The Spirit of the Season
The writing copied below comes from the Monday, December 18, email from Maurice Smith to the Spokane Homeless Coalition. With Maurice’s approval I offer it for your consideration as we enter the Christmas weekend. My apologies to any of my readers who may have already seen Maurice’s post on another platform—on the other hand, even if you have seen it, it bears a second reading.
Keep to the high ground,
Jerry
Christmas, Inn Keepers, And Homelessness
Maurice Smith
In case you missed it, you’ll find it on page A3 of Sunday’s [December 17] Spokesman: Homelessness soars by record 12 % as COVID support ends, HUD says. The “money quotes” are in the opening two paragraphs (which I’ve combined below):
“Homelessness in the United States soared by a record 12% between January 2022 and January 2023 as emergency coronavirus pandemic assistance decreased, an estimate published by the Department of Housing and Urban Development shows. The annual assessment provides a snapshot of the number of people living in shelters, in temporary housing and on the streets. It found that more than 650,000 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2023, a 12% increase from 2022 and the highest number of people recorded as experiencing homelessness on a single night since reporting began in 2007.”
This, of course, is the compilation and analysis of all the 2023 Point In Time Counts from across the country, including Spokane. Spokane’s 2022-to-2023 increase was 36%, or three times the national average of 12% reported in the article. And Spokane is quite possibly on track to discover a further increase in area-wide homelessness in the upcoming 2024 PIT Count scheduled for January. According to CMIS data provided to me by third parties, TRAC has seen 1,621 unduplicated individuals pass through the shelter as of November, while some 725 (+) unsheltered individuals have been contacted by outreach workers. If correct, those two numbers (without any other shelters reporting) would place area homelessness at 2,346 individuals, or only 44 people away from the record 2023 PIT Count of 2,390. We might want to take a deep breath and prepare ourselves for this River of Homelessness that is not only flowing through our community, but is potentially rising to flood stage.
Christmas, Inn Keepers, And Homelessness
Today (Monday, the 18th) we’re one week away from Christmas, a season for celebrating family, friends, faith, and goodwill. And after the trauma of the past 4 years (think COVID & politics), celebrating those things is something we all need. But to keep our celebrations in balance, we also need to remember and reflect on those who have far less to celebrate. Personally, I try to take time to reflect on the reality of that first Christmas, one which took place in something less than ideal circumstances and involved a struggling couple, an unwed (but betrothed) teenage mother, and a birth in a cattle stall, because there was no room at the local inn. That’s right. They were effectively homeless, which brings me to a personal story.
One of my first jobs after graduate school, when Gale and I moved to Spokane, was at the Ramada Inn at the Spokane Airport. Yep, I was an “innkeeper.” Well, actually, I was a desk clerk on the 3-to-11 pm shift. Late one November evening, days before Thanksgiving, an elderly gentleman came to the desk looking somewhat disheveled and asking for a room. He explained to me that he had no money or credit cards, but did have a “Money Market Account” draft book and asked if we could accept that in payment (our general policy was “No,” because such accounts at that time were unreliable). He told me that he had just had eye surgery (one of his eyes was bandaged) and was to catch a flight to go and be with his family for the holidays the following day. The rest of the staff urged me to say no – bad risk. But, as the manager on duty at the time, I decided in favor of taking a risk and giving him a room. It was just the right thing to do, I felt. I got him settled in his room, my shift ended, and I went home. The next morning I received an early morning phone call from the hotel staff announcing (even celebrating) that the bookkeeper had called the bank and the check was good. Word of my “risky” good deed had spread. When I went to work later that day I was gently chided by the General Manager for placing the hotel at risk, but the tone of his voice and the expression on his face told me something different – we had done the right thing.
Over the years since then, I have occasionally thought about that elderly gentleman, even allowing myself to muse as to whether or not he was one of those “angels unaware” (Hebrews 13:2), visiting us and testing all of our hearts. Sometimes, kindness requires us to take a risk – one that others will deem “unwise” or “unnecessary” – and that includes our kindness toward those experiencing homelessness. Homelessness during the holidays can take many different forms. In the year 4BC, in the town of Bethlehem of Judea, during the reign of Augustus Caesar, it took the form of a homeless couple – a pregnant teenager and her partner – from Galilee who found themselves seeking refuge in a stable and dependent upon the kindness of strangers. In the simple description of the New Testament writer, Luke, Mary “gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
Looking past our Christmas celebrations and into the new year, I can’t help but feel that all of us are going to have our kindness, our compassion, and our unconditional love – in other words, our “hearts” – tested as never before in the face of a surging River of Homelessness – a flood-tide of human need. Take time now to rest, to celebrate, and above all, to be kind. You just don’t know who might be seeking refuge at your “Inn.”
A Snowy Silent Night Christmas
If you’ve ever wondered what kindness at Christmastime might look like for the unsheltered homeless of our City, here’s your chance to see it. I filmed this piece during Christmas of 2020 when I was filming my documentary The Least of These at the City Church warming shelter. It was snowing and we were doing Christmas outreach, distributing food and gifts to the street homeless of Spokane. I thought the juxtaposition of the traditional Christmas Hymn, “Silent Night,” with homeless outreach might help all of us see the homeless differently during the Christmas season. Take two-and-a-half minutes to challenge yourself with kindness this Christmas.YouTube Link for “A Snowy Silent Night Christmas” –
Joyeux Noël
Maurice Smith
509.475.8797
My Road Leads Home – Our Documentary YouTube Channel
A Place To Exist: The True and Untold Story of Camp Hope and Homelessness in Spokane
“How we see people is the beginning
of how we treat people.”
