That Persistent Drive Towards the Goal

Drive. Rush. Goal.  Sunday’s Super Bowl was a great event, perhaps the most visible display of the human will to win. And from the New York Giants’ point of view, evidence that determination and persistence can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. 

 
Source:  OregonLive.com/Associated Press

It reminded me of an article I read earlier in the day in The New York Times, “The Hidden Homeless,” and how similar these two stories are.  The Times recounted the day in the life of a homeless family in New York, Tonya Lewis and her two sons, who live in one of the city’s shelters.  By 4:45 in the morning, she is already running late. She and her children needed to get started on their day to work, school, and daycare that involved a relentless march through the public transportation system - four subways, two buses, and long walks on either end - a four-hour trek in all, each day. At 8 p.m., they return to their room and prepare for the next day.

 
Source: The New York Times

Their story is not unfamiliar to Catholic Charities. Ms. Lewis and her husband had jobs - low paying but enough to cover the rent on their apartment.  But he lost his job as a maintenance worker, and her hours as a home health aide were reduced due to cuts in Medicaid. In the course of a few months, the family’s income dropped from $4,400 a month to $840. They could no longer afford the rent on their $1,200 a month apartment.  A government program that provided rent subsidies was discontinued. The family split up and joined the growing and all but invisible ranks of the homeless.  The article describes the situation in New York City:

Unlike in the 1980s, when the crisis was defined by AIDS patients or men who slept on church steps, these days it has become more likely that a seemingly ordinary family, rushing about on public transportation with Elmo bags and video games, could be without a home.

Of New York’s more than 40,000 homeless people in shelters — enough to fill the stands at Citi Field — about three-quarters now belong to families like the Lewises and are cloaked in a deceptive, superficial normalcy. They do not sleep outside or on cots on armory floors. By and large, their shoes are good; some have smartphones. Many get up each morning and leave the shelter to go to work or to school. Their hardships — poverty, unemployment, a marathon commute — exist out of sight.

Yet they have a goal - to get back on their feet - and they drive forward, every day gaining a few yards towards that elusive goal. 

We’ll be gathered around the water cooler or coffee room this week reliving the game (the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat).  Could we also talk about these families?  Read the article. You’ll see that the stories are not so different after all.

What is your reaction to the NY Times article? Have you seen a shift in homelessness in your community? Are there any homeless children at your child’s school? How is the community responding?  Share your stories and examples here, or join our Facebook discussion.

Comments

[Unemployed and over 50]

Your book was a great read. What if someone wants to help be that change? Wants to work for Catholic Charities, applies twice for a job that is a match (has Masters degree), no call, no interview, no job, no hope.

[JB Tran]

I read in the New York Times an article by Laurie Goodstein published on February 11, 2012 stating, “However, the bishops are now facing a potential rift with some of their allies who welcomed the compromise yesterday — including Catholic Charities,…”
Is this correct?
Has Catholic Charities welcome and more importantly, does Catholic Charities support the latest compromise from President Obama?
I thank you for your clarification.

[Marilyn Falvey]

I think it is a travesty that Catholic Charities agrees with the Obama admin in regards to the HHS dictate towards employer/employee health care coverage of contraceptives, sterilization and abortion. I have donated to the Catholic Charities through the Bishop's Annual Fund but feel I have been duped by your organization. You seem to not have the same moral standards as taught in our faith or lived.

I hope you will change your stance on this issue. The president did a con job on you. One way or another your organization will pay for contraceptives, etc.by raising rates. Passing higher premiums to all employees for the ones that want birth control under the guise of the insurance company paying.

[Carol Bralski]

I could not believe the statement from the obama administration yesterday that Catholic Charities supports this latest attack on the unborn and the Catholic Church. I will be in touch with my priest, my bishop and the US Conference of Bishops today to clarify this and also ask that all funding from the church towards Catholic Charities be suspended. Shame on you!

[Mildred R Bean]

Americans are being forced to pay for abortion pills. 55 million innocent children, abortion is the greatest mass murder in world history.

Another part of your seamless garment of betrayal.
Catholic Charities? Forgetaboutit.

[Tarek]

Adrienne, that CIA seeris is superb. I've got them all posted on my blog at least once - particularly the ones dealing with CCHD. If they have one specifically on Catholic Charities or CRS, I'd love to know about them as they would have slipped past me.