WHAT ABOUT THE HOMELESS

By Travis McGee Sr.

What about the homeless, the unhoused, or the less fortunate? What ever we may consider them to be they are people too, just like you and me. We should not have a homeless problem unless we have a humanity problem here in Houston, TX.We all know we cannot help everybody, but we all should be trying to help somebody. I believe if everybody does something, everything will get done. However, the city must allow Houstonians to help their brothers and sisters who have fallen on hard times without any fear of citations etc.

We must be Houston Strong all the time vs just during Hurricane Season. Our fast-growing city has many issues such as drainage, infrastructure, illegal dumping, crime, food desserts, school
desserts, gentrification and so on and all have been ignored and neglected for decades. But the homeless problem cannot be ignored nor neglected anymore. Human lives depend on a
much-needed solution as opposed to more studies and excuses. The biggest problem with helping the homeless is they are treated like a number and not a human. We do not need more studies or head counts.

Because honestly, how can we possibly have an accurate headcount on a population we are not a part nor can’t even relate to. We have homes to go to each day with electricity and heat in the
winter, AC in the summer and running water. Living in Houston, many of us are just one flood, one hurricane, one paycheck, and one tax bill away from being homeless ourselves. In November of 2018, I was taking my daughter to basketball practice, and I noticed a homeless man collecting oversized pizza boxes. I returned later that evening and found that he had constructed shelter with those boxes to protect himself from the cold front that was expected to come through later that night. In that moment, I felt compelled to do something and I did. I phoned my friend Tahir
Charles, who owns a large BBQ pit to tell him my idea, one way to