Walk for the Homeless, Part 2

Geese and Goslings participating in the Walk

It was a cool, gray pearl of a day.  Nothing shy of perfection for this event.

I don't care for hot weather. Not even warm weather.  And I don't like to drive in snow and ice.  So if I picked a city to move to just for weather, it would be San Francisco.  No snow, no ice, mild winters.  And the summers are not hot.  The warmest month is September, when the average daily high is 71.  On average there are fewer than 30 days a year on which the high temperature exceeds 75.

Mark Twain famously said, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."  I shall now pause to allow you to do a bit of Web research to discover that the general consensus is that Twain never actually said (or wrote) that, and no one seems to know who did.  Even more vexing, I could not find out who first called my favorite city the "cool, gray pearl."

The forecast was for showers.  And indeed there was an intermittent, light drizzle as I was driving into the city.  When I got out of my car at Heinz Field, though, it was chilly but not raining.  I had worn shorts and a T-shirt, and the temperature was barely 60.

Inside the stadium were far more people than I had expected.  I had registered online for this event, and I had done all of my fundraising online, too.  The total number of people who had done this was less than 60.  But when I got in line to sign in, it was clear this was a much bigger deal.  Apparently many people do things the old fashioned way, using paper forms and asking people at work and in their neighborhoods and social circles to give.  Then they show up and register on the day of the Walk.  The turnout was about a thousand: roughly 900 walkers and about 100 volunteers who were not walking but helping with everything else.

There was coffee (for which I was grateful), and fruit and cookies for breakfast. Before the Walk began we were addressed by the former Steelers whose names are on the Walk, Tunch Ilkin and Craig Wolfley, and we were introduced to various local dignitaries who came to lend their support, including members of City Council, and the Steelers organization, and the local news media.  Former Steelers running back Rocky Bleier looked healthy and fit.  And WTAE's Sally Wiggin was there.

[I don't watch local news much, which is a whole 'nother subject I may write about some day, so I decided to read up on Sally Wiggin, who has been a news anchor in Pittsburgh for over 30 years.  "Not just another pretty face" is an understatement.  Phi Beta Kappa.  Studied Japanese and has degrees in East Asian History and Chinese History.  A string of journalism awards.  Wow.]

Tunch and Wolf told us about how, when this annual event began more than a decade ago there were a dozen people walking.  It was really heartening to see that so many people had turned out this year.

And so we got underway.  It's still pretty chilly, I thought, as we left the stadium. But I knew that feeling wouldn't last.  Sure enough, by the time I had walked a kilometer or so of the 10K, I thought the temperature was ideal.

Many of my friends seem to spend most of their waking hours taking pictures and posting them on Facebook.  I've never been much of a photographer, although the fact that I am now never without a camera (aka smartphone) makes it easy. So I decided I should have at least one picture to accompany this essay, and there it was at the top of the page.

A brisk walking pace doesn't inhibit conversation, and there was plenty of that. Some people I talked to had been doing the walk for years.  Others had known about it but only this year had signed up to join the effort.  Still others, like me, had never heard of it until last month.  A few were people who'd volunteered at the shelter, and one was an employee of the Light of Life Ministries.  Some had interesting questions.  I think there were more questions than answers.

One lady wanted to know how many homeless there were in Pittsburgh.  She realized as soon as she finished the question that there was surely no definitive answer.  After all, the very fact of homelessness means you won't get a survey from the Census Bureau.  Doing a Web search, I found figures in the 1300-1500 range for recent years in Pittsburgh.  But part of the challenge is getting started: you have to define the problem.

Everyone would agree that if you're living on the street, sleeping under a bridge, or staying in a shelter, you're homeless.  But in some studies of social problems, the term "homeless" is defined much more broadly.  You are living in an apartment that you can barely afford, the landlord decides to convert to condos, you don't qualify for a mortgage, and you can't find another place to live before you're evicted.  A cousin has a spare bedroom and takes you in.  You're homeless.  No, not like the person living in a big cardboard box positioned over a subway grate on the street in a big city, but categorized that way in some studies of homelessness as a social problem.  That isn't helpful, because it makes people who have charitable impulses or who are inclined toward spending public dollars to ameliorate the plight of the homeless think maybe the problem is being overstated.

I've spent time in a lot of medium-sized and larger cities in the United States. Take my word for it, if you are willing: the problem is big enough without anyone overstating it.

The folks at Light of Life do not, I think, devote a great deal of effort to quantifying the problem.  They're too busy trying to solve it, one homeless person or family at a time.  Food, shelter, clothing.  Counseling for personal problems.  Treatment for mental illness and addiction.  Help with education and training. They teach people what they need to know to obtain a GED (the credential in General Educational Development that is widely accepted as equivalent to a high school diploma). They've helped homeless people enroll in Community College of Allegheny County and obtain degrees from CCAC.  One worker told me proudly about a fellow who had transferred his CCAC credits and was in a degree program at the University of Pittsburgh.

At the end of the walk there was a very nice lunch.  And some more conversation.  There were T-shirts for everyone who had raised at least a certain amount of money for the walk or paid a nominal sum.  Most of us had picked them up before the Walk, and many wore them.  I did, although I really didn't need the extra layer.

I have a confession to make.  (This is for those who don't know me well.  Those who do will nod in immediate recognition.)  I have a very mischievous sense of humor.  So I thought about saying, in a stage whisper, if I ever got the chance, "I don't give a damn about the homeless.  I'm just here for the T-shirt and the exercise."  But everyone was so sincere, and enthusiastic, and upbeat about what they were doing that morning.  I couldn't bring myself to say it, because I wouldn't want anyone to think I actually meant that, even for an instant.  I was happy to be a part of it.  Happy to be doing something to help people who, I sometimes think in moments of gloom, are beyond help.  The folks at Light of Life know that's not true.  They don't believe anyone is beyond help.