See this NY Times article about an annual three-day “Stand Down” tent city that San Diego has done for 20 years for homeless veterans, with a ‘chow hall,’ haircuts, medical exams, dental care, counseling, etc.
Be sure to watch the video, too, about halfway down the left-hand column. In the video, I was impressed by the vets who were determined that this would be their first and last Stand Down – they were looking for temporary help, not for a recurring handout. But organizers said it sometimes took more than one Stand Down to get someone on the right track.
The article said:
Reveille is sounded at 6 a.m., the hot meals spooned out by volunteers are called chow, and the portable toilets are called latrines.
The olive and khaki tent city strives for a military ambience, organizers said, because many participants have not since felt the pride and success they did while in uniform.
I’ve read before that a lot of homeless vets respond positively to a familiar, boot-camp regimen of reveille, PT, morning formation, working hours, etc.
I suspect this was a big benefit of monasteries: providing a home, a sense of purpose, and a certain status in society, for unattached males who otherwise could be out on the streets.
I wonder if those benefits of monasteries could be replicated somehow in the secular, civilian world — while guarding against the danger that they could turn into private militias, as I’ve read happened during the Arian controversy of the fourth century.
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