Before someone can recover from homelessness, they need to survive the experience. The first stage of recovery is damage control. The more thoroughly and efficiently a homeless person’s physical, emotional and spiritual needs are met, the more quickly that person will be able to begin his/her recovery to self-sufficiency.

Not surprisingly many homeless people wish to skip the survival stage and begin to work immediately on their recovery. They are like the person who nearly dies in a car crash, wakes up in the hospital with two broken legs and immediately wants to go home and back to work. Sometimes the people who seem most motivated to recover are really simply trying to deny the seriousness of their condition. At Friendship House we encourage people not to ignore their essential physical and emotional needs in their haste to get back on their feet. Neglecting one’s basic survival needs is almost always counterproductive.

Because so many people in our society are dependent upon the hospitality of strangers for food, clothing and shelter, most of these survival services have to function in an institutional mode and can therefore seem rigid and insensitive. Given the level of need and scarcity of resources, there is really no other alternative. For the staff and volunteers who struggle daily to keep these services available, there is little comfort in a job well done. Better than anyone, they know how much more is needed and how humiliating it is for able-bodied men and women to be dependent upon charity for the essentials of life.

The goal of the homeless survival network is to meet the basic physical needs of all our homeless citizens and to provide them with the emotional stability needed for the recovery process to begin. While striving to meet the physical needs of as many homeless clients as possible, those who serve within this network should always strive to treat each client as a unique individual with special gifts and needs. In many ways, the manner in which each of us serves one another is more important than the deeds that we do. At the same time, we are all human. Along the way we hurt others and are hurt ourselves. For any of us to move beyond mere survival, we have to learn to let go and forgive the daily slights and insults to our pride. Most people give each day their best shot. When I learn to be satisfied with the best from others, I will learn also to accept myself as I am.