I click my flashlight on and back off to check that it’s working. The beam encircles my torn up tennis shoes that are now wrapped in white, cloth footies. I tighten my arms which are draped with plastic bags to my sides as we enter the dark woods. The bags each contain a bottled water and an assortment of food like a Rice Krispy Treat and chips and similar items—one full meal per bag. Part of me is aware of the tree branches brushing against my arms, but I try to focus on my team member walking in front of me and watching where he steps so I don’t trip over roots or trash. The heat from the day has followed us into the night and hangs over us like a heavy blanket filled with mosquitos and humidity. We walk for about a quarter of a mile, quiet, tense, reflective.

Outreach! The voice of one of our team leaders reaches my tired ears at the back of the line. I can’t see any of the tents yet, but I know we’re getting close since he’s announcing our presence. A few seconds later, we emerge into a camp. In the small clearing between trees, there are about five tents set up and a few wooden shelters also nestled in between them. Clothes are hung on clothing lines between the trees and there’s a fire pit at one end of the clearing. I can see some logs lit up in the dark air. It’s too hot for a fire, but I’m sure it helps with the mosquitos.

Outreach! He calls out again. We still don’t hear a response. People could be sleeping or just not here. I want to yell it too, but I’m at the back of the group and I’m scared my voice would just get swallowed up into the darkness and trees surrounding us. I look down and realize haven’t even clicked on my flashlight the whole walk here. I was thinking about all the other homeless camps we’ve been to tonight. It’s been eye-opening. But more than that. It’s been shocking.

Outreach! We walk a little farther, past more tents and hear someone respond. We come to a tent with three men. They each take a meal, some batteries, and some socks. I introduce myself, shake hands, crack a lame joke. I realize I’m sweating. I wonder: am I saying the right thing? Am I over-dressed? Under-dressed? Am I coming off as stuck-up? They don’t care, though; they got food and what they need from us. My clothes don’t matter. My discomfort in this situation of simply helping out some fellow people who’ve fallen into hard times shows I haven’t done this before. This is entirely new to me and I have no clue what I’m doing. And that bothers me.

Homelessness is a huge problem, not just in Indy, but everywhere. I just happen to be in Indy. And I think it’s one that we don’t want to worry about. My biggest concern when waking up this morning was what I would wear to outreach and how long it would take. I didn’t question where I’d get my breakfast from, if I’d have any clothes to wear, or if I’d be able to sleep in the same place that night. My point, though, isn’t that all our “stuff” is awesome and we take all our daily commodities for granted. That’s a good point and an important one since I definitely take most everything in my daily life for granted, but what concerns me more is the image in my mind of these camps full of people who don’t have these things to take for granted and whose whole lives are right there with them in those tents and shelters and how these camps are right off of main roads that I’ve driven on many times and have never taken notice of. What concerns me is how I can go day-in and day-out without ever wondering about people in my own city and neighborhood who need help. What concerns me is that no one deserves to go unnoticed.

Indiana’s 2015 Point-in-Time Homeless Count reported that 5,863 persons in Indianapolis were homeless during the last week in January 2015 (Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority). To me, that’s an astounding number. In a city of close to 900,000 people, there are so many people who could help out those five thousand people experiencing homelessness. If we took the time to recognize the reality of homelessness in our city, there’s no telling what we could do. The leader of my outreach team said to us: our goal is to eliminate homelessness, and I think the first step to doing that is to be aware of how real of a problem it is and getting involved through outreach and similar work so we are able to meet our fellow Indy natives who’re living in bad conditions and who could benefit so much from just a night of outreach. When we do this, the reality of homelessness becomes real to us and, after that, there’s no way to look away.

Works Cited

Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority. (8/3/2015). Indiana's homeless population decreases in 2015 Point-in-Time Homeless Count. Retrieved from

http://www.in.gov/ihcda/2464.htm