If you walk through the heart of Portland, Maine, you’ll always find something to take in.  

Within a few feet from the arts district, in between two empty buildings, beneath a concrete awning, a man lays under a jaded tarp – unconscious. The orange caps from syringes fill cracks of brick road; tossed at storefronts, and at your feet. People step over the white lines of crosswalks towards storefronts selling grained leather, and organic coffee beans. Time passes, and the man still lies there, unmoved. It’s mid-afternoon, in the ember of summer. The breeze of people leave a ravine between spaces, a world among the two, the beautiful and the damned. 

When survival is the main focus, planning a future comes to a halt. The residuals of homelessness remain even after people reintegrate into the world. Learning to trust again is accompanied by an acute hyper-vigilance. A reluctance towards others is often the result of isolation, and severe trauma. Like a tide pulls away, so does the chance of finding something to anchor onto. The more muted a voice becomes, the harder it is to be heard. 

The kindness of strangers can help alleviate feelings of alienation in a circumstance that is already scrutinized by the outside world. I spoke with an employee at Commonspace, who works directly with women in a housing and rehabilitation shelter. She shared how moments of interaction can shift someone’s day by returning a smile, and engaging in a natural conversation. Sometimes stopping and asking if there’s anything to be done to help is all that’s needed.

Being homeless before in her own life, she can relate to those currently in crisis: , “it was hard not feeling seen or heard”, she said, “you get treated differently when people know you’re homeless. You’re still a human, even if you don’t have a home. And we’re going through something very traumatic. The streets are scary, but not all the people are”. 

Homelessness is interchangeable with other issues: mental illness, substance abuse, domestic violence, and an overall lack of support. To overcome any obstacle is to know where to begin. If we acknowledge an issue with the intention of finding a solution instead of focusing on the origin of the problem, the path towards progress begins. Change and humility comes from within– we all must be reminders to each other of this. The goal is to reach a more compassionate, altruistic community. The divide that some see homelessness as a chosen condition rather than as a neighbor fallen into an unfortunate position. We should help others because it’s the right thing to do. There will never be a wrong time to give gestures of grace, or a place to show empathy.