The hardening heart of America

Every day brings more evidence that the least fortunate in our society have become targets of our political leaders. Cities across the nation have rushed to criminalize homelessness by passing ordinances making it illegal to eat, sleep, or beg on our streets. We see people living in cardboard boxes or taking shelter in underpasses. We watch them talk to themselves and simply roll our eyes. No one can claim not to have witnessed unmet needs for shelter, food, and medical care for physical and psychological disorders.

Here is another example of the hardening of our hearts, this time from Pennsylvania. Faith-based organizations have been feeding the homeless in the courthouse parking lot in Harrisburg for the past seven years. It is a central location downtown that allows hundreds of homeless people to be fed efficiently. Now comes word from the powers that be that public property cannot be used to feed the homeless and outreach workers risk arrest for setting up tables in these empty parking lots.

The excuse given by public officials is that the local bank, which rents space from the county, has complained about sanitary problems because of public urination.

There have been incidents, according to the county's Deputy Chief Clerk Scott Burford. Public urination and defecation in the parking lots. Citizens Bank, which rents ground floor space from the county, complained that its ATM kiosk had been turned into a Port-A-John. Employees from both the bank and the county had been "harassed, heckled and followed in some ways," Burford said.

I cannot help but wonder if perhaps the bank harassed the homeless for using its bathrooms and the homeless retaliated by using the ATM as a bathroom. Of course, there is a simple solution. A portable potty could be located in the parking lot to accommodate the needs of the homeless and eliminate conflict with the bank, but that is too logical and caring. Instead, there are "No Loitering" signs posted everywhere and new ordinances to prevent the use of public property to feed the homeless.

The county claims they are not just targeting the homeless. It seems the patrons of local bars have been behaving badly as well.

The county's new enforcement goals will extend beyond the group of homeless men and women who congregate on county property, Burford said. They will also deter Second Street bar patrons that park in the lot, or stop to relieve themselves against a wall on their way home.

Perhaps the homeless have been accused of being a larger public nuisance than they actually are. But who cares about the homeless? They do not have the money to donate to politicians or spend in local businesses. They are just human trash that needs to be kept out of sight and mind for the privileged in our society. At least that seems to be the mindset of local politicians and business leaders.

A couple of other points from the story that deserve mention. First, the problem of homelessness in the Harrisburg area is growing.

Homelessness in Harrisburg has risen 40 percent in the last six years, said Bethesda Mission executive director Chuck Wingate. The volunteers at Isaiah 61 Ministries say they have seen a lot of new faces showing up in line over the summer.

Without a central location, the ad hoc coalition of 25 faith organizations that have come together to serve the area's homeless is likely to collapse. The authorities created new rules but offered no alternatives.

Untreated or poorly managed mental illnesses are prominent in the homeless population in Harrisburg and across the nation. What sort of sick society ignores the needs of people that cannot care for themselves because of psychiatric disorders?

One can only hope and pray that the faith organizations that have been working hard to help the homeless in the Harrisburg area find the strength and inspiration to get around the hardened hearts of local authorities and the moneychangers at Citizens Bank.