Report on Meeting about Homelessness

3/13/09

Emily Bower

To the Boston Shambhala Community:

A group of community members met on Sunday, March 8, to discuss the questions arising from the presence of homeless people staying around our building. Mostly, we felt saddened and deeply moved by the situation. We found that facing homelessness so intimately brings up feelings of groundlessness and hopelessness because we know the problem is pervasive and it’s not going away. We felt that the presence of homeless people around our building presents an opportunity to enter into the situation and relate with it directly.

WHAT’S BEEN GOING ON

We learned from full-time staff - Center Director Jill Blagsvedt and Center Coordinator Sarah Lipton - that there have been homeless men living under the sides of the building in recent months. They have left, but Jill and Sarah have spent a lot of time cleaning up debris and personal detritus (human waste) around the building. The feeling at the meeting was that this is not how Jill and Sarah should be spending their time (and it’s a safety hazard) and if the Center chooses to continue to allow homeless people to live on the property, something has to change in the way the property is kept clean. We all need to relate with the issue directly, not just Sarah and Jill.

• Our best idea on the spot was that a rota for clean-up should be formed. There are already three people on that rota. Do you want to join (see below for more information)?
• Another idea is to communicate to the homeless people that they will have to leave if they don’t clean up after themselves, but this has been tried and it hasn’t worked.

Jill and Sarah also shared that they don’t always feel safe with these homeless men around the building, especially at night or when they’re alone in the space. Ed Mulcahy, the person staying under the front steps most recently, had a shovel with a sharpened handle that made some of us nervous.

We also learned that Ed Mulcahy seems to be no longer around. So, it seems that right now there are no homeless people staying around the Center building.

WHAT SHOULD WE DO?

One suggestion was made that if another person comes to live there, direct communication should be attempted at the outset, so that the person is invited to enter into an arrangement with us:

“If you want to stay here, will you keep the area clean and go elsewhere to empty your bladder and bowels?”  (This was attempted with previous visitors unsuccessfully).

This meeting prompted a new way of considering Ed and others for some of us. By inviting a homeless person into a conscious arrangement, we invite him or her into a more uplifted relationship. If he or she is not interested in such a relationship, or is unable to communicate or keep clean, then telling them they cannot stay seems like a fair arrangement that both parties have had a chance to consider. But would we call the police to have them forcibly removed? Or, should we continue to allow them to stay and form teams to clean up after them? It does seem likely that more homeless people will come to stay around the building.

WHAT CAN WE DO TO RELATE TO THE LARGER ISSUE?

In the meeting, we talked about ways that we can help with the general homelessness problem in Boston.

• As an organization, we can explore helpful actions we can take, both as a group or as individuals (see “Ways to Volunteer” below).
• As an organization of meditators, we can meditate on the hopelessness and helplessness we feel when we consider the situation.
• We can try to see the mindset of the person we’re trying to “help.”
• We can look at our own feelings of guilt and discomfort, as we sometimes just wish the problem would go away.

WEEKLY PRACTICE SESSION

We decided to set up a weekly practice session starting immediately. Group practice for the homeless will be from 12:30 to 1:00 on Sunday, immediately following nyinthun. If you cannot come to the Center, join in by practicing wherever you are during that time. Harry Farmer is setting up the timekeeper schedule for this practice. Shamatha, rousing bodhichitta, tonglen, maitri bhavana, and making prayers of aspiration are all encouraged for this weekly practice period.

WAYS TO VOLUNTEER

As an organization of well-meaning volunteers, we felt it makes the most sense for those of us who are inspired to team up with an existing group that already has a program in place.

Some suggestions along these lines are to:

• collect for a food donation to a local food pantry and to collect clothing and blankets for a local shelter
• make financial donations
• volunteer as a group for a day of service at a shelter
• look into volunteering as a group to serve a couple of meals a year at Friday Night Supper or similar food program for the homeless

A list of outreach opportunities, compiled by a recent intern for the center, Kyle Natoli, and Board member Mary Coonan, is attached with this message.

WHAT’S THE NEXT STEP?

A suggestion was made that we consider this issue when looking at new spaces for the Center.

• Will we accommodate homeless people at the new building?
• How will we connect with the neighborhood in that new building?
• Do we want to explore becoming more socially active as a group, and accommodating those plans with our choice of new building?
• We all felt that another meeting is in order. The idea of inviting Roshi Bernie Glassman of the Zen Peacemaker Order to come and speak was suggested. He’s been leading “street retreats” for years, as you may know.
• We also thought about inviting an outreach person from the Pine Street Inn for a practical meeting with us.

DO YOU WANT TO BE INVOLVED?

• Would you come to these meetings (Glassman and Pine Street Inn)?
• What is your level of interest or concern about this?

We invite you to write in if you’re interested in getting involved in some way to director@shambhalaboston.org. Jill will collect responses and bring them back to the group.

If you are willing to come to the Center on short notice to help with cleaning up after a homeless person, please call or email Sarah Lipton today to get on her list of helpers. info@shambhalaboston.org

If you want to learn more about the organizations that have been so helpful in recent weeks by checking in on Ed Mulcahy under our steps, look up the Pine Street Inn (Harrison St, Boston) at www.pinestreetinn.org, and Boston Healthcare for the Homeless at www.bhchp.org

Learn more about meditation and buddhism at shambhala.org
Read more about meditation and buddhism at shambhalatimes.org

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Shambhala Meditation Center of Boston
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