Homelessness and Addictions

While attending Brigden Church, a local rural church, Pastor Dean shared a story about a visit some regional ministers had with our River City Vineyard’s Shelter. A question was asked: 

“What we can do to help the homelessness problem, like build more affordable housing?”

Dean shared more, “Pastor George Esser answered NO. George said that homelessness and addiction are the symptom not the problem. The problem with most people stems from their family life growing up. Obviously George was inferring that we need to fix our broken family issues in our society in order to see issues like homelessness and addiction decline.”

A stable, secure, strong family rooted in Christ and His values (Matthew 5-7) helps to build a personal identity with a sense of purpose and vision for life that crowds out addictions. When we fill up our marriages and children with a vital church community, strong mentors and a foundation to build on, the storms of life will come, but the strength and wisdom of character that is formed will help to combat the temptations that control (Mt7:24-27).

Of course, this may sound simplistic and obviously there are a lot of variables in working through the extreme crisis of homelessness and addiction, however, there is something to be said for the strong family’s impact on the long-term health of a person.

Let’s fight together to counter the breakdown of the modern family and invest in building strong families.