Insights

Insights of Louisville is an immersion experience designed to create an awareness of the problems of poverty and homelessness in America and specifically, here in Louisville, Kentucky. The experience offers participants first-hand accounts about homelessness among teenagers, single adults, and families. At some of the sites, paricipants are able to meet and talk with those who have ended up on the streets and who now live in shelters.

They will also learn about the organizations that help the homeless, and subsequently, they will learn more about the systemic issues that make it difficult for many of the poor to move beyond their situation.

Our purpose in presenting the INSIGHTS program is to convene participants around the issue of poverty. We challenge the participants to look at this problem through the eyes of one who, through Baptism, is called to respond to the needs of the poor, and to further ask why the condition exists. The persons who are involved in the INSIGHTS program could find themselves the leaders of tomorrow. The better they understand and have compassion for those who are in need today, the more likely they are to break the cycle of poverty in their generation.

Why?

There was a time in which homelessness was a choice for a certain group of people who, for whatever reasons, found the transient way of life a desirable way to live. For these people, we can only respect their choice. We must understand, though, that among the homeless, only five percent are freely making the decision to live this way.

It is about the other ninety-five percent (approximately 1.9 million people) that we must ask the question, "Why are they there?"  We must recognize that the responsibility for their homelessness is not fully theirs. The mentally ill did not choose to be sick; abandoned children did not choose to be left to survive on their own; poor families did not choose to be paid wages that were inconsistent with the cost of living; veterans did not choose to be traumatized by war; nor did the elderly choose to be neglected and forgotten. It is for all these people that we must accept some of the responsibility to help them achieve a more dignified way of life.

The solution to the problems of poverty and homelessness will not be found simply by pouring more money into the welfare system. Rather, we must first educate ourselves to the struggles of the poor, and thus allow them to teach us about justice from their perspective. The judgment of our solidarity with the poor and the homeless will be based not on how much we can provide for them, but on our promise to walk with them in their struggle for dignity and self-respect.

The INSIGHTS program meets at St. Boniface Outreach Center,
529 East Liberty Street, from 8:30 A.M. to 2:30 P.M.

*During the day, participants are exposed to homelessness through tours, talks, and exercises.

COST: $14.00 per participant.

*Half-day schedules are available for adult groups.

Minimum of 19 participants.

If you are interested in attending the INSIGHTS Program, or would like additional information regarding this program, please contact:

Mark Bouchard
Catholic Charities
Parish Social Ministry Department
2911 S. 4th Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40208
(502) 637-9786