Our Ignorance About Homelessness
by: Dave Belden on July 15th, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Coalition for homeless moms and families, in the Mayor's reception area, San Francisco. Flickr/Liz Henry
A woman wrote to me about Tikkun Daily:
When you include pieces from poor people, and what it feels like to live on the bottom rung of this society, then there will be something for me to read. I don’t belong in the rarified company of people who aren’t interested in the daily lives of us poor people.
Thank you for hearing me. I’m so used to being ignored.
I have a big crisis going on right now, and it is hitting me hard, and I’m unable to put together anything at this time.What I will say, however, is that there is soooo much information available, and that “progressives” are woefully ignorant of the very basics of poverty and homelessness in this country.For instance, I spoke last week with a person in the office of a representative from my state…not my representative, but someone who is very progressive and tackling a lot of issues.
I mentioned that when Rep. Barney Frank wrote out his proposal for the National Housing Trust Fund, he reported that there are NINE MILLION of us who need low-income housing, and SIX MILLION AVAILABLE UNITS. A first-grader can do that math.I said that “shelters” have become the answer to housing now, and they are not only the source of low-nutrition food, but breeding places of disease. The incidence of tuberculosis in shelters is shocking… about 15 TIMES the rate of the population in general, but that isn’t the worst of it. MANY of those cases of TB are o the drug-resistant variety. Ten years ago it cost $250,000 to treat a case of drug-resistant TB at National Jewish Hospital in Denver. I’m sure that is higher figure these days. Besides the personal suffering, that amount of money would be a very nice house for the person who became ill in a shelter!
I told her that HUD stopped building new low-income housing years ago, and that they are engaged in TEARING DOWN existing housing. The result is that the waiting lists for HUD low-income housing is YEARS long, and many cities don’t even keep a wait list any more because the availability of housing is so limited.These are just three examples and she was unaware of any of these three. I know from speaking with “progressives” that most are not aware of any of this information, either.
Yet, “progressive” media doesn’t cover it. When I’ve spoken with anyone from TIKKUN about the lack of attention to poverty, I’m just reminded about the Global Marshall Plan. As I’m sure you know, none of this information is included in that.There are articles about just about everything else in TIKKUN, but nothing that would actually educate people who consider themselves aware concerning the REALITY of poverty and homelessness in the U.S.That leaves me not only isolated, but dealing with an immense amount of prejudice on a daily basis.
It hurts deeply.We ALL need to be heard and have advocates truly behind [us]!
The realities of poverty are well-known to me. While vigorous today, my mental health has been fragile in the past. I was raised in an upper-middle class family but my issues were such that attaining that status has always eluded me. I have not been homeless. But the streets of Vancouver are well-walked by my feet and I well-know what Simon & Garfunkel called “the places only they would know”.
Social housing remains a problem in Canada. There is much less of it than we need. Three of Canada’s cities are among the most expensive in the world and I’ve lived in two of them — Vancouver and Ottawa. Our two bedroom apartment, which is older and quite lovely, approaches $900 per month in a working class neighbourhood. Empty-nesting makes it easier but there are still many middle class things I’d personally like that we do without.
I too hope we do get more folks blogging about homelessness and poverty. While I believe that most of the progressives in my midst are quite knowledgeable and passionate about these issues, it would be wonderful to have more real stories, facts, and calls to action about them in the blogsphere.
Here’s one of the ways I work on homelessness/poverty.
Last week my husband and I were in charge of an Urban Ministry Breaking Breads program meal in Palo Alto. We typically feed around 50-75 people, many of whom are homeless, and others who are just struggling to make ends meet. We had a bigger crowd than usual that evening. We prepared and served Apricot baked Chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, vegetarian casserole (a great Bisquick recipe), mixed vegetables, corn chowder, green salad, and bread pudding (with peaches and cream).
This particular evening our usual volunteer crew was mostly on vacation and we had to recruit a bunch of new folks. One of the things I love about doing the meal is that we get a chance to talk about homelessness and poverty with the volunteers, most of whom are pretty progressive. We sometimes get the expected “who are these people and why are they here” questions and we have all our statistical ducks in order on those answers.
Beyond the statistical stuff, one of the most often asked questions is “Why do you prepare so many different types of food for one meal?”
This gives us the chance to talk about how few choices homeless and poor people have every day, and how much it means to people to come to a meal like this and actually get to choose. We can also talk about the health needs that folks who come to our meals face.
Another question that comes up is “Why are you so fussy about keeping everything clean, changing gloves all the time, etc…?”
I like to respond by asking “Have you ever gotten sick after eating at a restaurant?” Most people have. “Although it sucked to be sick, at least you had a clean bathroom in your house and a bed you could curl up in, right?” Folks then realize how much more it sucks to be sick and either on the street or in a shelter or in a place where a lot of folks share one bathroom.
We usually have children and teens who volunteer with us, and they are the most curious. Middle Schools and High Schools in the area require kids to do community service so we get to work with a lot of great kids. We encourage them to not only serve the meal but to take a break and have dinner with our guests. I love walking out around the tables and seeing the kids deep in conversation with the guests. It is a rare opportunity to break bread with someone you typically would only see on the street, and even then, with a parent perhaps pulling you away and telling you not to stare.
Maybe the next time we manage the meal I’ll ask one of the kids to blog about it afterward. It would be cool to read a kid’s perspective on what it was like.
Thanks, Craig. Terrific work. Would love to hear from a volunteer or from one of the homeless if they can get to a library to use a PC or get us a message some other way.
I think the writer’s point wasn’t so much what individual progressives are doing (or understand) about homelessnes…….but the lack of over-all understanding & attention.
And the lack of being heard.
And, while not intending rudeness, talking about a $900 a month apt (and therefore not having all that middle-class would assume) or working feeding homeless folks is indicating “hearing” about other’s lives. Or the depths of the problem on a national scale.