Yesterday evening at around eight o’clock PM I decided to go out and get some exercise. I’m trying to walk a mile at least three times a week weather permitting. It’s not much but it is a start. By essentially walking around Arlington Village—a townhouse condominium community—in Arlington, Virginia you end up doing a mile and burning about 100 calories. This comes out to around 2,500 steps on my pedometer iPhone app. I’ve been told I should be doing around 5,000 steps however so I have to put in more effort to get there.

Arlington Village is a beautiful place. I like living here. I’m not an owner of one of these townhouses mind you I am a renter. I’m also not renting an entire townhouse but I live with two other people. My rent is around $850 a month plus utilities so there you have it. I’m not rich and I made the middle class for the first time three years ago. Before that I would have essentially been working poor which is what working in retail or being a bank teller will get you. I did these jobs while going to college at night and after graduating trying to land the “good job” in the meantime.

So as I was walking around the village I ran into a woman who was at first way up ahead of me on the sidewalk. She stopped walking for a second and waited until I was closer to say “I’m sorry I had to stop and look back.” She continued “it’s late and I’m out here by myself and there’s no telling what someone might do to a homeless woman.” I told her I did not blame her for wanting to be safe. She saw that I wasn’t a threat and continued walking with me.

I then told her that people wouldn’t have even realized that she was homeless. She acknowledged that she did not bare any of the telltale signs that are often associated with someone who is homeless right or wrong. After all, some of the beliefs that people hold about the homeless and their appearances can be true but a lot of it can be stereotypical.

None the less this woman was indeed homeless. She hadn’t been in this predicament for very long it would seem, not that any length of time is tolerable. At the most maybe three to four months had been spent living on the streets without any income. She began to tell me her story one that sadly didn’t sound too unfamiliar. An abusive husband had left her and to top it off she was pregnant. She’s originally from the Bronx and was living in New York City with her husband.

After things got bad with the husband she came out to Arlington to stay with her mother who had a house here. Unfortunately, her mother passed away and she was not able to hold on to the house. So here she was stuck in Virginia, pregnant and with nowhere to go.

I asked her if she had gone to any of the shelters to get help. She told me that she had gone to two shelters in Arlington. While one emergency shelter did not have any more beds available the other shelter required identification. It was at that point that she mentioned Mt. Zion Baptist Church and a housing program they ran but that required a little money to be paid on behalf of the person wishing for a room.

I asked her how much would it cost to stay there. I was told that $40 dollars would allow her to stay there for a few days. It was at this time that I was asked for money. She pleaded with me, offered to sell me her engagement ring or the watch she was wearing. I had no intention of being so cruel as to separate someone of something in such a situation.

Now there are many reasons why I didn’t initially want to give her the money—one being who knows if the truth is being told and so on. Ultimately, I didn’t give her the full forty dollars but just twenty. She said that with the ten dollars in her pocket this would be enough for her to stay at least a day or so.

The main reason I didn’t want to give her the money was the fact that I would rather see someone who is homeless seek help through larger institutions. I am just one person and I am barely middle class as it is. The money I give any homeless person would only temporarily help them. As a liberal it is my belief that it is for situations just like this why I don’t mind paying taxes—so the government can help. I believe in the government’s ability to do good.

Yet here she was telling me that the local county government in Arlington, Virginia had failed? I really found it hard to believe that the county or any municipality would have people sleeping out on the streets. I wanted to call the local police department right there to ask them for help on how to direct this woman. She told me she had already dealt with them twice tonight when they brought her to these two different shelters.

In the end I walked with her to a Shell gas station on Columbia Pike where the attendants actually knew who she was. I gave her the twenty dollars and she thanked me and began to head for the Mt. Zion Baptist Church. I hope that she gets the help she needs soon.

I’m not sure if everything she says is true about the county homeless shelters or even if this church actually charges people money to stay in their rooms. I do know that homelessness is still a major issue, has always been and almost anyone can end up in a bad situation. That is why throughout the decades people have fought for a social safety net. It is not some abstract idea.

Mark from invisible people on Vimeo.

I just saw the latest video on the Invisilbe People videoblog.

On a recent trip to Phoenix, Arizona I met Mark. He is 22 years old, lost his job four months ago, and has been on the streets ever since. Mark’s one and only wish is to find a job.

Mark spends every day that he is homeless looking for a job. He hits all the stores and many of them are not hiring. If we’re going to stimulate the economy we have to get people like Mark help as well.