History of the Santa Barbara Homeless Foot Washing
Some Thoughts on the History of the Santa Barbara Homeless Foot Washing by Wayne Mellinger, Ph.D. As I walk around downtown Santa Barbara, I see confusion, pain and injustice on every block. This leads me to ask myself, why all this suffering? It it just poor personal choices -- individuals making bad judgments? Or are there societal structures at work –systems of oppression which favor the few and hold down the many? In my essay “The Revolving Door”, which appeared in this blog on April 2, 2011, I discussed some of the structural barriers that keep some people with mental health challenges on the streets. To live with integrity, I hope to adhere to sets of values which I use in all the walks of my life. The care and sensitivity I show the world in my professional life should be the same I show in my informal life. The respect I show to the successful business person should be the same as I show the man in disheveled clothes, eyes glazed over with drink, stumbling...