“A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.”

MAHATMA GANDHI

America, how great are we today? What will future historians tell the world about our treatment of America’s oppressed, its poor and its homeless population in the year 2025? We are not talking about those who opted to drop out or take the road of government welfare as an easier, softer way. We are talking about the physically disabled single mother, the veteran suffering PTSD, the addicted teenager forced to hustle on the streets for survival, the family who became unable to pay rent or mortgage because of an economic downturn in their community. We think of the mentally disabled, the senior citizen who lost his entire savings and his home through the actions of his child’s greed.

Face it America, there are innumerable justifiable reasons for what you call a scourge, a disease, a problem. You write it off as laziness. You devout religious folks call it sloth, one of the 7 deadly sins. Really? Homelessness is a sin? Try explaining that to your Jesus, a homeless man who travelled the countryside with a band of vagabonds begging for food and shelter.

Following his federal takeover of our nation’s capital, Trump has launched an invasion of the city’s homeless communities living wherever shelter or comfort can be found. His task force has ordered those unhoused citizens to move on, to abandon their spots on sidewalks, in parks, under overpasses or on public lands. Move on indeed. To where? The neighborhood shelters are at capacity. Local charities are in crisis mode. And Trumps’s government calls it lawless, criminal. In the America of 2025, being homeless has become a crime.

Have you ever been homeless? Let’s call this condition by a different name, unhoused maybe. Tents are not a home, they are designed for camping. Cardboard boxes don’t qualify either. And that spot in the park or on the sidewalk doesn’t have a bathroom. Public businesses increasingly lock their washrooms and water sources. When was the last time you did not have access to drinking water or a toilet?

Yes, an unhoused man is easy to spot on the street. They carry the totality of their worldly possessions in a backpack while riding a bike. In the store they are not dressed finely, not always groomed as well as their housed neighbors, often walk with a self-conscious slump looking for affordable food. Sometimes, they are barefooted. Hell, maybe they smell of wood fires and body sweat.

Have you ever been unhoused? Me neither, but I am convinced that, at best, it is unsettling. But for the grace of God and the uncompromising commitment of neighbors, my partner and I would be living in the nearby woods, not as campers, not as outdoor enthusiasts, but rather, as two septuagenarians in need of a roof. A definite wake-up call, it brought us face to face with the reality of an America gone rogue spiritually and morally.

Fortunately, our community has not yet caught up with Trump’s callous indifference to those who do not live in gilded palaces. There are guardrails in place to catch and assist its citizens facing severe need. We have food pantries, clothing distribution, church sponsored breakfasts on Sunday, assistance with utilities in addition to kind words and support. Even though being homeless in Florida is a crime according to the law of our governor, we have resources funded and supported by local citizens and businesses.

Years ago we advised a homeless friend staying with us to wear reflective clothing while riding his bike after dark.

With an incredulous look he responded, “What, and make myself a target?”

Several local men with backpacks riding their bikes have been killed by careless motorists. Investigated by local law enforcement, they have been determined as accidental. The unhoused community presents an unheard argument that ‘targeting’ is a neighborhood activity sponsored by upstanding citizens.

I don’t know if this is true, but I do advocate that America and its leaders can do better.