“I was sitting in my friend’s tent and had two big bags of clothes. No car, no money, wondering if this was going to be my life forever. Scared.” That is how my friend Rocky described what was going through his mind when he became homeless at the age of twenty-nine. Rocky’s journey to becoming housed took many turns, but ultimately it came down to the relationships he built at a weekly “neighborhood navigation center,” a Thursday night gathering of various nonprofits, case management services, and churches in Alameda Park, Santa Barbara. Reflecting on that time, he told me,, “I remember being in shock because I was wondering ‘Who are all these people who are helping me? … They were sitting down talking with me, treating us like normal people.”
I also found myself in that same park on a Thursday night at the start of my freshman year at Westmont College in Santa Barbara. By then, Rocky had already been housed for a couple of years, but he continued to come to the park every week to support the homeless community. To this day, Rocky remains a consistent mentor and friend to me.
I share Rocky’s story because it illustrates an important principle: homelessness cannot be solved by the isolated actions of a single institution of society. Just like those weekly nights at the park — where people and groups from all parts of society came together to provide for the physical, material, emotional, and relational needs of those experiencing homelessness — the issue is best addressed through the combined efforts of all institutions of society — namely, government, nonprofits, and faith communities…