Last week as I was walking into work, I almost stepped on a man. He was sleeping on the corner of Nicollet and 10th street. Sprawled out next to the newspaper dispensers with a trench coat thrown on top of him as a blanket. This morning, another man had turned a small nook in the side of a building into his makeshift bedroom. The recent downfall of the economy in the past two years added to the number of homeless on the street. People who previously would’ve never imagined themselves without an address, now soldiers of the street.
I used to wonder why anyone who was homeless would stay in Minnesota, where the winters are bitter and cold. Of course, when I got older, I realized that we had a better welfare system, shelters and assistance than many other states. Knowing this makes the chance of having to battle a painful winter somewhat bearable for some I imagine. I hope one day, we can conquer poverty and all the evils that surround it.
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