Many homeless people live on San Antonio streets

My View

I have heard various estimates on how many homeless people live on the streets of San Antonio. Some say as many as 25,000.
Most of my dealings with this population are through the multifaceted Corazon Ministry at Travis Park UMC downtown. My wife and I work on Tuesdays every week with a program designed to help clients obtain their Texas identification documents.
Without any statistics from more scientific studies of this population, I have reached some conclusions from my observation of this very complex population.
For instance, a significant percentage of people are mentally ill. That makes it difficult for them to find a job even when they have skills. They still face the stigmas of society toward people suffering in this way. Travis Park UMC has provided space for a clubhouse program for the mentally ill.
Another large percentage of people has simply encountered unexpected hard times and hope they are only temporarily out of work. My guess is that a large percentage of those we see in our I.D. program is from that group. We know many who obtain these documents go on to find jobs. A significant number come back to show us their new I.D.s and tell us where they are working.
I have talked randomly at breakfast—served every Sunday morning—to numerous people who work but are still living on the streets or in a shelter. They are saving enough money from minimum-wage jobs to get a first month’s rent and some kind of transportation to reach their workplace.
Some have been on drugs and lived on the streets. Others have been in jail but are now working their way back to some kind of normalcy.
Sad to say, many people tell me they have been on the streets for a long time and have become accustomed to it. Many say they prefer to continue that existence.
Some tell me they enjoy the lifestyle and have learned to survive in that environment. A significant number say they have found work a few times.
Several in this category were released from their employment for some reason or quit on their own. From what others have told me, I have determined that they lacked the skills to obtain jobs paying enough to enable them to thrive adequately.
Some, it seems, simply lack the will, determination or perhaps the self-assurance to even seek employment.
I believe a significant number of people don’t fit neatly into any of the categories mentioned above. Recently I talked to a man in his late 40s, who was alienated from a wife and two teenage children. He said he had had a job making $35,000 a year, was a skilled cabinet maker and had various other skills. Because of irreconcilable problems at home, his wife had run him off.
The man said a shifty lawyer helped her get everything he had. Now out of a job, he is on the run because he can’t pay child support. He is looking for a job that will pay him enough to live adequately.
“I hate living this way,” he said.
A significant teenage population is for various reasons living this nomadic life. Some teens are, or have been, heavily into the drug culture. Many have been turned out by families tired of rescuing them.
Others teens have chosen to leave home and become societal dropouts. They are often angry with parents, school officials, a girlfriend or boyfriend, or culture in general. Most, it seems, are victims of many of our society’s profound and complex family problems.