Blissful Ignorance (Homeless Children in the U.S. and Other Problems that Don't Exist)

This past summer I witnessed the reality of certain problems in Inner City Los Angeles that many people in (often Conservative) political circles will downplay, or even deny the existence of.

Here is the most notable one:

- Homeless children:

Skid Row, just east of the Financial Center of Downtown Los Angeles, is home to thousands of homeless people, many who struggle with drug and alcohol addictions, who have been concentrated there by the stunningly heartless policies of the city. The several missions there struggle to provide the services that they will find nowhere else. The unfortunate reality of having to get clean to enter a mission keeps many from the long term rehabilitative help that they need. Addictions are so powerful and destructive. One could legitimately argue that it is the decisions of these individuals that have placed them there...of course this does not take into account the influences of circumstantial factors on the likelihood of certain decisions, although some of the homeless there have a college education and were successful until they chose the path of chemical addiction.

There are some on Skid Row however that cannot be blamed for their situation. These are the children of those individuals whose only fault was being born into a life of misery by their addicted and homeless parents. These kids wander the streets...they have no opportunities...none. Forget school, they don't have the means to get there...some do, but it's tough, very tough. They have to do it on their own. Many of their parents are too busy trying to find another fix on the street to take care of them. Walking with a team of two girls into a crowded park area, the only source of green and growing things in the hideously blighted area, we came upon three girls. They were children, that was all. They didn't ask for money, they didn't (as far as I could tell) have any addictions, they were just children. It was apparent from talking to them that they had the same near-term desires as others their age...but already suffered from the lack of education and resources. Unless they can somehow escape from their situation, find shelter, a loving home, an education, they will languish in this miserable area that most of the millions in Southern California spent their days not thinking about. These are the forgotten children of the United States...I am writing the name of this country here with a purpose. These are the faces of kids in the United States that a vast majority of the people of this country do not know exist...if asked about them, many will go so far as to say there is no such thing here as homeless kids. When I relate the truth to many people here in Central Texas they are completely surprised because they have literally no idea. Nothing is mentioned in political social or economic circles about the forgotten children of the United States. These children are not a consideration of the mantra of "No Child Left Behind" because they simply do not officially exist.

The little ray of home in these kids lives is found in the missions (which are geared toward adults), and, perhaps more brightly, in the S.A.Y. YES! (Save America's Youth) Center for Youth Development housed at the under funded and under resourced storefront Central City Church of the Nazarene...located at the corner of 6th and San Pedro, the heart of Skid Row. The staff there works tirelessly to provide some help, some educational services, to the kids there. Their stories are heroic and heartbreaking...and unbelievable if you are one of the many suburban acculturated Americans that have never heard the story of America's forgotten children. If you are ever in L.A., I encourage you to visit this street corner and have your eyes opened to a terrible disgrace, and the tiny ray of hope that shines in this very dark place.

Hanging on one of the walls in the center is a painting of a radio...with the words "Sing now while you can" brushed onto the canvas, a visualization almost certainly inspired by the Jimmy Eat World song "Your New Aesthetic". When I visited the center my eyes gazed on the painting and I at once understood the significance of what was there...whether intended or not, the words describe the mission, the goal that the center has for these forgotten children. No matter what happens in the future. No matter the uncertainties that cloud their futures...they want these kids to sing, to laugh, to enjoy, at least for a moment, the childhood that is mostly denied them. Because of their work, and the few others on Skid Row who have not forgotten the forsaken, these kids have hope and they can sing, at least for now.

It is my prayer that others will have their eyes opened to them, and their hearts broken by the realization that even in this country, there are so many people living without hope who need us to show them that they can find it.