I was recently reminded that how one feels about or looks at what is happening can very much depend very much on where you are standing. There can easily be two very different ways of seeing the same events, depending on whether one is on the inside or the outside.

I had a discussion with some people involved with the decision making process on actions to take in addressing homelessness. They felt things were moving along nicely, with all necessary speed. Later I had the chance to discuss what was taking place with the homeless. They felt things were moving at a glacial pace on making (non) decisions.

Clearly your view on these matters, whether or not decisions and actions occurred in a timely manner, was dependant on your living arrangements – literally whether you were lining on the outside or the inside of homeless issues. To those living on the outside – on the streets – and waiting on these decisions to obtain access to food, shelter, basic hygienic facilities, counselling and other forms of needed help, timely is pretty much NOW. To those making the decisions and who at the end of the “working day” go home to the comfort of shelter and food, timely does not have a set schedule or the same sense of urgency. When you think about it this difference is not surprising, that those with food and shelter lack the driving motivation for action of those without shelter or food.

Reality is that motivating those responsible for addressing problems to act in a timely manner is often difficult. How then do we provide motivation to those facing the highly complex and perplexing issues of homelessness and poverty? How do you motivate action and overcome the fear of making the tiniest mistake in a situation were even the very best choices are likely to give rise to some negative outcomes?

Creatively! I propose that those faced with making decisions on these issues be given an education immersion course that would enable them to gain first hand experience with the barriers faced by, and the needs of, those living homeless. We send those involved with planning and decision making to live in Compassion Park until some plans, decisions and actions are forthcoming. The City’s recent actions have rendered it unoccupied, clean and available for use. This way those tasked to address these issues gain both education and motivation. I am sure this would provide for planning and action in a much more timely fashion.