Thanks to the recent downturn, the U.S. economy is often defined in purely mathematical and financial terms.
The nearly 2.6 million jobs lost in 2008, the 1,100 dealerships closed by General Motors Corp. and the 9.4 percent unemployment rate in the month of May are all numerical markers for this recession. However, among the depressing numbers and figures there is also a heartbreaking human element to the story that has its own chapter here in Gainesville.
I recently went down to the St. Francis House, a homeless shelter on South Main Street, for a class assignment and was confronted by my own ideas and perceptions about this recession. I had seen homeless men and women before, but somewhat shamefully, this was the first time I talked to these people and discovered their life stories. One man attributed his misfortune to a loss of momentum, like a rolling ball coming to a stop.
Another man refused to talk to me, ashamed of the position fate had put him in. One thing that became clear to me as I talked to these people was that this latest economic downturn has a human element that should not be ignored and should be at the center of all efforts to fix the economy. While the government is providing bailout funds to companies, many of the homeless in America still go unnoticed.
This ignorance of the homeless has been present for years and, unfortunately, has not been addressed or reversed. The stereotype of the homeless as smelly, dirty people in rags is far from the truth, especially for those at St. Francis. The men, women and children at the shelter are seeking an end to their troubles. They are the people who need help from the Gainesville community.
While at the St. Francis House, I talked to several workers who are on the front lines trying to help. What I learned is that it is easy, especially for UF students, to get involved. Whether volunteering through a student organization, working with the UF Center for Leadership and Service or simply going down to the St. Francis House, UF students have several ways to get involved with this effort.
It is very important, if only for altruistic benefits, that students and the greater Gainesville community get involved to help the more than 1,000 homeless men, women and children who call Gainesville's streets home. The picture of the overall economy that is portrayed on the news and in other forms of media seems almost unreal at times. With U.S. debt spiraling into trillions of dollars and millions of people losing their jobs, it is extremely difficult sometimes to get your head around the figures.
However, it is very important for people to get involved with helping the homeless locally in a time when the situation for so many people is turning dire. Anna Edwards, a case manager I talked to at St. Francis, put it best when describing the problems the homeless face in this economy.
"Before, when the economy was better, there was a success story every two weeks here," she said. "Now, nobody in here can get a job."
How's that for making your qualms about a lack of beer money sound totally insignificant?
Joshua Lee is a journalism sophomore.
