In the spring of 2016, I was in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was beautiful, a city on one side and clear blue waves on the other. As I walked down the road, I saw all different kinds of people. There was a local girl around 11, carrying her surfboard on her head as she walked down the street. Tourists from every country I could think of, bustling in and out of the many shops. But as I walked down the road, I noticed men and woman slumped against the walls, invisible to most people, but not to me. Some had no shoes, others had bad sunburns. It broke my heart a little more every time I walked past one of these them. I asked my dad why I saw so many homeless people, and he told me that most of them were veterans who came home from war with varying degrees of mental illnesses, like PTSD and depression with nowhere to go. I remember feeling angry, thinking that this wasn’t their fault, they didn’t deserve to live like this.
It was December of 2008, I was in Dublin, Ireland. It was the first time I had ever been out of the country. I was so excited. My mom, my sister, and I were walking back to our little apartment when a lady walked up to us, holding an old bag and wearing only a thin jacket in the frigid weather. I remember my mom grasping my hand tight as she came closer. When she reached us, she broke down into tears and started to talk in heavily accented English about herself. I could understand little, but I understood that she had two kids, and they were waiting at a shelter for her while she was out begging for money to provide for them. My mom must have understood too, because she took out her wallet and gave her some money. She looked very grateful and said thank you, then we went our separate ways. I looked back as we walked away, and I could still see her crying as she got swallowed by the crowd.
I was in Raleigh with my friends about 6 months ago. It was around 4:00 PM, and we were driving home from shopping and hanging out. We stopped at a streetlight when I happened to look out my window to see a man in his thirties holding a cardboard sign. It read “Lost Job. I can’t pay for my family’s food or my wife’s medical bills. Help.” The cardboard was decorated with pictures of a little girl and a smiling woman. But as soon as the light turned green, we sped past, along with all the other cars, leaving that man behind.
I decided to tell you these stories because I want to show that homelessness, hunger, and not being able to get healthcare are problems everywhere. These are problems that most people that I know don’t think about, because it doesn’t apply to them. But this isn’t exclusive to giant cities like New York and Los Angeles. It’s everywhere you go. This is why I am so passionate about Urban Ministries’ mission. Urban Ministries is helping people get off the streets, giving them food and healthcare that they would otherwise not be able to get. They truly want to help people like the ones I talked about: I believe that it is our duty to help them succeed, for our community and for the good of the people. I am so excited to reach our goal of 120,000 dollars for this amazing charity. I am thrilled to be a part of improving the lives of people all over Wake County.
Angela Lewis
Freshman Council President