From the desk of
Fr. John Estrem,
Chief Executive
Officer |
November 2006
This year, Catholic Charities observed the 25th year of the Dorothy Day Center opening its doors to the homeless in downtown St. Paul. It opened in 1981 as a temporary solution to what was then seen as a passing trend brought on by a tough economy. The first day, we served 50 men. Yesterday, this 25-year-old “passing trend” brought roughly 550 people to the Center for assistance. In addition, 180 men, women and children spent the night.
Good News, Bad News
The fact that almost 20,000 people in Minnesota are homeless, or at imminent risk of losing their housing, has finally caught the attention of state and local officials. With the help of housing experts and homeless advocates, achievable plans have been developed to end long-term homelessness in Minnesota as soon as 2016.
I am elated and somewhat awed that public, private and nonprofit groups were able to unite to solve such a significant community problem, and I am proud to say Catholic Charities was a prominent partner in the collaboration. Yet, as someone who sees every day the struggles of our most disenfranchised citizens, I know that building roofs over their heads alone will not solve their problems.
What afflicts the people who seek out shelters and referral centers each day is not the absence of a roof, it is the loss of inner strength, a loss to which we have all contributed.
How many of us have gone out of our way on the street to avoid contact with a person who is obviously in need? How many of us have refused to turn our heads when one of them asks us a question? Or silently judged them for what we assume are their bad choices in life, their laziness or their lack of polite society’s values?
To lose one’s home, family, job and basic privileges of society is demoralizing enough, but to be reminded each day of your failures quickly kills one’s human spirit. Each day, the poor and homeless are told, both verbally and nonverbally, that they are worthless to society. How can we claim to be surprised when they are unable to muster the strength they need to lift themselves out of their situations? When we help strip them of their dignity, what right do we have to be disgusted when they behave in an undignified manner?
All Made in God’s Image
As Catholics, we understand the truth that every person possesses inherent dignity. We know that all are made in the image of God, and that — above all — we are obliged to honor that virtue. Doing so is not a magnanimous act, because when we honor another’s dignity, we also elevate our own.
As one man explained in 1963: “In a real sense, all life is interrelated…. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.” It’s no accident that this observation came from the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.; he was engaged in a similar fight to respect inherent human dignity.
To find homes for the homeless is a giant step toward solving one of our community’s largest problems, but alone it will not change the largest injustice experienced by the poor in our community. Until we begin to see their dignity, and treat them accordingly, the Dorothy Day Center will still be operating in another 25 years.
Fr. John Estrem, Chief Executive Officer
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