Change.org's End Homelessness Blog

Homelessness Cannot Happen to Just Anyone

David Henderson — 2010-02-09T08:46:00-08:00

As homeless advocates, we have to be driven by facts. It is a fact that an estimated 3.5 million Americans experience homelessness every year. It is a fact that military veterans account for an estimated 26 percent of the homeless population while comprising only 11 percent of the general population. People who experience homelessness are more likely to be minorities, more likely to have disabilities and less likely to complete high school. So why then do we perpetuate the myth that homelessness can happen to anyone anytime? If we are all at risk of homelessness, why do the people who actually become homeless have such drastically different demographic characteristics than the general population?

Households that spend 50 percent or more of their incomes on rent or mortgage payments are considered at risk of homelessness. There are an estimated 12 million households, or four percent of the population, that fall into this dangerous category. So how can we argue that homelessness could happen to anyone when 94 percent of us are, by definition, not at immediate risk?

Homelessness cannot happen to me. Not right now. That is exactly why I believe homelessness is so important. Homelessness is an injustice because it cannot happen to everyone, not because it can happen to anyone.

My point is not to argue that homelessness is unimportant. Indeed, 3.5 million people homeless and 12 million at risk are alarming statistics, not to mention that our methods for counting the homeless likely undercount the actual number of people who experience homelessness. However, the argument that homelessness can happen to anyone anytime undermines the inherent injustice of homelessness by feigning social equality where none exists. I do not need to wrongly believe that homelessness is imminent for me in order to care about the issue. It is the fact that I don't have an equal chance of becoming homeless that makes homelessness an issue of injustice.

Photo credit: St Stev

"Poverty Olympics" Spotlight Cost of Vancouver Games

Josie Raymond — 2010-02-08T17:44:00-08:00

Yesterday athletes took to the picturesque surroundings of Vancouver. But wait, the Olympics start next weekend. It was the "Poverty Olympics," a protest led by people who feel that the city's leaders haven't delivered on promises that hosting the Games would benefit all residents, even the homeless.

Hundreds of activists watched as the "Olympians" competed in three events in the downtrodden neighborhood called Downtown Eastside: the housing hurdles, the broken promise slalom and a wrestling match that pitted locals against an "evil developer." The event even had mascots: Itchy the bedbug and Chewy the rat. "If the money that was spent on the Olympics had been spent to end poverty and homelessness it could have been done by now," organizer Jean Swanson told the Vancouver Sun. Numbers are not public, but the Olympic pricetag for taxpayers is expected to be in the billions.

According to an article last week in the New York Times, Downtown Eastside is the poorest postal code in Canada -- and just five blocks from Friday's opening ceremony location. While beautiful venues have been built all around it over the last several years, the notorious neighborhood, which houses the first supervised heroin injection site in North America, is as dilapidated as ever. But hey, at least it wasn't bulldozed like Beijing's slums in advance of the 2008 Olympics, right? "We've been there and tried to help in every way we can," Vancouver Organizing Committee chairman Rusty Goepel told Reuters this week. "The Olympics are not designed to solve all of the problems of the world."

When Vancouver was facing off with other cities in an effort to become the host city, it drew up a plan for the construction of affordable housing and pledged not to displace the homeless. Based on stories we've reported on, those promises have not been kept. There have been reports of busing homeless people out of town as well as a new regulation that allows police to haul in people found sleeping outdoors. In addition to the groups behind the Poverty Olympics, others are trying to raise awareness of Vancouver's homeless population. One organization hopes to draw attention to Vancouver's homeless by distributing red pop-up tents during the Games. Another is facilitating home rentals for tourists while raising money for the city's needy. Keep them in mind during Friday's amazing, opulent opening ceremonies.

Photo credit: nofutureface.blogspot.com

Students Shouldn't Be Punished for Being Homeless

Shannon Moriarty — 2010-02-08T08:57:00-08:00

Rosa Bracero should have graduated from high school this week. Instead, she was forced to make an impossible decision between fulfilling her educational aspirations and helping her homeless family gain admittance to a shelter for the night.

Rosa was supposed to take the Regents exam at her Brooklyn high school last week -- a requirement for graduation in New York. But on the day she was scheduled to take the test, her family was evicted from their apartment. When the family went to a homeless intake center, staffers said they would be denied shelter if the entire family was not present for the seven-hour process -- even if it meant Rosa would have to miss her graduation exam.

According to the New York Daily News, the entire family was stunned at the cold, heartless lack of flexibility of the school and the New York shelter system. Rosa herself summed it up best: "I'm homeless so I have to be set back in my goals for my life? Isn't it enough that I'm homeless?"

This year, schools across the U.S. have been dealing with an unprecedented surge of homeless students. The National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth says that in the past two years, the number of homeless students has increased 100 percent. Though the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act provides a number of guaranteed protections for homeless students, it can be extremely difficult for these kids to keep up (nevermind excel) when they are without a stable home.

Since Rosa's test debacle hit the papers, the city's education and homeless services departments have backtracked. Rosa's high school allowed her to take the test later in the week. It didn't matter, though; state regulations forbid makeup Regents exams to discourage cheating. The Homeless Services Department, on the other hand, issued a stoic statement, claiming that shelter workers "followed protocol."

Certainly, there's a tough balance between standardizing a complicated process like homeless intake and providing leeway for individual situations. But there must be flexibility for when the "protocol" is counter-productive to the long-term goals of homeless services. Why delay giving a homeless student a shot at earning a diploma, and perhaps a better future?

Photo credit: ScienceBlogs

When Will We Take Care Of Our Own?

Mark Horvath — 2010-02-07T12:24:00-08:00

I want you feel a little bit of what I am feeling so maybe we will all wake up and start taking care of our neighbors.

Last year the most horrifying photo for the homeless community was of a dead homeless man frozen in the ice in an abandoned building in Detroit. Over the summer I happened to be visiting Detroit and drove by that building. I was told that the people who found that man's body decided to play a game of hockey rather than report it.

This year's indelible image might be of the homeless frostbite victim in Flint, Michigan. Yesterday someone posted a link on InvisiblePeople.tv's Facebook page to an article about Stephen Frye, who lost both of his legs and one arm to frostbite after passing out in an abandoned building he called home.

I am about to visit Alaska, where a dozen homeless people died on the streets last year. In Salt Lake City, 58 homeless people died in 2009. Just two weeks ago, three homeless people perished while sleeping outside in Santa Barbara, California. Wherever you live in this great country of ours, people are dying outside.

How many people have to die on the streets before we wake up and start taking care of our own communities?

Photo credit: Ryan Garza/The Flint Journal

What Obama's Budget Says About Homelessness

Josie Raymond — 2010-02-06T13:47:00-08:00

President Obama released his 2011 budget this week and homeless advocates are giving it the seal of approval. As always, some worthy issues, like housing vouchers, see funding increases while others, like aid for the elderly, lose out. This year, though, people who recognize that the answer to homelessness is homes feel like the budget is a step in the right direction. The National Alliance to End Homelessness points out that the budget -- which is still subject to approval by Congress -- proposes the largest increase in homeless services in 16 years. The NAEH is especially pleased about the extra $190 million allotted to McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants. Sign the petition showing your support!

According to the Washington Post, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) expects to up its spending on rent assistance for low income families by more than $2 billion to keep needy people in their homes. The Department of Veterans Affairs will get double the funding for homeless vets. The VA has the admirable goal of reducing the number of homeless veterans from the current rate of 131,000 to 59,000 by July 2012 (which, according to Changemaker and executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless Neil Donovan, can't be done without assistance for soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan).

Unfortunately, these increases come at the expense of funds for housing for the elderly and disabled. In 2010, housing assistance for people with disabilities was $300 million, according to the Wall Street Journal; in 2011, the budget proposes cutting it to $90 million. Aid to the elderly would see even steeper cuts, from $825 million in 2010 to $274 million in 2011. Native American Housing Block Grants will also be cut by 17 percent if the President gets his way.

For more on President Obama's proposed programs, check out the National Alliance to End Homelessness' budget breakdown.

Photo credit: hoyasmeg

A Homeless Mother and Son

Mark Horvath — 2010-02-05T13:31:00-08:00

Jody lives in her car, while her 19-year-old son Phillip lives in a shelter in St. Paul, Minnesota. After being unfairly evicted from her apartment, she sold all she had to buy a car to live in.

As I was giving out socks, Phillip approached me. His shoes have holes all the way through, so he is unable to keep his socks from wearing out. That's how I entered into my conversation with these two. Thanks to Hanes I was able to provide much-needed socks.

Their three wishes are simple -- an apartment, a job and car repairs.

We don't often consider that the face of homelessness starts young. I hope to meet Phillip again one day with a story of success and victory rather than perpetual homelessness.

Jody and Phillip from InvisiblePeople.tv on Vimeo.

Be Patient, Respectful and Listen to the Homeless

Dominic Mapstone — 2010-02-05T08:14:00-08:00

Recently I was making a trip I've made several dozen times, a 90-minute drive from one city to another on the highway in Australia. I was focused on getting home quickly without going over the speed limit.

Then, not long into my drive, I saw a homeless person pushing a shopping cart on the side of the highway. I pulled over and waited for him to reach my parked van. It was unlikely that he could make such a long journey on foot, let alone pushing a cart. I offered him a ride.

He didn't speak any English and spoke continually in his native tongue hoping I would understand him, but of course I didn't. I showed him the luggage section in the rear of the van and suggested through hand signals that we might be able to fit his shopping cart full of belongings in. Eventually he understood and we lifted the cart into the van, and I walked him around to the side door of the van and helped him into a seat.

He explained things at length to me on the trip (of which I understood nothing). I tried to ask him some questions in basic English. Finally, we developed a system of hand signals to suggest turns and to communicate.

We stopped at a gas station so I could fill up and I asked him with hand signals to come with me into the store and pick something out to eat and drink. He understood that and we went in and had a big meal and some water. I also got him to pick out some food and a drink for the road.

By now we had gotten used to each other's attempts at hand signal sign language and he understood that I was a friend who was trying to figure out where he wanted to go.

Eventually we reached the city and he signaled to continue until we got to a park on the side of the road. Once we stopped and unloaded his cart he pointed to the public toilets and indicated that was good, then pointed all around the park and indicated that was good.He pointed out that the resources he needed were on hand, including a shopping center over the road. He signaled to suggest they were familiar with him over there. This is where he wanted to be. So we went over to a park bench and I gave him a smoke and just sat there for a bit.

Neither of us could understand a word the other spoke. But because we both knew the streets we figured out that we could trust each other; we shared a ride, we shared a meal and he directed me to where he wanted to go and was able to tell me he was going to be alright there and had everything he needed.

After that I stuck around for about a half hour with him on the bench smoking cigarettes and just enjoying the park. It was a beautiful spot; I can understand why he liked it. Then I signaled I had better continue on my travels and he offered a hug which of course I accepted.

I was pretty pleased I'd managed to get him to where he wanted to be and that I had started my drive home at a perfect time for us to cross paths.

Of course, I've simplified my description of the journey and process involved. It took a lot of patience on his part and mine to work out what he wanted. I could have ignored that and taken him to where I thought he should go to get help. He didn't need help. He just needed transportation.

I often tell the story of this encounter while training those who will work with the homeless because it required me to listen, be patient and respect that he knew what was right for him. In my mind, the most common ways homeless services fail people are they aren't patient, they don't listen and they think they know best. Have a similar story? Join in the conversation here or at the International Homeless Forum.

Photo credit: tibchris

California Court Upholds Jessica's Law ... Sort Of

Shannon Moriarty — 2010-02-04T08:21:00-08:00

We all like easy answers. We like things to be black and white, right and wrong. But sometimes, with a complex issue like homelessness, things just aren't this simple. And perhaps nothing illustrates this better than the debacle surrounding Jessica's Law and the soaring rates of homelessness among sex offenders in California.

Jessica's Law, passed by voters in November 2006, bars sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a park or school. Though these tough housing restrictions were meant to protect children from the threat of recidivism, it has further limited the already sparse number of affordable housing options for ex-offenders, causing thousands to become homeless. Since Jessica's Law was enacted in 2006, the number of homeless sex offenders in California has increased a whopping 2,400 percent. Homeless and children's advocates alike have argued that Jessica's Law is nothing more than "forced homelessness." A tough issue, indeed.

Even the California Supreme Court more or less straddled the issue this week, according to SF Weekly. On Monday, the Court ruled at a broad level that it is constitutional for the state to enforce the residency restrictions of Jessica's Law on paroled sex offenders. Then it passed the buck. Now, smaller trial courts will need to decide -- on a case by case basis -- whether Jessica's Law is unreasonable, vague, overly broad or unconstitutional for individual parolees within their jurisdictions. Since every sex offender's case, and the threat they pose to children, is different, that's a lot of cases.

This decisive indecision by California's top court is a clear indication of just how cloudy this issue is. Understanding both sides of this debate does not make you indecisive, pro-sex offender, weak-on-crime, pro-homeless or anything else. It just means you see both sides of this challenging issue. Consider this:

We can all agree that everyone, especially children, has a right to feel safe in their home, school and neighborhood.

We can all agree that ex-offenders should not be released into an unstable situation that is proven to increase the likelihood of recidivism.

Finally, we can all agree that convicted criminals, including sex offenders, should be punished appropriately for their crimes. Those who have served their time in prison should not have to face a second sentence of homelessness on the streets.

Yes, there's a good argument to be made for any of these positions and the policies that support them. Which is precisely what makes Jessica's Law so tough to figure out -- there's no black and white, right and wrong answers. Even the Courts agree on that one.

Photo credit: InsipidLife

Swedish Politician Provides Sleeping Bags Instead of Legislation

Josie Raymond — 2010-02-03T16:18:00-08:00

Oh brother. A well-meaning member of parliament in Stockholm, Sweden is donating sleeping bags for the homeless and encouraging her colleagues to do the same. The key words here are "member of parliament." If your average everyday citizens were looking for ways to help, I'd applaud them. (I'd also suggest that they call local shelters and outreach organizations to be sure that sleeping bags are in fact what people need.) But for a person in power, a person with real influence over the municipality's purse strings, to think either "this is the best I can do" OR "these people choose to be homeless so I will make it more comfortable for them," well, that's not very sound leadership.

MP Annelie Enochson of the Christian Democrats party, who donated sleeping bags to a church that is accommodating overflow from the city's shelters, told a local newspaper, "It is a worthy cause for us MPs to help out with whatever we can." Whatever you can? How about legislation to provide affordable housing, drug counseling and job training? Sweden does a lot of things right, but there are still an estimated 18,000 homeless in the country of nine million.

Rolf Nilsson, who heads the Stockholm homeless association, said he would prefer meaningful change to bedding from a politician. "[Donating sleeping bags] shows an awful view of human beings, as if we're not worth any more," he said.

I have a feeling that Stockholm would find a good sister city in Denver, where Mayor John Hickenlooper recently had city employees wear pajamas to work to show solidarity with the homeless. You know, the homeless who lounge around in their pajamas in their sleeping bags all day.

Photo credit: scarletfawth

Cheer for the Red Tent Campaign at the Vancouver Olympics

Shannon Moriarty — 2010-02-03T07:16:00-08:00

When you tune in to the Winter Olympics next week, be on the lookout for bright red tents dotting the snowy Vancouver scenery. The Red Tent Campaign is taking to the streets of Vancouver, distributing 500 red pop-up tents to the city's homeless to draw attention to this crucial issue and encourage Canada to adopt a national housing strategy.

Many of the tents are emblazoned with phrases like End Homelessness or Housing is a Right. Volunteers and advocates are being encouraged to join the campaign by sponsoring a tent or even taking to the streets themselves for a night.

The demonstration, sponsored by the Pivot Legal Society, has some critics shaking their heads. Why, they wonder, is this group trying to make the city look bad during its big moment in the world spotlight? Organizers contend that homelessness is a reality in Vancouver; it's important to the world to see the city as it really is. And if it just so happens that the additional media attention shames federal lawmakers into adopted a long-overdue national housing strategy? Well, that's just icing on the cake.

The Red Tent Campaign follows a December 2009 court decision that grants homeless people the right to sleep on city property if shelters are full. According to the organization, the broader impact of this decision is profound; homeless people can now sleep at night on public property free of harassment by police. Coincidentally, this decision also made the Red Tent Campaign's open source protest/advocacy tactics fair game during the Winter Games. Still, the mayor and some city council members are trying to halt the tent strategy before the opening ceremonies.

If you believe it's prudent policy for a country with a homeless population to adopt and implement a National Housing Strategy, then you should support the campaign. Even if you can't travel to Vancouver to join in the advocacy next week, there are plenty of ways you can get involved. Sponsor a tent, spread the word on Facebook, or visit the Red Tent website. Amid Vancouver's Olympic displacements, gentrification and criminalization, here's a chance to harness the Olympics to do some good for Canada's homeless population.

Photo credit: nimish gogri

Homelessness Doesn't Have to Be a Death Sentence

Noah Jennings — 2010-02-02T16:24:00-08:00

As I write this post, I spot a client across the street who will likely die soon. All the signs point to this possibility: the substance abuse issues, an absent network of support, a fear of shelters and closed spaces because of trauma, being HIV positive, the cold winter -- the list goes on. All this fits with what we know about homelessness: for many people, it's fatal.

If that's not shocking, please read it again: when you see the chronically homeless, you're very likely looking at someone who's dying. That's not melodrama. It's fact.

Because of this, I was positively thrilled to read about new efforts in Hartford, Connecticut. There, as in an increasing number of cities, outreach workers have made use of the Vulnerability Index, a method of strengthening support for the homeless by targeting those who need help immediately.

What's happening in Hartford is inspiring. There, armed with questionnaires and a willingness to make real contact with their clients, outreach workers set out to find homeless people and ask about health history, resources, times homeless and so on. All of this is done with an eye toward determining how dangerous it is for each individual to be on the streets. This evidenced-based approach can influence the number of nights a client is offered at a given shelter, or may even result in the homeless person securing housing more quickly.

Those utilizing the Index have discovered that many of their homeless are without housing "comma-but." In other words, there are resources available to them (comma but) they don't know about them. Some of the examples might include a veteran who only needs transportation to the Veterans Affairs office to complete that final interview, or a disabled woman who, with the right advocacy, could get her benefits and a housing voucher more quickly. Imagine it: more homeless could get housed if we put resources into finding out what precisely they need to stay alive.

And that's what's revolutionary about the Vulnerability Index. By placing homelessness within the context of public health, it makes the need to strengthen communication with street communities one of dire consequence.

If you're surprised this isn't already implemented everywhere, I share your disbelief. The truth is that much of what we do for the homeless isn't based on evidence or direct feedback from clients. It's best guesses all around. That plus the lack of awareness among the general population that homelessness is in large part a public health issue means that the people who need help most are the people most often left behind. But if we're to believe the statistics, use of the Vulnerability Index is a reform we can't afford to ignore. One study notes that the average age of death for those without shelter is just 48.

What this means is that if you're homeless for too long in America, you can expect to die about 30 years before your time. Whether that remains a reality is up to us.

If you're interested in introducing the Vulnerability Index to your community, please check out the resources at Common Ground.

Photo credit: Anne Chadwick Williams/The Sacramento Bee

Families Are the #1 Homelessness Prevention Tool

Shannon Moriarty — 2010-02-02T07:40:00-08:00

They're your parents. You've relied on them for your genes, holiday meals and unsolicited advice. But these days, they're serving another important role. They might just be be your last line of defense before spiraling into homelessness. (Or, sadly, you might be theirs.)

As unemployment rates skyrocketed over the past year, relatives began dishing out loans and assistance to stave off the threat of homelessness. With shelters packed and tent cities popping up from Sacramento to Providence, it's not far-fetched to say that this crisis might have been much worse if not for the generosity of families.

Parents, siblings, kids, aunts, uncles and grandparents are preventing homelessness among their financially unstable relatives, according to a piece in the New York Times last weekend. They are, in essence, serving as the personal safety net before the social service safety net. A recent New York Times/CBS News poll found that more than half of 708 unemployed adults surveyed nationwide said they had borrowed money from friends or relatives. Most of the individuals had strained finances; nearly 80 percent of those who reported borrowing money said their family's financial situation was "fairly bad" or "very bad."

Of course, anyone who's ever seen "Judge Judy" knows that borrowing from a family member can be a sticky situation. Not only does it require putting one's pride aside to reach out for help, repayment agreements are typically tabled until the crisis blows over and job prospects improve.

Given the slow speed at which things are turning around, this could take awhile.

Photo credit: Merlign Hoek

Visiting with the Bird Man

Mark Horvath — 2010-02-01T10:26:00-08:00

I love interesting people. In Washington, D.C. I observed "Nature Boy" walking down the street. He was such a contrast to the neighborhood that I had to find him and talk to him. As luck would have it we later met at a park across the street from the White House.

While driving along the Embarcadero in San Francisco I got a glimpse of a man trying to leverage his wheelchair to dig deeper into a trash can. The next day I went back purposely to find Dale.

For maybe a year now I would pass by "Bird Man" regretting I didn't have my camera on me. The times I drove to his Echo Park location off the 101 in Los Angeles with my camera he was never there. Today that changed.

Ninja, as he likes to be called, has been on the streets for 20 years. He says the birds are attracted to him because he has a heart full of love. The very sad part is I often see him sleeping on the cold concrete under the freeway overpass.

I can very much relate to "Bird Man." When I was homeless, my pet iguana D.O.G. provided me with a gimmick to increase panhandling revenue.

When I asked Ninja for his three wishes, without hesitation he responded, "health, wealth and wisdom."

Bird Man from InvisiblePeople.tv on Vimeo.

The Argument for Shrinking Homeless Shelters

Dominic Mapstone — 2010-01-31T13:14:00-08:00

Unfortunately, there are still homeless shelters that take in more than 10 people at a time. A shelter for 200 homeless people (or worse, 1000) is not any kind of accomplishment. That approach is decades out of date and is limiting homeless people, not helping them.

Living with more than 10 people is unnatural unless you come from a very big family. Ideally, there would be no more than five people in a shared dwelling, to simulate normal living conditions. I've always said that learning to live with 50 or more people is no kind of preparation for independent living beyond homelessness. Any community that size takes a lot of work to remain healthy and can cause significant stress to its members if it isn't. In fact, there should be some kind of guidebook for living in any of the bigger homeless shelters as the experience is overwhelming, stressful, and an unrealistic representation of life off the streets.

It doesn't surprise me that every day thousands of homeless people choose to sleep on the streets rather than enter a massive shelter.

The small homeless shelter I operate is run out of a garden variety house with room for six residents and one staff quarters. Usually I keep it to no more than five people total living in the house. It's only on special occasions like birthdays, movie nights or fishing trips that we have a few extra people sleeping over (like a normal house), or if someone is doing home detox we have a few extra staff.

As a social worker living in a homeless shelter with four residents, I'm under enough stress. I can't imagine the insane amount of stress put on residents who live in a space with more than 10 people.

In terms of economies of scale and the idea that you can help more people for less money if you squeeze them into a large shelter, the math doesn't add up. Read "Million-Dollar Murray," a classic article by Malcolm Gladwell from the New Yorker, that debunks many myths surrounding homelessness and the cost of the chronically homeless to society.

Some of the best shelters have reported costs of $100,000 per person per year for adequate service with wrap-around support (counseling, social workers, etc.). Any of the residents staying at my shelter can rack up $100,000 in expenses to the government and community in a given month if they aren't sheltered with us. We certainly don't need $400,000 a month to work with our four residents (but wow, that would be nice). You get the idea. Smaller, higher quality services make much more of a difference in homeless people's lives than large institutional shelters, and significantly decrease the cost of homelessness for the taxpayer.

You may ask why these large shelter institutions aren't shut down and smaller more effective shelters funded in their place. Often times it's because the very people who are brought in to consult with and advise government policy makers are from the larger institutions with problematic, wildly out-of-date practices. In my mind, the homeless sector is slow to adapt to current needs and implement innovate ideas. Quite frankly, being decades behind today's easy-to-implement innovations is an invitation to have your funding cut completely.

Sadly, the only way we could pass legislation to downsize shelters would be to partner with the "not in my backyard" (NIMBY) crowd to pass a bill limiting the size of homeless shelters to no more than 10 shelter beds in the one dwelling, for example.

If you have stayed in a homeless shelter, how many other people were staying there and what are your thoughts on this topic? If you have other ideas that could help downsize shelters that do not require partnering with the NIMBY crowd, please contribute to the discussion. Everyone reading my articles here is always invited to join the International Homeless Forum, especially if you are currently or formerly homeless.

Photo credit: Linda Bisset

Mapping the Impact of the Recovery Act

Shannon Moriarty — 2010-01-30T12:23:00-08:00

I recently met a woman whose story blew my mind. I'll call her Nadia. She is a single mother with eight kids. She and her husband were middle-school sweethearts, and although they struggled financially, both working two minimum-wage jobs, they were somehow managing to make ends meet.

Sadly, Nadia's world fell apart two years ago when she came home from work one day to discover that her husband had committed suicide. Since then, life has been a whirlwind for Nadia and her children; they are struggling to deal with their devastation while going in and out of homelessness. Last November, when they came to the homeless service center where I work, Nadia and her children were living in a tiny one-room studio apartment just outside of Boston.

Under any other circumstances, my organization may not have been able to help Nadia and her family right away. They may have stayed on a waiting list or had to move into a shelter before getting the housing assistance they needed. But this year, it was different. We used money from the Recovery Act to find Nadia and her kids a four-bedroom apartment. They moved in just two days before Christmas.

There are hundreds of success stories like this, all originating from the tiny chunk ($1.5 billion) of Obama's $800 billion Recovery Act bill that was dedicated towards the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Program (HPRP). Since then, this money has slowly trickled down to cities and towns across the country, moving folks into housing and keeping at-risk families in their homes. It isn't enough to help everyone, but it is changing lives.

We know this money is helping families like Nadia's all across the country, but it's hard to get a sense of just how vast this impact is until you see it mapped out. The National Alliance to End Homelessness has created an HPRP Media Map to help visual people (like me) see the trickle-down impact of the stimulus funds from Alaska to Maine. Each flag links to a story of an individual who has avoided the downward spiral into homelessness thanks to this assistance.

Remember: these are just the stories that hit the newsstands. There are countless more, like Nadia's.

Photo credit: National Alliance to End Homelessness

Homeless Advocate Miss Florida Competes for the Crown

Josie Raymond — 2010-01-29T09:23:00-08:00

Grab your body glitter and evening gown and get ready to watch the Miss America pageant on Saturday night (8 p.m. EST on TLC). Why on earth would you do that, you ask? Why, to root with all your might for Miss Florida, Rachael Todd. Like all Miss America contestants, Todd has chosen a platform on which to work if she wins the crown and travels the world for a year smiling broadly and doing nice things for people. Her cause is ending homelessness and, thanks to her involvement with the organization her mother founded to help the homeless community, she's well-versed on the issue.

Perhaps unlike some of the other contestants, Todd didn't just pick her cause out of a hat. While she was a student at the University of Central Florida a few years ago, her mom surprised everyone by quitting a job in business and founding the HOPE Foundation, which aims to alleviate homelessness in Florida through housing, outreach, prevention and education. Todd, 22, has participated at HOPE for years and has been touring Florida's shelter system and participating with the National Alliance to End Homelessness since she won the Sunshine State's crown six months ago.

She knows that the issue of homelessness isn't quite as traditional, or universally accepted, as other women's platforms will be (recent winners have promoted community service, eating disorder awareness and protecting children on the internet). "I see this opportunity mostly as a microphone," she told the Orlando Sentinel. "I'm not just advocating for something like children with cancer, which no one could argue against. Homelessness stirs controversy and it gets people talking. And if people are talking, that gives me an opening." Todd thinks she's just the one to deliver a message about the issue to people in their living rooms, even though a beautiful sequin-clad young woman clashes with the image many people have in their minds when they think of the homeless (you know, bedraggled vet panhandling on the side of the road).

"In this country, we have a mindset that, if you're not making it and if you're not able to afford the luxuries in life, then you're just not working hard enough. And that's wrong," Todd says. She's right, of course, but can she sell it to Rush Limbaugh, who will be one of the pageant's judges? Now that'll be a catfight.

Photo credit: Miss Florida Organization

Parasites vs. Homeless People

Dominic Mapstone — 2010-01-28T13:30:00-08:00

As a social worker, I get head lice a lot. Usually I catch lice working on the streets because it's not uncommon for me to hug homeless friends hello (plus I have long hair). But I can afford the treatment and getting rid of them is no big deal for me.

For my homeless friends who live on the streets or sleep in shelters, lice, scabies and bedbugs are hard to avoid and harder to get rid of.

When a kid gets lice, his whole class is advised to get treated. But on the streets it's not possible to organize a similar insect shakedown. Many homeless people just don't have the cash to spend at a drugstore for treatment, plus access to a shower and the time to treat their hair and wash their bedding. So the lice colony wins out pretty easily. It's the same in prison in many cases, where the insects infest prisoners and their belongings and can't be gotten rid of, so the cycle continues.

It's pretty easy for people sleeping in abandoned houses and buildings to pick up the trifecta -- lice, scabies and bedbugs. It's not like they have linen service, after all. Even though only five or six people at a time can sleep in a space, over the course of a month, 50 people might stay there. As long as the mattresses are the same, they are all at risk.

Do you have any experience with bugs? Do you know of any services that do a great job offering treatment or preventing infestation in the first place? If you are currently or formerly homeless, join thousands of others online at the World Homeless Forum to discuss your experiences.

Photo credit: Wikipedia

The Push to End Homelessness Among Returning War Veterans

Neil Donovan — 2010-01-28T10:40:00-08:00

Neil J. Donovan is part of Change.org's Changemakers network, comprised of leading voices for social change. Neil is the executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless.

The Butler family has honored this country for generations, at first while enslaved and now free, though persistently poor. So it came as no surprise when the youngest member of the Butler family, Adam, raised his right hand and swore to protect and defend the United States of America.

Their surprise came a decade later when Adam, living in the nation's capital, became one of the tens of thousands of mentally ill homeless veterans hidden in the shadows of the world's wealthiest country.

For the past four decades, Americans have tried unsuccessfully to cure the social ill of modern homelessness by treating its symptoms rather than its causes. A severe lack of affordable housing and a scarceness of jobs that pay a living wage are the root causes of homelessness. But, failing a final solution-based strategy to ending homelessness, we're now assigning rank-and-resources within a hierarchy of needs and conditions, measured along a compassion scale of those who are deserving, less-deserving and undeserving.

Efforts over the past eight years to reduce one of the most visible signs of America's poverty -- chronic homelessness -- have been moderately successful. But the ultimate and important goal of abolishing chronic homelessness, as a tipping point to ending all homelessness, has not been reached. So like many illnesses, chronic homelessness, as a social ill, will have its symptoms wane, its cures will lessen and attention will be paid elsewhere. And like most illnesses, the symptoms will re-emerge stronger and more resistant.

The newest campaign against homelessness is focused on homeless veterans. At a recent Veterans Affairs national conference, VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki announced: "President Obama and I are personally committed to ending homelessness among veterans within the next five years. Those who have served this nation as veterans should never find themselves on the streets, living without care and without hope."

This year, the VA will spend $3.2 billion to prevent and reduce homelessness among veterans, with as much as $500 million going to homeless programs and $2.5 billion to medical services. This commitment represents a 23 percent increase over last year's funding and a six times greater increase for residential care. The VA also is attempting to strengthen its ability to prevent veteran homelessness by offering grants to organizations providing supportive services for low-income veterans and their families.

The administration's commitment to zero tolerance for homeless veterans is admirable and necessary. The VA's commitment of resources is considerable and unprecedented. But if this commitment is to truly be a final and lasting solution to veterans' homelessness, it must be increased to meet the scale and breadth of tomorrow's problem.

The daily count of homeless veterans is approximately 150,000. But the demographics communicate an equally important message: Homeless veterans tend to be middle-aged. So today's homeless veterans don't include most of the 36,000 recent soldiers wounded in action and the countless thousands who carry the psychological impacts of war.

If this administration and this country are to remain committed to zero tolerance for homeless veterans, we must face the difficult reality that prioritizing one group of homeless over another is an unsuccessful strategy. If today's housed soldiers are to remain tomorrow's housed veterans, we must end all homelessness.

We, as a nation, can achieve the goal of ending homelessness in our lifetime by focusing attention and resources on all those who need and lack affordable housing and living-wage jobs. This goal will have its challenges, not the least of which will be to resist a tendency to divide the homeless into competing subpopulations: young vs. old, individual vs. family, chronic vs. episodic, mental illness vs. substance abuse, veteran vs. non-veteran and on and on.

The theory behind subdividing the homeless rests upon the assumption that finite resources can only work to cure a limited social ill. This divide-and-conquer mindset of the 1990s led us to eight years of directing new resources toward the chronically homeless, in part to the exclusion of others experiencing homelessness.

Our time waiting for soldiers to return from war will be well spent if we are about the shared goal of protecting and defending our country and protecting those least among us from the inhumane conditions of persistent poverty and defending their right to housing.

Adam Butler celebrated Thanksgiving in a shelter not far from the U.S. Capitol, grateful for a warm meal and the generous support of those around him. He's now short-listed for a housing voucher targeted for homeless veterans and their families, a process that has taken the better part of a year.

Today, what concerns Adam most is the thought of leaving his friends at the shelter behind. His military service was a sacrifice he willingly made for this country and all Americans. A sacrifice, he believes, that should be honored by ending the homelessness of every American -- once and for all … and for that he will be forever thankful.

Photo credit: The National Guard

Pajamas Have Nothing To Do With Homelessness

Shannon Moriarty — 2010-01-27T07:49:00-08:00

Talk about out of touch. Tomorrow is the fifth annual PJ Day in Denver, when Mayor John Hickenlooper will be sporting fuzzy slippers and pajamas in an attempt to raise awareness about the city's homeless problem. Only this time, instead of parading around his office in silk jammies, he's also decking out the high-powered, deep-pocketed Denver business community.

What a sight this will be to see: the people in Denver who are perhaps best-positioned to take real, effective action towards helping the homeless will be donning matching pinstripe pajamas, essentially mocking the suffering of those in need. It'll be like wearing a "WE'RE OUT OF TOUCH WITH REALITY" team uniform.

Last year, I called out the Mayor's attempt to bring attention to the plight of the city's homeless by hosting "PJ Day," when city employees wore bathrobes and bunny slippers to the office. Later that night, he hosted a "Pajama Party" fundraiser, complete with a bedtime story read by the Mayor himself. This year, he decided to take this brilliant idea to the next level. He has challenged 10 corporations to donate $10,000 to Denver's Road Home. Businesses who pony up the dough get to join the exclusive "Pinstripe PJ Club," which includes a posh pair of logo pinstriped pajamas.

Now don't get me wrong -- the fundraising efforts are admirable. But can't it be done without this ridiculous homelessness-pajamas connection? It may not seem like a huge deal, but it is indicative of a largely out-of-touch politician making loose and wholly inaccurate assumptions.

How did he come up with the idea? I imagine his brainstorm went something like this:

Denver Mayor thinking to himself: Homelessness seems like a hot topic nowadays, so how can I get involved? Well first, what do I know about homelessness? Hmmm ... Well, I see them sleeping outside on the sidewalk. So, what do I associate with sleeping? Hot tea, teddy bears, my satin face mask, 1,000-thread-count bed sheets, feather comforter, pinstripe pajamas -- oh, how about pajamas! Get it? Sleep on the sidewalk. Pajamas. Boy oh boy, I sure am clever!

Associating pajamas with homelessness is patronizing to those who suffer without a home. Pajamas do not acknowledge the gravity of the issue, including the complex causes and traumas experienced by people who are homeless. Perhaps the greatest irony is that many homeless people do not even have the luxury of owning a pair of pajamas.

Mayor Hickenlooper, your intentions may be in the right place, but you are in dire need of a reality check. Ditch the bathrobe and jammies and try putting yourself in a homeless person's shoes for a day. They may not be wingtips, but they will certainly change your perspective.

Photo credit: jmkizer

Jessica's Law Blamed for Steep Rise in Homeless Sex Offenders

Shannon Moriarty — 2010-01-26T15:55:00-08:00

In just three years, the number of homeless sex offenders in California has increased a whopping 2400 percent. Who or what is to blame for this skyrocketing figure? Believe it or not, it's Jessica's Law, passed by voters in November 2006 and designed to protect children from paroled sex offenders. What's a state to do when a law intended to bolster public safety is actually exacerbating the threat of recidivism?

Today, there are 2,200 paroled sex offenders who are homeless in California. This is up from 1,257 a year ago and just 88 in September 2007. The causal link between the passage of Jessica's Law and the onslaught of homeless sex offenders is undeniable. What, you ask, is at the heart of the issue here? Housing.

Jessica's Law bans sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park where children "regularly gather," according to the Mercury News. These strict requirements have created real difficulties for paroled sex offenders looking for places to live. Even if housing is available within approved areas, it may be unaffordable. The requirements have also created clusters of sex offenders in places like unmonitored motels, which are not sustainable forms of housing nor necessarily safe for children.

To make matters worse, there are few re-entry programs for any type of ex-offenders, including those charged with sex crimes. This lack of programmatic assistance usually means that upon their release from prison, people are responsible for finding a place to live, often with little financial or family support.

Officials in California have changed their position in the past year; instead of saying that homeless sex offenders pose a threat to public safety, they are saying that Jessica's Law poses a threat to public safety. Instability, they say, increases the likelihood that repeat crimes will be committed. Now that the causal link has been established, which steps this budget-strapped state should take next is an entirely different question.

It's a complex issue, and it will be interesting to see how things take shape in the coming months. While immediate steps should be taken to see that the public is protected, it's important to note that not every convicted sex offender poses a threat after his or her release from prison. Connecting former inmates with decent and stable housing is necessary for both protecting the public from the threat of recidivism and allowing those who have served their time to move on with their lives.

Photo credit: The Snitch