Are Storage Units Modern-Day Carboard Boxes?

by Shannon Moriarty

categories: Hiding the Homeless, recession, shelter

Published October 29, 2009 @ 10:30AM PT

Somewhere along the line, the cardboard box became synonymous with homelessness. But today, these old stereotypes are changing as our modern-era homeless population grows and utilizes existing resources. Today, many homeless individuals and families are  taking shelter in storage units.

An article in last week's Chicago Tribune told the story of a family living in a storage unit. It's not a new phenomenon; similar stories have been reported out of Hawaii and Maryland. At $179/month, the price is certainly right. And as I wrote back in March, storage units beat the dangers of the street, the rules of shelters, and the stigma of tent cities for people who are newly homeless.

Still - it's ironic, isn't it? Storage units exist because people have too much stuff. So much stuff, in fact, that we can't even squeeze it into our houses or apartments. Yet, at the same time, homelessness is at an all-time high in many cities. What does this say about us a society, about the enormous gap between the rich and the poor?

Have we come to value "stuff" more than we value people?

Parenting While Homeless

by Shannon Moriarty

categories: case management, family homelessness, nonprofit, shelter

Published October 29, 2009 @ 08:20AM PT

It's the toughest job there is, being a parent. And it's a role that becomes exponentially more challenging when the safety of four walls and a roof are gone. How do homeless parents help their family survive? How do they provide for their children amid such uncertainty?

Sadly, these are questions that far too many families are having to answer the hard way... by experiencing it.

The team over at the Homelessness Resource Center shared with me a the powerful essay of a woman named Gladys Fonfield-Ayinla who shares her experience as a single homeless mother. She talks about her downward spiral into homelessness, her regrets, the painful memories of entering shelter.

But Fonfield-Ayinla's essay is not just a memoir. She raises important concerns she had while parenting in a shelter environment; issues that should be required reading for every family shelter service provider. Her key concerns involved childcare choice, parenting in a house with other families (with their own beliefs, disciplinary styles, etc.), and the heavy-handed disciplinary approach that - while necessary in some cases - prevents individuals from speaking out for fear of losing their only shelter.

Whether you're a parent or not, this story will open your eyes. You will feel her pain. But more importantly, you will get a sense of the intrinsic challenges in meeting the needs of homeless families through a traditional shelter system.

Hawks for the Homeless

by Shannon Moriarty

categories: Action, innovation, People doing good things

Published October 28, 2009 @ 03:19PM PT

Looking for an interesting way to support the homeless? Try sporting a mohawk or fauxhawk. A new campaign out of LA - called Hawks for the Homeless - is all about raising awareness while raising funds for service providers. At the same time, you'll be razing your hair (the sides, at least) and raising carefully gelled spikes atop you head.

(Too far with the "raising" puns?)

This new campaign is a volunteer-led initiative happening in LA. It's simple: participants pledge to 'hawk their hair - mohawks and fauxhawks are both acceptable forms of hawking - and ask family and friends to support them with a donation. In LA, the cuts are taking place on November 12th at Bold Barbers.

I love this campaign because it's new, edgy, fun, and has the potential to catch on in cities across the U.S. (In fact, there are detailed instructions for bringing this campaign to your community.) I'd love to see celebrities, soccer moms, elected officials, and youth sporting this 'do. Imagine a world where we all sport the 'hawk until homeless is eradicated. It could be a beautiful thing.

Sure, a mohawk or fauxhawk isn't going to end homelessness (I hope that point is fairly obvious). But I'm all for ideas with broad appeal that have the potential to educate and raise money at a time when it's needed most.

So what are you waiting for? Get sheened.

Image: jdn

Golden Girl Includes Homeless GLBT Youth in her Will

by Shannon Moriarty

categories: LGBTQ, News, People doing good things, youth

Published October 28, 2009 @ 11:55AM PT

She's the Golden Girl with the golden heart. Bea Aurther, the late actress of Golden Girl fame, left a $300,000 gift in her will to a New York City organization that serves gay and lesbian youth.

The Ali Fornay Center is one of just a handful of organizations that exclusively shelters GLBT youth in New York City, serving roughly 1,000 youth annually. "We are overwhelmed with gratitude that Bea saw that LGBT youth deserve as much love and support as any other young person," said Executive Director Carl Sicilliano. The organization said today that they plan to name a building for Bea in light of her posthumous generosity.

Prior to her death several months ago, Bea was a lifelong advocate of GLBT rights. Her generous legacy gift illustrates that she made the connection between intolerance and the rising prevalence of GLBT homeless youth.

As I've written in the past, GLBT youth are disproportionately represented among homeless youth. Roughly 20 percent of homeless youth self-identify as LGBTQ, and that's a conservative estimate. This population is much more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse than their heterosexual peers. To make matters worse, the social service safety net to catch these troubled teens is, in many communities, nonexistent.

This is precisely why organizations like the Ali Fornay Center are so important. They provide a safe, non-threatening haven that will accept them when their families do not.

Why can't we all just be like Bea?

Image: SheWire

Anchorage to Buy Homeless One-Way Plane Tickets

by Shannon Moriarty

Published October 27, 2009 @ 01:42PM PT

Homeless service providers in Anchorage, Alaska are giving "pilot program" a whole new meaning. This week, the city announced plans to buy hundreds of one-way plane tickets to fly its homeless population out of Anchorage and into remote Alaskan villages. City officials say they are enabling "family reunification"; I say they are shirking their duty to serve the homeless.

We're calling shenanigans on you, Anchorage. Are plane tickets really the best you can do?

Anchorage is not the first city to adopt such a terrible policy. In the past year, Hawaii and New York City have both come under fire for shipping out their homeless with plane tickets.

It's not hard to understand why this policy is becoming increasingly favored by financially strapped cities. Plane tickets are cheaper than providing case management, housing, or homeless prevention assistance. In the short term, when demand is up and funds are low, plane tickets might seem like a brilliant idea; a fast and cheap way to ease demand and serve more people.

But any short-term financial gains in one city will inevitably become a long-term burden on another unsuspecting community. In the long run, plane tickets are nothing more than a cruel, cheap way of ridding a city of its homeless population through exportation. Put them on a plane, then forget about them; someone else's responsibility now.

Let's call this policy what it is: a cop-out.

When it comes to serving the homeless, we can do better than simply providing plane tickets.

Image: √oхέƒx™

Homeless Runaway Youth, In Their Own Words

by Shannon Moriarty

categories: Interviews, Stories from the Streets, youth

Published October 27, 2009 @ 09:41AM PT

This is Clinton. He's 18 years old, but he's been living on the streets since he was 12. He knows how to sleep without being seen, survive on a jar of peanut butter for a week, and remain invisible in plain sight.

This week, the New York Times featured two powerful exposes on homeless youth. But neither moved me as much as this video. There's something about hearing stories from those who have experienced it - seeing the conditions they live in - that is both powerful and incredibly sad.

Take seven minutes and watch this video. I hope it changes the way you look at the issue of homelessness in America.

Recession Causes Uptick in Homeless Runaway Youth

by Shannon Moriarty

Published October 26, 2009 @ 02:45PM PT

Foreclosures, job losses, and recession-induced stresses aren't only impacting adults during these rough economic times. The effects have trickled down to youth, creating a surge in the numbers of youth running away from home and living on the streets.

According to the NY Times, it is widely believed that the number of homeless runaway youth has increased as a result of the recession, although the number is difficult to pinpoint. Federal studies estimate that no less than 1.6 million juveniles run away or are thrown out of their homes each year. But the majority of these children return home within a week, and the federal government does not conduct a census of this population.

Given the intrinsic difficulties of counting the homeless population - particularly youth who are hiding from authorities - the best indicator of the problem may be the number of contacts runaway youth make with federally-financed outreach programs. According to the NY TImes, this number "rose to 761,000 in 2008 from 550,000 in 2002, when current methods of counting began."

Indeed, the sparse information available on the lives of homeless youth paint a tragic picture. According to the Labor Department, less than 30 percent of teenagers had jobs during the past summer. This means that many homeless runaway youth must resort to other means to earn money, including dealing drugs, prostitution, or panhandling.

This rise in homeless youth is especially concerning because it is being overshadowed by the plight of other "groups", such as homeless families. Indeed, many of the Recovery Act funds directed towards combating homelessness will benefit homeless families, not unaccompanied youth.

So exactly how many homeless runaway youth are there? It's tough to know for sure. According to the NY Times, "federal statistics indicate that in at least 75 percent of runaway cases, parents or caretakers have not reported the child missing, often because they are angry about a fight or would simply prefer to see a problem child leave the house. And in 16 percent of cases, the local police failed to enter the information into the federal database, as required under federal law."

Homelessness is a traumatic for any individual. But the scars can be tougher to erase when it's experienced during one's formative years.

Image: New York Times