The Collage Podcast

Episode: Beyond the Numbers: Understanding Homelessness

Host: Feed My Sheep
Guests: Jonathan, Isaac
Date: October 30, 2025

Overview

In this episode, Feed My Sheep sits down for a candid, deeply compassionate discussion with Jonathan and Isaac about homelessness in Temple, TX. This conversation moves past surface-level statistics to explore the very real, human stories behind the numbers. Through humor, lived experience, and direct engagement with community realities, the hosts challenge assumptions, highlight systemic barriers, and advocate for understanding unhoused individuals as full, valuable members of society.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Limits of Statistics and Labels

• Opening Tone: Host jokes about their own ignorance with statistics, setting a tone of humility and curiosity.
• The Problem with Numbers: The dangers of letting statistics define an entire population.
  • "I'm of the belief that 100% of the people that are homeless don't have a home. Okay. That is a defining statistic. That is statistically true." (A, 02:36)
• Human Stories over Data: Numbers like “2 out of 3 have addiction” or “70% have mental illness” can obscure individual humanity and the complexity of causes.
  • "You can find statistics to prove whatever you want. Okay, so I am not a big believer in statistics themselves are the answer." (A, 01:45)

Redefining Mental Illness and Addiction

• Mental Health Nuance:
  • Anxiety and depression are basic reactions to extreme stress, not just clinical illness.
  • "If you define mental health issues on anxiety, depression... then I'd go, man, I might would say 100% of our people suffer from issues in that." (A, 05:20)
  • Far fewer are suffering from severe disorders like schizophrenia.
  • Substance use is more often a symptom of trauma and hardship than a simple “bad choice.”
  • “Is [addiction] really the defining thing to look at our population or is it a symptom of a greater ill?...If I don’t address the real topic at hand, why is this person [addicted]?” (A, 06:21)

Breaking Down Barriers & Cycles

• Cycle of Substance Abuse:
  • Substances are often used to self-medicate, to cope with trauma, voices, physical and mental pain, or because they’re cheaper and more accessible than medical help.
  • "Some of the people that I would run into... would say that they choose to use some of these substances because it quiets the voices... and makes them feel they can function better..." (A, 10:47)
  • Systemic delay: Long waits for medical appointments and medicine often leave people with no choice but illegal substances.
• Community and Substance Use:
  • Drugs create a sense of community for people who are otherwise alienated and alone, even if it’s “bad community.”
  • "It's very community in nature. You know, they come together... Not alone." (A, 13:30)

Obstacles to Getting Out – It’s Not Just “Get a Job”

• Layered Structural Hurdles:
  • Getting an ID requires proof of address, which homeless individuals don’t have. Without an ID, basic things—hotels, employment, services, police stops—are inaccessible.
  • "If you don’t have an ID, you can't get a hotel... you can't get any of the services around here without an id." (A, 21:03)
  • Feed My Sheep provides mailbox access precisely for this barrier.
  • Getting a job requires not only ID, but transport, physical ability/health, and time before a paycheck. Public transit doesn't serve night shifts or industrial areas where jobs may be available.
  • "Let's pretend you live over here in temple, you are homeless, but you want to get a job and you have an ID... So I walk over... it's probably four miles. But okay, you get a job. Okay. There ain't no place to stay over there. So then you have no transportation..." (A, 22:36)
  • Money trap: Government checks provide just enough to get by, but not enough to escape homelessness.
  • Felony records and identification loss further complicate hiring prospects.

It’s Not One Thing—Wraparound Support is Essential

• Not Just Housing, Not Just Work:
  • Permanent solutions require more than just “getting a house” or “getting a job.” Case management, wraparound services, and compassionate support are needed.
  • “Housing only is not simply the answer. Okay? There's got to be wraparound services. There's got to be case managers. There's got to be interjecting for people to help others navigate out of this long, difficult process and to navigate a path...” (A, 29:00)

The Everest Metaphor & Shared Climb

• Addressing Complex Paths Out:
  • Getting stable is like climbing Everest: success requires a support team and many steps, but the climber (person) should feel full ownership of their success.
  • “Done right. Jeff has every right to believe he did it completely on his own. But he didn’t. He had a whole bunch of other people that supported him along the way.” (A, 29:52)
  • The supporting roles—caseworkers, mailbox providers, even simple encouragement—are crucial, but shouldn’t “take credit.”
  • Every step, no matter how small or “behind the scenes,” matters.

The Importance of Patience and Steady Progress

• Swahili Climbing Lesson:
  • “Pole, pole, pole, pole”—“slow, slow, slow, slow,” but always upward progress. Community members walk at the pace of those they serve, meeting needs as they arise, never stopping, never rushing.
  • "Never would they allow me to stop. Never would they allow me to turn back around and go back to where I had come from. Not an option. Never would they let me get too far ahead of myself. They just simply said, pole, pole, slow, slow, slow, slow. Trust the pace and keep moving forward." (A, 32:53)

Honoring Human Value Beyond Labels or Data

• People are More than Statistics:
  • "Statistics... don't tell the whole story exactly. Not even remotely close. The whole story that is occurring here is that people, people and individual people are involved in this world." (A, 32:38)
  • Every person matters—no statistic can capture their story, value, or capacity for change.
  • "We simply go along on the climb. I will go downstairs and work with this lady... Simply because the truth that we function out of is not why somebody's here... simply because of the fact people matter. They matter. That's it." (A, 38:09)
  • Everyone can play a part in helping others “climb” out of hardship.

Memorable Quotes & Notable Moments

• On Statistics:
  • "You can find statistics to prove whatever you want...I am not a big believer in statistics themselves are the answer." (A, 01:45)
• On defining homelessness:
  • "100% of the people that are homeless don't have a home. Okay. That is a defining statistic. That is statistically true." (A, 02:36)
• On treating people as individuals:
  • “I am not an expert in addiction. It doesn’t matter. I am an expert on understanding that people have value and worth...” (A, 32:38)
• On systemic struggle:
  • "To get out of homelessness is astronomically expensive...it is about as close to impossible to do solely on your own." (A, 21:55)
• On the nature of addiction:
  • "Do I think that the sole choice back down the road was somebody said, you know what? I just want to sit outside and live out on the street. And so I'm just going to start doing drugs all the time because it's just that fun? That's absolutely an absurd answer." (A, 12:40)
• Everest Metaphor:
  • "You can't simply say to Jeff, go climb Everest. There's so much involved...You got to have a support group around you to help... Jeff makes it to the summit...Look at that. I'm that good of a backpacker. I did it on my own. No, he didn't...He had a whole bunch of other people that supported him along the way." (A, 29:52)
• Patience and Progress:
  • "Pole, pole, pole, pole, Mr. Jeff...It means slow, slow, slow, slow, move slow, but always up. Pole, pole, slow, slow, progress. You never stop moving forward." (A, 32:53)

Important Timestamps

• 00:00–02:00: Podcast & episode introduction; playful reflection on statistics
• 02:14–05:20: The limits of statistics, redefining mental illness in the context of homelessness
• 07:29–14:30: The complex roots of substance use, community, and trauma
• 19:30–25:30: Concrete barriers to escaping homelessness—IDs, jobs, transportation, documentation
• 28:46–29:52: Not a single-factor problem; the Everest metaphor for escaping homelessness
• 32:00–40:00: Closing reflections—the value of people, lessons from climbing mountains, “pole, pole” and the importance of moving forward together

Final Thoughts

This episode passionately insists that the realities of homelessness are far more complex than any statistic. Homeless individuals are not problems to be solved or numbers to be crunched, but valued people journeying through hardship, often with strength and resourcefulness. True community means walking alongside them—not to "save" but to travel together—moving steady, steady, always up, and never alone.

For those seeking understanding or involvement, the message is clear: Be patient, be present, and never underestimate the power of one small, caring action to help someone keep climbing. "Pole, pole"—slowly, but always forward.