The Audacity of Home

by Shannon Moriarty

categories: foreclosure, Government, Health, Homeless Counts, homeownership, Housing, Human Rights, International, Local Policy, News, Obama Administration, Policy, recession, Trends, USA

Published November 20, 2009 @ 09:12AM PT

If there were ever a time for the Obama Administration to fulfill its promise of restoring Hope for America, re-prioritizing the promise of "a Home for all" is the ideal start. The sum of our devastating housing and economic crisis, combined with the recent findings from the international human rights community, prove that there is no better time to move housing to the top of the federal policy agenda.

Today, I'm taking a step back. Away from the details in the news, away from the constant flow of comments, the banter. Today I want to talk about something so simple, so basic that most of us take it for granted.

Home.

A Home is a basic necessity. Something so basic that it's easy to forget. We see homeless people, we hear about programs designed to serve them, we read the news of the worsening crisis. Yet we're desensitized to the severe psychological implications of not having a home. We're numb.

A Home helps to ensure safety, health, and well-being. It is our base, a place we can always return to. We identify with our Home - with the structure we live in, the town and state it's in, the schools it's near. A Home is safety, it is opportunity. For many people, it is even identity. It is not far-fetched to say that our ability to hope is directly related to having a Home.

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Act Now: Stop Hate Crimes Against the Homeless

by Shannon Moriarty

categories: Action, Advocacy, Hate Crimes, violence

Published November 19, 2009 @ 05:52PM PT

It's a cruel fact: when you live without a home, you are more vulnerable to violence on the streets. Next week, the Senate Judiciary is scheduled to vote on legislation that would add homeless people to the federal hate crimes statistics statue. Take action today to tell your elected lawmakers to support this important bill.

The legislation - called the Hate Crimes Against the Homeless Statistics Act (S. 1765) - was introduced by Senator Cardin of Maryland and Senator Collins of Maine. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, the legislation has been placed on the Senate Judiciary Committee schedule and could be marked up as early as November 19, but more likely the week of the November 23.

This bill is timely; as homelessness has increased over the past decade, so has the number of brutal, violent attacks against the homeless. From 2002 to 2005, hate crimes against the homeless increased 300%. Fatal attacks rose by 67%. And the latest study by the National Coalition for the Homeless found that this number has increased even more - 65% - since 2005.

But it's important to remember that hate crimes cannot be measured solely in terms of physical injury, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless, they also "leave a special emotional and psychological mark on victims and their communities, leaving them feeling isolated, vulnerable, and unprotected by the law."

Unlike other categories protected by most hate crime laws - such as gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or religion - a person's "homeless" status is not permanent. In fact, it is preventable and can be ended with one thing: housing. Of course, until housing becomes regarded as a human right, we will have to settle for such incremental steps to protect the most vulnerable among us in the short term.

Tell your lawmakers to vote "yes" for this important piece of legislation!

Image: Matt From London

Giving Homeowners a Fighting Chance

by Noah Jennings

categories: foreclosure, homeownership

Published November 19, 2009 @ 12:14PM PT

Every once in a while, you come across some good news. It's bleak as hell for the homeless and soon-to-be, but some hope remains in Philadelphia.

On the heels of news that the foreclosure rate hit 19% last month, the New York Times covered the story of an innovative program in Philadelphia that requires banks to meet with homeowners before eviction. Though there's some doubt about the program's effectiveness, many believe it to be an improvement over President Obama's efforts to stymie the catastrophic scale of the housing crisis. Philadelphia's approach makes equitable outcomes more likely, "by bringing together all the principals in one room. If the mortgage company proves intractable, the homeowner has the right to request mediation in front of a volunteer lawyer serving as a provisional judge, who relays recommendations to the program's supervising judge." If the judge suspects wrongdoing on the part of the lender, then she can suspend sale of the house until a resolution is reached. Not bad.

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Should Shelters Ban Sex Offenders?

by Shannon Moriarty

categories: Local Policy, News, sex offenders

Published November 18, 2009 @ 06:03PM PT

Everybody, including sex offenders, needs a place to live. If proposed legislation in Massachusetts passes, registered sex offenders would be barred from staying in homeless shelters, begging the question: where are they supposed to go?

There are few questions that get people as riled up as those regarding registered sex offenders, particularly homeless sex offenders. Serving this population can be difficult, costly work for homeless service providers. Residential restrictions make housing almost impossible to find. Stepping up security in homeless shelters can be expensive, and other shelter guests may not feel comfortable knowing that a level 3 sex offender is sleeping on the adjacent cot.

But according to proponents of the legislation, the real problem lies with the requirement to report an address. Since residential bans can make it all but impossible to find affordable housing that is not near schools, playgrounds, or daycare centers, many sex offenders will bypass this requirement by simply listing a homeless shelter address, which allows them to live wherever they please. According to the Boston Globe, 74 percent of Boston's level 3 sex offenders had a homeless shelter listed as their address.

Sure, this loophole presents public safety concerns. If we don't know that a level 3 sex offender lives nearby, how can we protect ourselves?

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The Plight of Homeless Sex Offenders

by Mark Horvath

categories: criminalization, Government, Human Rights, Policy, sex offenders, shelter

Published November 18, 2009 @ 01:35PM PT

Last winter shelter season, my eyes were opened to the horrible plight of sex offenders living on the streets. Our street outreach team was called to find shelter for a man. He was a registered sex offender, so he wasn't allowed to stay at the winter shelter. He had done everything right, reported to the police and the shelter workers. But there was no shelter that would allow him to stay.

No matter what you think of the crimes this man committed, he had served his debt to society and was adhering to the terms of his punishment. Still, finding housing - even emergency shelter - proved nearly impossible.

Up until that time, I had rather a hard stance on this subject. I thought sex offenders were dangerous, a threat to society. Who cares if they have to continue paying for their crime once their jail time is up? But one look into this man's eyes gave me different point of view; he was so filled with hopelessness, so beaten down from trying to survive. It's a difficult memory.

I met Tim in Cleveland, Ohio. He's trying to make something of his life. But as a sex offender, it's nearly impossible for him to find the help he needs.

I don't know what Tim did to become a registered sex offender. But I believe an equally heinous crime might be our own society allowing people like him to suffer on the streets, sex offender or not.

Tim from InvisiblePeople.tv on Vimeo.

Tent Cities: The Huntsville Solution

by Steven Samra

categories: Government, Local Policy, Tent Cities

Published November 18, 2009 @ 07:55AM PT

While volunteering for the 3rd annual Huntsville Alabama Operation Stand Down, I did some street outreach to spread the word to veterans about the three day event. In the course of that outreach, I visited one of Huntsville's Tent Cities and was surprised to learn that the camp was run by a local agency, thanks to an agreement they had worked out with local police, who had also worked out an agreement with the Alabama Department of Transportation (ADOT).

The camp sits under viaduct on the north end of the city and in order to stay individuals must first register with a nearby homeless services provider. The agency requires ID and provides the funds in necessary to procure one. A tent, if one is available, is provided to the individual and that person is then directed to the camp. A police officer is assigned to patrol the camp and does so on a regular basis, checking with the residents to make sure the area remains relatively trouble free. Every Tuesday, additional local service providers pass through the camp, offering resources and referrals while also monitoring the conditions of the camp and the residents within.

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How to Streamline the Safety Net?

by Shannon Moriarty

categories: case management, Government, innovation, new media, nonprofit, service providers, Trends

Published November 17, 2009 @ 12:52PM PT

We hear it all the time: the social service safety net is convoluted, confusing, and tough to navigate. It's hard to know where to go to find services. Government applications, housing applications, and program requirements are enough to make a person's head spin. But can good marketing - making information more readily available to those who need it - ease the journey through social services?

David Henderson of InforUm wrote a thoughtful post today that raised this very question: what good are social services if nobody knows about them? He writes, "Part of program effectiveness is marketing our services to those who need them most, and making it as easy for people to receive social services as it is to buy books on Amazon.com."

He raises a good point point. Many homeless service providers would appear to be stuck in the dark ages of marketing; a shelter will often pat itself on the back for developing a tri-fold flyer. And who can blame them? Often short-staffed and under-funded, many service providers must carefully maintain a "we've got it together" image while still appearing needy enough to solicit donations. It's a fine line to walk. Besides, service providers aren't a business; there's a limit to the number of clients that can be served, and these days, this number is often maxed out.

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