A Healthy Society Welcomes Vulnerable Citizens

First published in Hamilton Spectator April 1, 2000

It was a beautiful bright winter day. You and dozens of others were out on the street, rushing to have lunch and probably get a number of other things done. You walk by what seems to be a fight between two drunks. You thought "I don't want to get involved. Besides it is only two drunks fighting over something." You discounted what you just observed. Then it happened. A good Samaritan came to the rescue. He saw that something was wrong and acted, broke in and stopped the hostility.

No, I didn't see it, nor hear about it secondhand. I lived through it. I was taken to be one of the drunks. I was kicked because a drunk wanted some money from me. I will never forget watching people just walk by. People are afraid of the unknown. Frequently we don't welcome or celebrate the diversity that exists in people. Often we gaze through lenses that are clouded. This clouding is man-made and a learned behaviour that is highly influenced by our environment - by the way we were raised, our formal education, the peer groups we selected, etc. Whether we like it or not, we are a product of the world around us. It dictates and molds us in its image, often polluting our views. All too often we look at people superficially, seeing just the outer shell and not really "seeing" at all. We don't "see" or understand or value the true person within that outer shell. We deny ourselves the gift of being interested and involved with all kinds of people. It is as if there is some moral creed that dictates, "I won't, can't get involved, I don't have the time etc." What is it that makes us react negatively or positively to circumstances?

While you ponder that question, I can tell you about some of the vulnerable people in our community who need your understanding and tolerance. Who are the vulnerable people in our communities? I believe there are about three different groups of vulnerable people with physical and/or mental disabilities. First, we have the extremely vulnerable. These individuals are totally dependent on others due to the severity of their disabilities, making it impossible to even take a step into the mainstream of life without a lot of help. I will quite likely do my next column strictly on this population because their cries often go without being heard.

Secondly, we have the group that I would class myself in. We have a few physical or mental limitations but we are fairly well mainstreamed and living life to its fullest. We are the advocates for tomorrow. We are educating the public and the government to the effect that a healthy and growing society includes and welcomes all its vulnerable citizens.

The final group consists of people in our communities who are harder to describe because they simply don't slot into any neat labels. They border between being tagged with a disability and being classed as "normal".

It is critical that we understand that any of us could be a step away from being in one of these three different groups of vulnerable persons. An accident happens, our health deteriorates or an external event happens leaving us helpless. The list goes on, with any one event having the capability of throwing us into a vulnerable condition.

A verse in Matthew 25,45 comes to mind. Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." It is when 'theirs' and 'yours' become 'ours' and 'mine' that communities will begin to care for, respect, and value the lives of its vulnerable persons.

Let me leave you with a major point. No individual with a physical disability wants to be defined solely by his or her outer shell. You may see a person in a wheelchair or a person who looks as if they are drunk, and automatically assume that those visible disabilities are the total sum of who that person is - look deeper you will see a reflection of yourself.