A Journey

Seahawks

This past weekend, I was blessed enough to spend time in Seattle, Washington. Additionally, my dad and I went to the Seahawks vs. Eagles game at CenturyLink Field, A truly amazing experience for a kid from Montana. Some of these experiences I thought were interesting enough to share with you today.

To start, I'll try to provide you with a little background story.

The first thing you do is walk out of the hotel with the air misting your coat from a fog-like rain. You turn left on University Avenue, and walk to the sounds of traffic and people jabbering about their days. You continue down the street making your way toward the stadium, humidity soaking you more and more as you move. The cool fresh air guides you along, and as you continue down the street, you see people sleeping in the entrances of stores. You see groups of the homeless huddling outside of shelters waiting to be let in. You see another group pawing at a lady handing out free coats. Another two people are laying on the sidewalk, covered in blankets, sleeping the morning away. Then a corner brings you to a couple of men stumbling down the sidewalk while sharing pulls from a bottle of vodka. You pass one more group of people who are smoking a mixture of both cigarettes and weed while waiting outside another homeless shelter.



Just as quickly as this section of the city came, it's gone. As you cross the street, the homeless culture disappears into the fog. You are suddenly walking amongst hundreds of people, swagged out in their Seahawks gear, all contributing to the 176 million dollars of revenue for the Seahawks franchise. You are walking towards a stadium that generates a revenue of 275 million dollars.

It's amazing to think that such a money driven business, can have its waters wash up onto the shores of the homeless in Seattle. Maybe this close association between the two is a result of the ever-growing homeless population - now totaling around 10,000 people. Regardless, the contrast is a hard thing to comprehend. Maybe this is my "small-town" background, but it still seems hard to believe. So I am choosing to delve deeper into the "water" that envelopes the homeless in Seattle.

Dive

In an attempt to learn more, I came up with two questions. The first, how do they get there?  The second, how can we help?

1. How do they get there? 

The homeless population in Seattle has been steadily rising in recent years, and now that the total is up to 10,000, it begs the question, why are they all there? Sadly, it is very apparent that many of the homeless in the city suffer from mental illness. In fact, in 2009 alone, 1,001 suffered from a mental illness (476 of those happen to be serious illnesses).  In the whole world, 33% of the homeless population suffers from mental illnesses, and these can range anywhere from major depression, to schizophrenia. Keep in mind that these stats were from 2009 and have only risen since then. Along with mental illness, disease and disability create another huge barrier for someone trying to make it in today's society. In Seattle alone,  "534 homeless people were physically disabled, 99 had HIV/AIDS, and 140 had a developmental disability." A shocking number that also holds true in other big cities around the United States. The last main cause for homelessness is substance abuse, (something that became very apparent to me in this last visit to Seattle). In 2009, substance abuse topped mental illness for the #1 reason for living on the streets. Addiction and the use of recreational drugs is an expensive thing, and can often find a person sleeping under the cover of a store entrance. In fact, as my dad and I ate at McDonalds in downtown, we were approached by a man asking for 5 dollars in order to purchase cigarettes. The man didn't have enough money to live in a home, and what money he did make, went towards cigarettes. That thought doesn't sit well with me. Given all the above,  I also acknowledge that this is not true in every case. I understand that there are other circumstances that land people on the streets, and I am sensitive to this truth. Now, with that said, lets move on... 

Now that we know some of the reasons for why these people are sleeping on streets, we are able to ask the question, how do we fix this? 

Batman

2. How can we help? 
This is an interesting question, one that has been asked millions of times. I am not naive enough to think that I can do anything different, but with my experience in Seattle this past Sunday, I have one idea. Where is the help from professional sports programs? To make this more simple lets continue this blog with the big four, The NFL, MLB, NBA, and the NHL. These four sports organizations bring in billions of dollars each year. In fact, the leader of the four in terms of revenue, the NFL, brought in 13 billion dollars in revenue in just 2015.

Now lets switch gears and look at the top four cities in terms of homeless population. These four include: New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, and San Diego. All of these teams have at least one team from the big 4 sporting organizations. So here is the question I want to arise, why aren't these teams doing more to help the homeless population?

Lets focus on the NFL. During the season they have a whole month dedicated to breast cancer awareness where all teams wear pink, and the NFL donates to the cause. Also during the year, they have a salute to service campaign where all the games during that period of time give money to three non-profit organizations. It is these campaigns that sparked an idea. Why not partner with homeless shelters or other non-profit organizations that help heal, shelter, and support homeless populations in the US's largest cities? Why don't professional teams don a special color in order to raise awareness for the homelessness problem? And again, why aren't teams doing more to help the homeless populations in their respective cities?

It is my opinion that it would only help the team. They are making enough money to help (13 billions dollars), and it is going to clean up the cities that they represent. Instead of fans having to walk by homeless shelters on their way to the game like I did, they can have a walk not inundated with drugs and alcohol. The NFL can donate team gear to homeless shelters, making living on the streets bearable. They can donate money, allowing care facilities to help the mentally ill and sick. They can build sponsored buildings meant to house homeless people, or create jobs in their stadiums for able minded homeless. Anything they do will serve as marketing tools, and will also make the city better. It's a win-win.

With all this said, I acknowledge that the NFL and other sports organizations do great things for the communities they are a part of. I also acknowledge they are doing amazing things when it comes to people who served in the military, and doing outstanding things for breast cancer awareness. I am simply saying, the NFL should notice this huge issue in their own cities, and help make their home-field so much better. Continue to make a difference, and make a difference in a new way.

Thanks for reading, please comment suggestions and critiques.

Goodbye