Even though the temperature has dropped here in Raleigh, life on the streets goes on. And even though I was snowed in on Monday, I still caught up on the local gossip on the street… via the internet. That’s right – the homeless have email and Facebook accounts, just like you do.
It is easy to understand, when you think about it and know a little bit about them. They often duck into the library to escape the cold, and there they can use the free computer to set up a gmail account, or to set up a page on Facebook (They used to have a lot of MySpace pages too, until the library blocked MySpace). This lets them keep in touch with relatives in other cities. Plus, they can use the internet and Craigslist to find work. I even knew one guy who would post an add to Craigslist, offering his services as a laborer. He stayed pretty busy, too.
It was by email that I heard about Jimmy getting arrested over the weekend, that Pablo let me know that he was denied for unemployment benefits and that I first heard hints that the lunchtime soup kitchen may not serve that day because of the weather. And Facebook lets me know that Heidi has moved back in with her parents and that Lizzie is struggling in her hometown, but in a different way than she struggled here.
In other words, our internet strategy is just as important a part of what we do as the actually being out there – just like being able to email your friends is just as critical to you as actually seeing them. It is not one or the other, but rather that they compliment each other. It is just another way that community can happen.