To Change or Not to Change.. that is the Question

What happened to: Love, for better or for worse?

we do an okay job being respectful of the people in society who do not fit the mold we deem 'normal'... and I mean OKAY - nothing close to great, but okay. But in interacting with them - what feelings become present? To guide your thought in a more specific path - consider the homeless (a population that visits regularly at St.Johns soup kitchen). I know that while in some occasions my thoughts focus on how I can make their life in some small way more comfortable, whether thats some change or a coffee - but I must admit that on many occasions my thoughts lead to focus on 'what is wrong with them' 'why are they there' and feel that they are a person who is not part of our 'real society' as they don't fit. ( I hope none of my readers are upset at how I feel about the homeless on occasion. I am human, and it is only through open dialog that we can be opened to knew ways of thought and change our views). The question here stands: should they change? or should they not change? and what is more important to embrace persons who are living on the streets with all of their issues or to strive to change them and remove these issues (when I say issues I mean things like 'drug use', 'gang affiliation or action' ect. which is faced by some but not all of people living on the streets).

My train of thought was often more of the 'intervention' stream of thought; where we, as caring citizens, must try to help these persons rid themselves of these bad behaviors/addictions/ect. and in doing so they would be able to live a more full life.

From my current understanding of the working center - this is not the stream of thought that they follow. Instead they support the people who come to them as they are and do not strive to change them (although there may be great positive changing power in the community that they create and open up to the people). Their goal is to provide a better quality of life to put it simply.

Is one method better than the other? Are both methods needed (change and support)? What method comes first?

I'm still not quite sure how to answer all of these questions. But I do believe that support must always be present, more so than change. It is through support that quality of life can be maintained and strengthened.

An interesting observation I have made is that I find it very easy to focus on improving quality of life over 'intervention' or change with disabled persons, more so then persons living on the street. In fact I almost always Strive to improve quality of life through play, discussion, friendships and support. I think the difference in my attitude towards the two groups stems from my personal connection to persons with disabilities - which only continues to grow. It is my hope that through my volunteer placement with the working center I will be able to make a personal connection with some of the persons society deems 'down and out' and continue to build from there :)