Poverty and Addictions

POVERTY: Understanding the Relationship Between Drugs and Poverty

By Stuart Harper

Drug abuse is happening right now. From the inner city to the suburbs and out to the rural community, drug abuse is happening as you read this. The drug abuse we are confronted with at the Buffalo City Mission often comes from an attempt by our clients to cover up pain from their past that many times is driving their present behavior. They may have been abused, hurt, or neglected as a child, think about it – even as adults we look at our past and remember vividly pain that we experienced years ago as if it happened yesterday. Painful memories, if allowed, can drive our behavior and reveal feelings of inadequacy.  

Drug abuse and related addictions live within a large percentage of our population at the Mission. Addictive usage has to be stopped before our clients can have any hope of changing their lives. How do we do it at the Mission? We don’t, God does. I mean it. Men and women come to us after years of addictive behavior broken, hurt and hopeless-by ourselves we can do little to end their history of addiction, but Jesus can do anything and we see it daily. Our clients often come to us for a meal, a bed and maybe even some clean clothes which are all made available through the generosity of our Western New York supporters. Our clients come not with hope but pure hunger and exhaustion. Our staff offer these men and women a message of hope through their actions, smiles and kind words; men talking to men and women talking to women – Jesus works through each of their actions. Think about it – if you were down and out, who knows your plight better then someone who walked through it? No games, no lies – just the bare honest truth. Some stay and some leave but often they come back and ask questions. No tricks, no gimmicks – just God working through men and women helping other men and women. The men and women who come to the Mission are little different from you and I. When they were born someone was excited they were alive, the pictures were taken, everyone was brimming with pride; and then life happened. Many times issues they couldn’t control affected them – where they lived, the food they had or didn’t have, the healthcare they received or didn’t receive, love they received or didn’t receive.

When you were young did you know someone cared for and loved you? What if the answer to that question was no? How would you feel? How confident would you be when you went to school? How excited about life would you be? You just wanted to be loved. What if your love came from someone who used you? Someone who made you work for them? For some any love is better then no love.

Our answer to the situation our clients find themselves in is to provide them with someone they can trust and who never lies, someone who is always with them; someone who loves them unconditionally – and that someone is Jesus Christ. He will always be with them – He will provide love, hope, forgiveness and guidance when we sincerely seek him. We at the Mission guide our men and women to walk in Jesus Christ’s path. We teach them how to live a life He approves and how to pass on His restoration to others. We teach that Jesus was crucified for our salvation and we celebrate that by sharing it with others.

Please pray for the men, women and children who find themselves living in poverty. You can also volunteer your time and provide financial support to organizations that reach out to the homeless. Any amount helps. We get donations that range from two quarters taped to a 3x5 card to large personal checks. You can also get involved through the Boys and Girls Clubs, Big Brother, Big Sister or any organization working to end poverty. If you aren’t sure what to do call me and I will try and help. God bless.