Remove the "less" from Homeless

Sometimes, from my office window, I spy them stretched out across the stone benches of the amphitheater in Kiener Plaza. Other days, as I board the bus to head downtown, they are camped out at the bus station or lined up in front of the mission just a block away, waiting for it to open.

They do not complain about black grout, weed-riddled lawns or sagging carports. They don’t even have anywhere decent to sleep much less somewhere to call home.

Not everyone who is homeless chooses to be. Some of these people have mental problems. Many of them are veterans. And others are people who – just like you and me – had jobs and homes and lives – but for some reason, they now find themselves on the street. (In this economy, it’s not a hard scenario to imagine. I think most of us are a handful of paychecks ahead of them.)

We are often a heartless society, casting away people with as little regard as the garbage we cart to the curb each week. Thankfully, that’s not always the case.

The United Nations has chosen the first Monday in October to be World Habitat Day - a day to stand up and let it be known that affordable, adequate housing should be a priority everywhere.

This year, that’s Oct. 5. You can do your part to support this cause of Habitat for Humanity by blogging, donating, or volunteering. Here are some other ways to help.

Whatever you do, do something.