Myths About Homelessness
Michael Brown
March 1, 2012
“Why don’t the homeless take responsibility for finding themselves a job and for getting on with their lives? Why don’t those street people stop whining and pick up their boot straps? Aren’t social services enabling them to remain lazy and dependent on those services? I have gone through hard times and I made it through, so why don’t they?”
These types of questions sit deep among members of our community in the Waterloo Region, and at an emotional level, I sometimes must pause before I respond back. In that pause, I remember when I used to ask the same questions, based on my snap judgments and hazy assumptions.
