Fear # 2: Hobophobic.

Hobophobia: an unreasonable fear of homeless people. 
Yes, it is a real fear.
But there really is nothing to be afraid of, right? Many of the  homeless are just normal people down on their luck. But the stories and stereotypes have always given me hesitation when a homeless person stops me on the streets for some spare change... "They just use your money to get a drug and alcohol fix." ... "They'll follow you home and rob your house."…  or, on the more extreme side, "They'll kidnap you."
Certainly, we have all seen these types of tragedies blown up as breaking stories in the news. And I'm sure there are some homeless people that take advantage of the empathy of a stranger, just as any natural man might. But statistically speaking, these homeless horror stories do not happen as often as the media portrays. In all reality, the majority of the homeless population wouldn't hurt a fly. But still, as I walk down the streets at night, I cannot help but have these fears invade the corners of my mind.

Whether we fear the homeless or not, the numbers of this vulnerable and vast population cannot be ignored. In 2013, the Utah Housing and Community Development Division conducted an annual point-in-time count of homeless people. According to this report, 0.55% of Utah's population is homeless. This number may not seem significant, but this small percentage translates to thousands of people.
15,093 people, to be exact. Over fifteen thousand people all over the state of Utah without the simple comfort of a roof overhead! Utah county was reported to be one of the highest-rated areas of homelessness. On any given day, a few of these people roam the streets of downtown Provo. We have all seen them; but few of us have actually interacted with them.

For this week's fear, I decided to look my hobophobia in the eye. I decided to go out of my way to feed a homeless person.

To be honest, I already tried to overcome this fear last week, but I failed at my attempts. Well, not a complete failure, but nothing to blog about. I'm sure that homeless man used my dollar to buy a nice meal. But this week, I made a plan.
Friday night, Harper and I scavenged the streets of Provo to find someone in need of a warm meal. But, for some odd reason, there were no homeless people in sight. Naturally, the only night I seek out a good deed is when the opportunities hide.
Saturday afternoon, we tried again. The weather was sketchy, so I figured I would just skip the fear this week. We searched high and low, and just as I was about to give up, we found some potential crossing the streets in south Provo.

As we pulled into a McDonald's parking lot, we both spotted him… Yes, he was the one. This man was utterly homeless. He had all of the "symptoms" of a homeless person: raggedy clothing, a bag of his belongings, a rain poncho, dark skin, and a gnarly beard. With my hopes held high, we drove towards him. My initial fear was that I would offend someone by assuming they were homeless - offering a humble person some food and getting yelled at because of my assumption. But Harper brought up a good point: no one would turn down a warm meal… Or, so we thought.

Here was the dialogue:
"Hey man, are you hungry?"
"Uhhhhhh….."
"Do you want anything from McDonald's?"
"Nah, I'm good."
"Are you sure? We're going there anyways, we can just pick you up something…"
"No it's okay, I already know what I want. I'll go get it myself."

Whoa, wait. What just happened? Did this man really just turn down our help? I could not believe it. Later, I saw that man taking money from another person. I was so bothered.

Oh well, on to the next one.
We pulled around the building and saw a man slumped against the wall. He was smoking a cigarette, so he may not have actually been homeless, but clearly he was down on his luck. He was the one.

Here was the dialogue:
"Hey, you hungry man?"
Man looks up with surprise, "Wha…"
"We're going to McDonald's, would you like us to get you anything?"
Man nods slowly.
"Alright, what sounds good?"
"Anything."
"How 'bout a drink, what's your favorite?"
"Root beer."
"Okay, stay right here and we'll bring it back to ya."
"Thank you man, oh, thank you so much, really."

One Big Mac meal and a large root beer later, he was smiling. He thanked us a couple more times, and we drove off. That was it. Nothing special, nothing spectacular. But through conquering this week's fear, I was reminded of one very important thing: the power of pride.

Pride affects every type of person, living in any circumstance. Prideful people do not give help; prideful people do not receive help. We live in a society built upon individualism, a society that feeds off of selfishness, a society that celebrates independence. But humans need each other. We were created to serve each other. And do we realize that when we do not receive the help of others, we fall into pride as well? I think it's time to knock down our pride walls, embrace our differences, and have each others' backs.


Thank you for following, stay tuned for next week! Until then….

-Courtney