On Saturday 21 June 2008 I was walking back from the store when I noticed a person doubled over on the curbside across the street. I watched for a moment and then waited for the traffic light to turn so I could cross the highway. Then I waited again for the traffic light to change so I could cross the side street. I went over and asked if she was alright and she said she was sick. I sat down on the sidewalk and asked if she wanted to go to the hospital. She said no.

She was holding her stomach and seemed to be in pain. I asked her when she had last eaten and she said she could not remember. I asked if she would like to go with me to the local hamburger shop and get some food. She said she was too sick to eat. I asked again if she wanted to go to the hospital, but again she said no.

So I asked what it was that I could do to help her. She did not know.

I asked if there was anyone I could call. She said there was no one. I asked if she had a place to live. She said she did not. Her belongings were all clean and new so I felt she had not been on the street very long. But she had chosen to be here rather than wherever she had been before.

So I asked what it was that I could do to help her. She did not know.

We sat there for a while.

Then she said that she wanted to go over to the regional park. I said I would take her. We waited for the traffic light to change and then we crossed the highway. Then we waited for the traffic light to change again and we crossed the side street. Then we walked over to my apartment. She said that she used to live in this same apartment complex once.

I opened the door to my apartment but she did not want to go in. I offered her food, but she did not want any. I offered her a water bottle, but she did not want one. I told her that I needed to get the keys to my car. I asked if she wanted to sit down but she said no she wanted to stay in the hallway. I thought this was very sad. She must have been trapped and hurt sometime by someone and now she is afraid.

I got my car keys and she said that she would like a water bottle after all. I gave her one and we walked over to my car. I said that my name is Robert and she hesitated. Then she said that her name is Hanna. My guess is that she is about 17 or 18.

As we drove over to the regional park I offered to let her stay in my apartment if she wanted. I told her that she could have a room to herself, but she declined. Most likely she does not trust me and thinks I would hurt her. I asked if life on the street was better than life back home and she said it definitely is. A bit later she said that maybe sometimes life on the street was not as good as life back home. I wanted to push on that point but I hesitated. I wish I had taken that opportunity to help her make the decision to go back home. But I did not feel she was ready for that yet. Oh how I wish I had pushed on that anyway.

I told her I had once been homeless and said it is very difficult to stop being homeless unless you can trust someone. I told her that I was lucky to find some friends that let me move into their apartment for a price I could afford. I reminded her that she could stay at my place if she wanted to but she did not.

I gave her my phone number and some money. I told her that I was very worried about her and told her that if life on the street got too hard for her to just call me and I would do whatever I could to help. She took my number and the money and put them in her pocket.

I told her that I would be praying for her. She asked what I said. I said that I would be praying for her. She said thank you. And then she left.

I drove home. When I got to that traffic light, it was no longer working. I thought that was appropriate. I had not done what it should have done earlier. It had not stopped the world so that someone could reach Hanna. So it was best if that light just stopped working. It, and I had both failed to help Hanna.

I posted that brief memo on my web site and one friend replied that she did not feel it was safe to get so involved with the homeless. The following update is my response.

Who is more honorable? The homeless person that lifts a small item to buy food or the business person who accepts my work and then refuses to pay? Who is more trustworthy? The homeless person that accepts a free meal and says thank you or the business executive who accepts a free download from my website and then sells it for a profit?

I did volunteer work for 18 months on a drug-and-suicide phone line. In all that time only one person took advantage of my kindness. During those same 18 months several of the people that I worked with on my regular job took credit for my work, blamed me for their mistakes and plotted devious means to promote themselves at the expense of my employer.

I have helped many homeless people and over the years I have given them thousands of dollars in meals, hotel rooms and clothing. During those same years I have helped many businesses and worked on projects where my employers have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars. Which is better? The homeless person that takes the gift and then asks for more or the business person who takes our work and denies our right to be paid?

Many of the homeless have been so traumatized by their life that they cannot find the way out. But many just need a little help so they can get off the street long enough to find a job and get back into the mainstream again. It is my opinion that we could swap many of the homeless tomorrow with many of the executives in major corporations and the net effect would be an uplift in the morality of business. Who is more grateful? A homeless person who gets a meal or a business executive that gets a bonus larger than the annual salary for the average worker in their company?

Today the homeless shelters are overflowing and cannot help anyone else. Today the country clubs are crowded and the waiting list for a golf tee-off time can be long. Tomorrow we will build more golf courses. When will we build more homeless shelters? And when will we get beyond sheltering and start redeeming the lost so that they can rejoin society?

There is only one person that I have authority over and that is me. If I want this world to change then I need to do what I can to change it. And the way I do that is one person at a time.