ve heard and it stuck with me for a long time. I never saw that guy again. I no longer work downtown, but going back reminded me that there’s a lot of work to be done. I complain about bills when they come in the mail, but I thank God that I can pay them. We can take a lot of things for granted and at times we need a wake up call. Most of the men there were glad to see another black man willing to give them a hand and I met some pretty cool people in the process. I plan on going back next month and I’m going to see what else I can do while I’m there.

For more information, I’ve provided some links to fact sheets from the National Coalition for the Homeless website.

Who is Homeless?
How Many People Experience Homelessness?
Why Are People Homeless?