This week in class, we had two different presentations, both enlightening and encouraging to an extent. On Monday, we had the H.O.P.E team come in, and they are the homeless outreach department of San Bernardino County law enforcement. It was impressive and heartwarming to see people who are genuine in their care for the homeless and are trying to get them help while also treating them with respect. The story of the guy who was not ready for help initially, and then years later came back to the team saying he was ready was touching. The fact that these men constantly showed up for these people, whether they were ready for help or not, built a sense of trust that is vital in these interactions. The discouraging part of the presentation was that there were only three men, and San Bernardino county is one of the biggest in the U.S. Those numbers dont add up.

Our second presentation came from Dr. Craig Turley, who gave us good information about the un-housed people of Redlands, as well as some general ideas and thoughts. I thought it was interesting that Dr. Turley distinguished homelessness as a manageable issue instead of a “problem”. After hearing his reasons, it makes perfect sense, because there will always be people who chose to live outside regardless of if they have housing or not, and that is okay. But the idea of calling it a problem, however slight you may think that is, does in fact change the perception a little bit. Its slight, but I think it is important, and issue sounds better and is more humanizing.