Homeless to the NFL
As the NFL draft gets underway today, there will be a great deal of prospect analysis and team pick commentary. But if you ask me, the real story has to do with this man, Michael Oher, a 6-5, 309-pound All-America tackle from the University of Mississippi. Long before becaming a top NFL prospect, Oher was one of millions of children in America without a home.
Oher's touching story was told by USA Today:
Among 13 siblings from the poorest part of Memphis, he never knew his father, whose murder he learned of months after the fact in high school. His mother, Denise Oher, was addicted to crack cocaine. The kids were scattered about.
Michael attended 11 schools in nine years.If not in a foster home, he lived with friends. He was homeless.
"As I look back on stuff, it's crazy how I got here," he says. "But it didn't seem tough at the time. I just lived day to day, did the best I could."
I wish every homeless child's story ended like Oher's. But the sad reality is that most homeless kids will never become pro-athletes. For every success story like Oher's, there are a dozen kids who fall through the cracks.
Sad. And unfair. Which is why it's necessary to do something.
Diane Nilan, who guest blogs over at Poverty in America, wrote a great post today about how the proposed changes to the federal definition of homeless knowingly leave out homeless kids:
It's challenging enough to get across to Congress that kids-by the millions-are homeless. The 22-year history of the McKinney-Vento Act, the supposedly comprehensive bill to address homelessness, historically has demonstrated profound cluelessness about homeless families and teens.
The McK-V education definition works. Perhaps that's the problem. Congress and some national advocacy groups protest that it works too well, that it would "open a floodgate." So they've hunkered down with a proposed HUD definition that not only greatly restricts who is deemed homeless, but it places an incredible burden on families to provide "credible" proof which beleaguered social service agencies must document.
I cannot see the logic in undercounting homeless children. If it means breaking the cycle of poverty and giving just one kid a chance to have a happy ending like Oher's, then what's the big issue?
In the meantime, keep an eye out for Oher during today's draft.
Shannon Moriarty
has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
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