Day of Dignity 2009- D.C. Beneficiary Speaks on Poverty

Staff Member, Melissa Barreto, reflects on her experience at the Day of Dignity 2009 event in Washington D.C.

Looking out the plane window at the city neighborhoods below, I wondered how many men and women were roaming the streets in between with no families to protect them and no place to call home.

Men and women like John, who as he told me his story, cried at the thought of how difficult his life has been. Living back on the streets near Union Station for a second time, John cried i front of me because he felt forced to leave his family, because he had no place to go, and because he felt his spirit was broken.

"Poverty breaks your spirit," he told me.

Working with the CCNV shelter in the Capital Hill area of D.C., I saw over 700 men and women line up to receive supplies that the Day of Dignity volunteers were offering them. Many people were older and looked worn from the days, weeks and probably years of hardships that had come before that day.

If their years passed were anything like John told me that his were, they probably included drug use, broken families and instability as they wandered from one shelter to another with minimal hope for the future.

"There's gotta be another way we can rectify this homeless problem," John said. "It's increasing day by day. People look at you differently because you're on the street, but they have no idea what you might might be going through or what you've been through."

"There's too many people on the streets that don't have nowhere to go, don' know if they're going to eat or if they're going to survive. It's not easy."

As the plane flew higher, I realized that I had left John almost the same way I found him: sitting alone on a curb outside Union Station, a black suitcase containing all his belongings on his right and a paper cup on his left that he used to beg for coins.

The only difference was the black cloth bag at his feet with an Islamic Relief USA logo on the front and towels, socks, gloves, a hat, and hygiene kit inside.