Log Cabins

I have been volunteering with Safe Haven for over four months when I realize there is a man who is making art that is actually very good.  His name will be Jeff for the sake of privacy and he creates art you might see in a gallery.  He asked me for some newspaper and I obliged and brought him an old Sunday paper.  I asked him what it was for and he showed me the drawing of what looked like a log cabin straight out of the 1800s.  He told me he was going to take the newspaper, roll the paper into very small logs and create this house.  I was skeptical to say the least; it is one thing to draw a cool looking log cabin, and another to actually build it.  He proved me wrong very quickly.  After about a week, I came back to check on Jeff's progress.  I was shocked to discover that he had completed the entire log cabin make of newspaper!  This house looked nothing like newspaper.  He had painted each individual log brown and pieced it together one by one.  This project would have taken me weeks to finish, not to mention the patience required.  I asked him to give me a tour of his new pad and he obliged.  Little did I know the roof came off and he had made the interior just as detailed.  There were paintings on the wall, bed with grass stuffed in fabric.  I was astounded.  This is a man who can barely put together a sentence yet can create art that could be sold for money. 

It proves the point that you cannot judge someone on first impressions.  If you met Jeff on the street, not only would you not think of him as an artist, but you would probably try to get away from him very fast.  He is not a bad guy, he has just been misguided much of his life.  As a child he was beaten and grew up in a very broken home.  Now at almost 40, he is beginning to realize life on the streets is not for him.  He is trying to stay sober, but after years of addictions to drugs and alcohol it is hard for him to get on his feet, let alone find and keep a job. 

Unfortunately, Jeff's story is not uncommon at Safe Haven.  I can only implore you as the reader to give people on the street a second chance.  I am not advocating giving the money because you will be disappointed when you find out what they spent the money on, but I am advocating having an open dialogue with people.  Maybe not at midnight by your self under the Deck Park Tunnel, but talk to these people and maybe buy them lunch.  Many of them don't hug, not because they have cold souls, but because no one has ever wanted to hug them and they never learned how. 

Never judge a person by their clothes.