Where would you sleep if you were homeless?

When walking up to the entrance of Front Steps in Austin, I noticed that the stride of my group began to grow slower. You could feel the shared uneasiness as we all walked over to the building, that was surrounded by the hollow spooky faces of Austin's homeless. Front Steps was formed in 1997 and its philosophy has been that all people deserve the dignity of a safe place to call home. ARCH is an available service sysytem that provides many of Austin's homeless with a place to shower, eat, sleep and receive medical care. Many of these people are stereotyped as bums and are commonly ignored by the media, as well, as society. This is an establishment that prides itself on helping others and by having an "open door", but it was interesting to see that the front door was actually locked. To enter you had to be allowed inside by an employee of ARCH and then proceed through a metal detector and have all your items scanned. Once inside the establishment, it was almost disturbing to be in a room, where the majority of people were homeless, drug abusers or mentally unstable. I tried to keep from staring at the withered faces, but my eyes kept wandering. There were people here of all shapes, sizes, colors and ages. They seemed to drift more than move. Many would softly bump into you, but make no effort to apologize; it was as if you weren't there to them.

A reporter could gain a lot of enlightenment from interviewing some of these individuals and how they feel about their lives and past decisions. This would be a strong outlet for the community to learn more about the ARCH organization its accomplishments. By also, giving the homeless a voice and exposing them to the media, more people may gain respect and understanding for this part of our society. The homeless may have more insight on what the government and city of Austin can do to help people in their circumstances. This would be an experience that truly makes you appreciate the privileges you were granted in life.