Beyond the broken

Beyond the Broken // By R.G. Ryan

“Every wound leaves a scar, and every scar tells a story.”

———-

While driving through the Midway District on a recent Monday afternoon, my wife and I saw a heavy police presence behind the Sports Arena. Thinking there had been incident of some sort—and, to be fair, it would not have been uncommon in that area—I slowed down to observe.

What I saw were homeless people being moved off the streets, a frequent happening over the past several months. The city, lacking viable solutions to its massive homeless “problem,” (we have the 4th highest homeless population in the US) doesn’t seem to have any other answers.

First of all, homelessness is not a problem, it’s “people.” And until you address the person, the “problem” will remain. But, this seems the only solution bureaucracies are willing to engage in. When you only do what you’ve always done, you will only get what you’ve always got. So, what we have is a wash, rinse, repeat situation similar to the movie Groundhog Day.

Secondly, you can move people off the street but that doesn’t move them beyond their brokenness. It merely changes their physical location. They’re still addicted. They’re still sick. They’re still an emotional mess.

We See You San Diego has a better answer. It’s called relationship.

I’ve heard it said that change can only happen when you choose to walk toward it on your own. But when you’ve been down so long, sometimes you forget how to even walk. We See You walks hand-in-hand with individuals from “prehab” all the way through “rehab” and beyond.

San Diego has homeless people—people who have a problem. We See You has the solution.