Education is an Ornament in Prosperity and a Refuge in Adversity- Aristole
THE CONCEPT OF PERCEPTION FARMS- A SELF_SUFICIENT HOMELESS COMMUNITY: Perception Farms continued to address the needs of the ever-growing homeless population. The Russell’s approach was completely foreign to the status-quo thinking about the homeless at that time. They wanted to create a self-sufficient community that shared, appreciated, and helped each other with some of the challenges that everyone faces in daily life. Warren and Claire knew that the lack of money didn’t create homeless families and individuals; there were many internal factors that contributed to this social stigma. They believed it was rooted in self-worth issues, as well as a deep-seeded feeling of loneliness within the psyche long before the homeless ever become homeless. Naturally, these issues lead to drug and alcohol abuse, but those substances are only vehicles to cover up the separation that manifests in the human belief system. The Russells were violently awakened to their separation of self; it took a near-death experience to bring them back from the brink of self-destruction and they understood that the homeless go through similar physical traumas to close the gap that exists within the self.
The couple understood that everyone creates their own experiences. Some people choose homelessness as the vehicle that awakens them to their own inner world. Even though the Russells were raised in a religious setting, they knew that God does not create social issues; men and women create their own life experiences through their belief systems. Religion is another belief that people use to close the brokenness they feel within themselves, but religion may not be the vehicle that everyone needs to close that gap.