It looks like there’s hope for Democratic-run cities after President Trump’s executive order opened the gateway to cracking down on homelessness and drug abuse in America. “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets” — the title of Trump’s new EO — provides a pathway to recovery for the thousands of people in our country struggling with mental illness as they lie in our streets.

“Surrendering our cities and citizens to disorder and fear is neither compassionate to the homeless nor other citizens,” the president said in his new EO. “My Administration will take a new approach focused on protecting public safety.” The administration plans to confront the issues of homelessness at its root and give people on the streets a chance at a quality life.

Individuals struggling with homelessness throughout the nation “report having regularly used hard drugs” and many “reported suffering from mental health conditions.” So to solve this problem, the administration will give local governments the authority to commit individuals “causing public disorder” to “treatment centers, assisted outpatient treatment, or other facilities.”

The order instructs that these actions be carried out through the assistance of the attorney general’s office to bestow and prioritize grants for states and municipalities that meet their criteria. This criterion includes enforced prohibitions on illicit drug use and urban camping, squatting, and loitering. The EO also sets standards for addressing dangerous individuals with mental illnesses and compliance with the Sex Offender Registry and Notification Act.

The order gives the attorney general the authority to “ensure that homeless individuals arrested for Federal crimes” receive an evaluation determining whether they are “sexually dangerous.” It also gives the AG the authority to prioritize funds for encampment removals, direct funds toward the detention of severely mentally ill individuals, and “enhance requirements” for “in-custody housing release plans.”

President Trump’s delivery on this issue is encouraging and will hopefully return cities like New York and Los Angeles to their former glory. “I was in Midtown on my way to the Bronx when I met a homeless man who told me he’s been left on the streets for years,” New York City Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa said on X. “People with serious mental illness are being left to deteriorate in public. They are a danger to themselves and to others and our city turns a blind eye.”

Although we are grateful to have a government that is willing to step in and help its people, Christians are nonetheless called to do their part in stewarding the gifts God has given them to those who are without. When God gave the Israelites His instructions in Deuteronomy, He told them, “If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them” (Deuteronomy 15:7). The Lord calls us to a higher standard, and even though we find it difficult, we must go where the spirit leads.

On my typical walk through D.C., I regularly see people napping beside buildings in tattered clothing, others who hold cardboard signs asking for help, and many who wander through the streets dazed and yelling profanities at anyone and no one.

I convince myself to keep walking, reassuring myself that it’s “not my job” to help these people. But if it’s “not my job,” then whose job is it?

The Bible gives us multiple examples of how we are called to administer to those less fortunate. In the Old Testament, there are multiple commandments in Leviticus 19 and 23 to not take more than we need, but allow those less fortunate to have their share. It also teaches us that we are not to do everything for these individuals but allow them to harvest it for themselves. In the same way today, we are to steward our blessings and “use whatever gift you have received to serve others” (1 Peter 4:10). The Lord has blessed each of us with so much, but what we have will always belong to Him first, and therefore, we are called to bless others. This can look like buying lunch for the tattered man lying on the sidewalk or inviting him to your church. Perhaps the Lord is leading you to lay hands and pray for him. He might even call you to invite him to sit at your table (Luke 14:21-24).

The first time I prayed over a homeless man and let my hand rest in his, I realized that he is God’s creation too. He wasn’t some animal, but he was intentionally and purposefully created by our Lord. And I listened to him give the Lord all the glory, even during his “bump in the road,” as he called it.

“There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land” (Deuteronomy 15:11).

Caily Shriver serves as an intern at Family Research Council.