We have some magnificent heroines in the city of Baltimore, and you probably won’t hear of any of them except on the obit page where a few passing words of what they have accomplished may be noted. However, there are married or single mothers in our society who are unhoused but still care for their children to make sure to the best of their ability that these children have food to eat and a place to sleep (“Juvenile justice reforms announced after Baltimore beating caught on video,” Oct. 1).

Most of these heroines are African Americans, who represent 68% of the city’s population, or about 374,000 people. Of this 68%, 78% live at or below the poverty level.

Many of these heroines are unhoused and have children from unsuccessful marriages or relationships. These women get up each day and focus first on getting food for their children and then worry where they are going to sleep that evening. Unhoused means that they do not have a guaranteed place to live. It also means that they do not have a place in which to store whatever items they carry around with them. So they either crash a night with a relative or friend, in an abandoned house or a car (if they have one), and any place they can that feels safe enough to stay.

While waiting at a school in the city, where we provided food in backpacks over the weekend, I overheard a 9-year-old boy speak to a nurse. The youngster said he was tired, and the nurse asked him why. He responded that the evening before it was his turn to stay awake and watch his sister. The nurse asked why, and the youngster responded that there were rats where he was staying and one of them took a bite out of the face of the young sister.

There are conversations about creating “affordable housing” in the city, but the overall plan could take up to 15 years. That is way too long for this child to ever receive the benefits of this vision. Affordable housing is not what is needed now. What is needed now are plans to create housing for the unhoused, and this does not include putting them in shelters where an individual has to sleep with one eye open in order to protect whatever little they have.

Why are these children and their parents unhoused? Many of these women have suffered some type of trauma in their homes, including rape, substance abuse, being kicked out when they have a child, and living in a society that pays women less than men. Some of these women have two jobs in order to just survive. Having multiple children makes it even more difficult for them.

We are going to lose several generations of children to gangs and outside influences. The lack of training and schooling will return them to maintenance jobs, such as cleaning streets and working in offices doing menial jobs that don’t pay enough. The cycle continues on year to year to year. With proper education, food, a stable place to sleep and hope, they can show (and have shown in the past) that they can achieve great things in our society.

These women who have stood with their children, attempting to provide the best that they can, are the real heroines. Not the Ravens or some other sports team. It’s these women who wake up in the morning and work all day — and some all night — to provide the basics for themselves and their children. If anyone still contends that they are lazy, they should try waking up with one, two or three little kids who need to eat, bathe and survive this hellish life. The only person these children truly have is their mother, who is just as tired, just as hungry and also wants to survive.

We are building homes that the unhoused can afford, but it is a small pilot project. This is about the “real heroines” of Baltimore. If you see a mother on the street and know she is unhoused, smile and say hello. Let her know you see her and feel some pride for that moment. It just may help her carry on until some day in the future when she needs it even more.

— Christian H. Wilson, Baltimore

The writer is executive director of Heart’s Place Services, Inc.

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