Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Property Value?

"One day, I was taking the bus home from the grocery store. At one particular bus stop, a middle aged homeless man got on the bus. I recognized him from another bus stop. He was one of the street people that you might have seen around, or that you might know of, that doesn't want to come inside. He doesn't want to live in a shelter, because on some level, he thinks that living out of his shopping cart on the streets works for him.

I studied him for a bit. He had always perplexed me, and that day was no different. For example, although he was a street person, he had a pot belly. Then again, he always made his hang out post in front of restaurants on the better part of town. But one of the most interesting things about him is that he always kept a decent haircut. His clothes were never super dirty either. And, he never smelled bad, at least from a distance. And these things confused me; obviously he cared enough about himself to groom himself a bit at local places that groom the street people. He cared about washing his clothes every now and then. Yet, he chose to hang out with his bags and other rags, living out of a shopping cart.

I saw that he made his new hang-out post in front of a small Thai restaurant. I wondered to myself if his hanging out there was bringing down the property value a bit. I wondered how his hanging out there was affecting business. Then, I thought to myself that it was good that some of the local businesses were offering this man respite, or a place to rest himself, and his shopping cart. No matter what the reasons were that he chooses to stay outside to live, he had value as well. At one point, he had his health, and a normal lifestyle. He might have lost his valuable things, but there was a part of him inwardly that he was still holding on to.

Seemingly, he might have had very little worth to others, and to some, he might have been bringing down the value of the businesses in the area. But on the other hand, he seemed to be making a statement that worth is what you determine it to be.

I don't know why he doesn't go inside. Maybe he doesn't think that navigating the system is an option, for all the problems he would go through at a shelter. There are others that might feel this way too. Community Voice Mail can help these people. They can assist with resources that can further add to one's worth."


My name is Terrah, and I will be sharing with you ways that my Community Voice Mail phone number has helped me, and I will be sharing tips on how it could help you as well. It might seem like a small thing, but having a phone number gives hope, and that hope can be the seed for so much growth in your life recovery. I hope you continue to read my post, and I wish you well in your journey. These lilies represent the fact that within the seeds of one form of life, rises the beauty of a new form of life.