Volunteering vs. Relationships

I was driving down the street a few weeks ago and I saw a guy on the street corner asking for money.  This is nothing new.  It seems like people are at almost all major freeway intersections asking for money these days here in Austin. 

What was strange was the fact that I knew this guy.  I pointed out to my friend in the car, oh that's "James" (Changing the name for privacy).  This was a person that I had met through my Occupy involvement and that I consider a friend (we're friends on Facebook so that means we're real friends, right).   Since my involvement in Occupy I have become friends with those that are homeless.  I have been able to really build relationships with people that have nowhere to go at night.  I don't feel guilty that I have a  bed to sleep in and they don't.  (Okay, sometimes I do).  I am getting to know these people that are in situations very different to mine.  I am beginning to actually understand some of life choices and struggles that lead people to be homeless.  I am beginning to understand some of the structural causes that lead to people be homeless and keep them homeless.  Last night a different friend of mine was explaining that every time he seemed to get back on his feet - i.e. find a job, get housing and begin to be stable, he'd lose his job, then lose his housing and then be back in the same situation. 

I have been volunteering with two different organizations here in Austin for over 2 years.  I spent every Tuesday morning for a good two years serving breakfast and helping some homeless women here get help with ID's at one of these places.  I don't think I ever became friends with any of the women I served.  I think I did good work by serving them, but I never became friends with any of them.  As a 20 something, college educated woman I had more opportunities than many of these women who are twice my age.  I had more access to more resources than them.  I was in a position of privilege as a volunteer.  I recognized this, but I think I did not fully process it until I began to meet homeless people as peers.

This cannot be done through volunteering.  As soon as we are the ones that helping.  Or the ones that hold the keys to resources we are not peers. In Occupy we are all peers.  (There is a hierarchy in Occupy, but it is not based on whether or not you are housed). 

I guess my thought process and my relationship to homeless people generally, and the ones I've begun to be friends with specifically, has changed more during my time with Occupy than it did in my time volunteering.  But Occupy is a rare opportunity.  I cannot think of another place the brings those that are housed and those that are not together as equals.  The only time we are ever given the chance to interact with the homeless, unless we ourselves are homeless, is in a volunteer setting.  (Don't get me wrong - I think volunteering is very important that the services being provided are vital). 

I guess I think it's not enough.  We need to build relationships.  We need to find a way to be equals.