More on gentrification

I met a nice handicapped man named Jerry this morning. He was sitting in his front yard with his dog. As I passed by he introduced himself to me and we had a nice little chat. As I left Jerry's house I couldn't help but wonder if he's next; if his home will be the next to be knocked down in the name of progress.

I've got more questions than answers at this point. I don't know how to solve problems like these. There really isn't a good solution. At least not one that's easy. These houses are inadequate. There's no question about that. But they're also affordable. Not "affordable" as in a middle class family can live there cheaper than they could live in Hartland. They are affordable for the poor. For those living off of minimum wage jobs, disability, and Social Security.

I think a big first step in solving this problem is getting people to care about it; to care what happens to people like Jerry. Jerry is easy for us to ignore; and we want to. He's not pretty. He's not smart. He's not capable of doing much for us. We won't even encounter him unless we're walking down the street in his neighborhood. That's where he is. And often, it isn't where we are. We are nice and comfortable in our suburban utopian bubble.

As I'm typing this I have to acknowledge that I'm part of the problem, too. I have divided my world into two categories: us and them. It's easy to do. But it shouldn't be that way. There shouldn't be an us and them. There shouldn't be an "other". It's just us.

We are called to love our neighbor like ourselves. Not to love them AS MUCH as ourselves, but in the same way. Jerry's needs are my own. Jerry is me. Jerry is one of us. Jerry is uniquely made in the image of God, the same as I am; the same as you are. Jerry is part of the Kingdom of God, the same as I am; the same as you are. Once we see Jerry as one of us, once we see Jerry's problems as our own I think we can start to address them with the urgency they require.

I don't know what to do. I don't know how to fix this. I don't know how long it will be until Jerry is kicked out of his home. I don't know where he'll be able to go if and when (and if the rest of the neighborhood is any indication there is no "if" here) he is kicked out. But it is important.