A few months back,  Eric and I got the chance to attend a sneak preview of the movie, “Conversations With God” over at Unity of Phoenix. The movie is based on the series of best selling books of the same name. On top of that, Neale Donald Walsch (author of the aforementioned) was there for a Q&A session and book signing. Seeing Neale live may have been a once in a lifetime experience for the both of us. An experience that we will not soon forget.

Aside from the general metaphysical theme of the film, the movie also explored how the homeless are treated in today's society. It really made me re-evaluate how I viewed homeless men and women who ask for money. You see, Neale himself was homeless for a year before writing this book. At one time, he was a functionally employed member of society in a small rural town. It was an unfortunate (perhaps fortunate) car accident that broke his neck and started the chain of events which would cause him to lose his job, house, and dignity. In the film, he applied at every place he could. No job was too menial for him. Sadly, nobody was willing to hire a man who called a tent in the park his home. He had an adequate education and years of prior job experience, but no phone number to speak of.

We’re always so quick to judge the people who ask us for money on a daily basis. So many of us grumble to ourselves “Why can’t they just get a job like the rest of us?” as we pass them on the street. When walking around downtown Phoenix, it’s pretty easy to become annoyed after the third person (in a row) hits you up for some change. Without thinking, I used to say things to them like “Ya know, McDonald’s is just up the street”. It never occurred to me that even McDonalds (especially McDonalds) isn’t looking to hire people stuck in this unfortunate position. Aside from the fact they have virtually no contact information to put on an application and no means of daily transportation, they may not have a place they can adequately clean up for before an interview. Not to mention, most of us carry a pre-conceived notion about homeless individuals. They are either lazy, drunk, insane, or junkies in our eyes. Some of that may be true, but we don’t really know these people’s stories. Who am I to judge who is worthy to receive a dollar out of my pocket? When I think back to how I’ve handled some previous encounters with the homeless, I’m appalled and ashamed.

So here’s my new plan. I’m going to really try to keep at least twenty dollars in singles in my wallet at all times. I’m going to paperclip 3-5 dollars together and attach a card containing contact information for the Community Voicemail Project. If you haven’t heard of them, they are a fantastic organization who provides a free voicemail account to the homeless. These voicemail accounts are the lifelines to many homeless individuals in the valley. The best thing about them is they are ordinary individualized telephone numbers. When a potential employer calls, they are greeted with the applicant’s personalized voicemail. I realize this won’t help the person get a shower and transportation to his/her potential place of employment, but it’s a great start. For more information about the Community Voicemail Project, visit http://www.cvm.org/sites.cfm

Luckily they have an office located in central phoenix and the process to set up a voicemail account usually takes under three minutes. There are offices around the country and I’m really hoping others are willing to do the same. Even if you don’t have any money to give, at least give them CVM’s contact info. The best thing you can give to someone in a bad situation is hope.

Oh yeah, if you haven’t already…  go and  check out any one of the ten "Conversations With God" books by Neale Donald Walsch, they're fantastic!