I admit it. I'm scared of homeless people. In Seattle, where I live, there are lots of them around. But that doesn't make seeing them any easier. And that's why I'm nervous about today—about the next couple days, actually. Because as part of a school project called "Seattle Challenge," I'm going to be living like a homeless person (sleeping in places that serve the homeless) and working with homeless adults and teens for three whole days.
Before lunch, the chaperone takes our group to a place called the Urban Rest Stop. It's where homeless people can go to get cleaned up, shave, take showers, wash their clothes—things like that.
I can't believe the number of people who are here. Before, whenever I thought "homeless," I automatically thought "dirty." But there are people walking out of the Urban Rest Stop looking like normal people. You'd never know, just from seeing them, that they're homeless.
