A dash for the Shelter

I read an article in last Sunday’s edition of Proa (a special section that appears each Sunday in La Nación, Costa Rica’s most reputable and reliable newspaper) about an old hotel located in one of Costa Rica’s most dangerous downtown locations, what we call Zona Roja, that has been converted into a homeless shelter.  I also found out that it is San Jose’s only homeless shelter.  The shelter has beds for 103.  The estimates for the number of homeless in the area range from to just under 1,000 to 4,000.  Therefore, each day when the shelter opens its doors at around 6:15 pm, there is a literal stampede of men clamouring for a night in a dry bed as opposed to a soggy piece of cardboard.  I don’t know about you, but when I see a homeless person I generally have this thought….”there but for the grace of God go I.”  Since many homeless suffer drug addiction, schizophrenia or some other mental or physical infirmity, it is easy to want to just avoid them. Here they often approach you at stoplights pleading for money.  It is so easy to dismiss them thinking to yourself, he’s just gonna buy drugs or booze.  And I know experts would say giving them money is not helping them out of their situation.  But I often feel that is the least I can do.  I am not rich, but I can afford to give a few coins, or even a bit more than that.  And the way I figure it is who am I to question what they will do with the money.  I assume, probably naively, maybe buy a bite to eat.  I have seen a young guy who always begged by a stoplight near a former apartment.  His method was to fashion “bichos” or insects from blades of caña brava (a tall bamboo-like plant that grows in plenitude here).  I always gladly gave him a few coins for a bicho and then proudly displayed it on my dashboard until the next time.  Lately I have seen this guy at the same stoplight, but he looks a bit better than before, more clean cut and businesslike…gone is the trembling and nervousness that once had me convinced that he was another of San Jose’s crack addicts.  He seems to be doing better.  So who knows what a little help might actually be doing for a guy like that.  I am a bit appalled to find out that Costa Rica offers 100 beds to the 1000 plus homeless that roam its streets.  I believe maybe the city could do a bit better.  Or, maybe a concerned citizen or two should step in and do it for them.  Whatever you might think of the homeless, one thing is for certain, they are made of the same flesh, blood and spirit as are the more fortunate that pass them by.

Link to Article in La Nación

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