Johnny Cash and the Homeless

There are few things more annoying than having a song stuck in your head that will just not go away. Recently, I was out hiking with my family and something happened that set an entire chain reaction in motion, beginning with a sound, involving a song, and culminating with an idea.

Even though I am not an especially avid outdoorsman (okay, I actually hide from nature whenever possible), a few days ago I found myself traversing a couple trails and enjoying the luxury of allowing my mind to wander while I hoped to avoid picking up Lyme disease. The wind was careening through the trees and the sun was doing its best to heat things up as we idly plodded along. At first the noise was faint but eventually it became evident that a train was announcing itself somewhere in the vicinity. This whistle led to Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues embedding itself in my brain and there was no shaking it no matter how hard I tried.

I hear the train a comin'
It's rollin' 'round the bend,
And I ain't seen the sunshine,
Since, I don't know when.

The hike that led to a sound that led to a song now led to a thought: Homelessness might be aptly characterized by these lyrics. A great many of our residents at Samaritan House ended up homeless because of circumstances or situations that literally hit them like a runaway locomotive. Unemployment or unexpected bills leading to eviction or foreclosure; medical expenses or domestic violence forcing people from their homes. Any of these can propel a person or family directly into homelessness at any time.

Often, we don't see it coming around the bend until its too late.

Society tends to judge the symptoms of homelessness without addressing the causes. An unkept transient sleeping in the park is easier to identify than the lack of affordable housing preventing him from securing a place to live. Its more manageable to see a woman on a corner holding a sign than it is to peel back the layers and realize she lost her kids to Social Services because she worked 2 jobs and had no one to stay home with them during the night because she couldn't afford childcare.

The train keeps a-rollin'.

As we continue to work on our Five Year Plan to end homelessness in Kalispell, we are doing all we can to part the clouds and allow a little sunshine in. It is our hope and desire that you will partner with us and help us eliminate more than the symptoms of homelessness. We want to do more than provide bandages or make mere cosmetic improvements. Thank you for your past help and all you do to provide us with the finances and resources we require to hit the brakes on such an imposing runaway train.

If you would like to make a financial donation to Samaritan House, please stop by our office or feel free to call. We cannot do this without your help.