Most Popular Homelessness Posts
Tent Cities: The Huntsville Solution
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.
How to Streamline the Safety Net?
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.
Calling All Winter Coats!
Published November 17, 2009 @ 12:52PM PT
It's getting chilly out there! For some people, a drop in the mercury means simply turning up the thermostat. But for many others, cold weather is a matter of life and death. Before the temperature really drops this winter, you can help spread the warmth to those who need it by participating in the national winter coat drive.
The project is sponsored by Lands End. Although it's based out of Beantown - hence the name Boston's Big Warm-Up - collections are taking place in locations across the United States. Coats donated in each locale will directly benefit people in that community.
But this isn't just any coat drive... this is a coat drive in the digital age. And what fun is a coat drive in the digital age without a cool, interactive online promotional component? The Big Boston Warm-up website is chock full of information and ways for you to spread the word. Learn the facts, customize a video, spread the word with the Facebook effect, and even track your donated coat. Nonstop excitement, it is.
What are you waiting for? Tell your friends. Donate a coat. After all, that old pea coat can do a heck of lot more good on someone's shoulders than hanging forgotten in the trenches of your closet.
Image: Paul Mayne
15% Hungry in America
Published November 17, 2009 @ 07:10AM PT
If your stomach was too weak for Friday's foreclosure numbers, turn away: Monday revealed that nearly 15 percent of Americans went hungry last year.
The recession may be over for big business, but the problems of real people continue as the Department of Agriculture announced that the number hungry in this country rose to a staggering 50 million. As is often the case, the effects of hunger disproportionately affect the most vulnerable. This report revealed that 1 in 4 children lack reliable access to adequate nutrition. Poverty advocates insist that the problem will likely worsen. A national food bank network, Feeding America, said of the numbers in a New York Times piece, "Socioeconomic indicators, including the escalating unemployment rate and the number of working poor, lead us to believe that the number of people facing hunger will continue to rise significantly over the coming year." Peachy.
Navigating the Social Service Safety Net
Published November 16, 2009 @ 02:28PM PT
Jay's story might sound familiar to you. His unfortunate situation is not uncommon these days. He lost his job, then his home to foreclosure, and ended up homeless on the streets of Cleveland, Ohio.
Jay talks about his frustration trying to get help from homeless service providers. Since services have become specialized, he must travel to multiple agencies to get all of the help he needs. But without reliable transportation, he has trouble getting around. Although there are many good things to be said about the Continuum of Care model, it is not perfect. It does not, for example, fill in all of the communication gaps or take into consideration the lack of access to reliable and easily accessible transportation.
Imagine for a moment that you are homeless without income. You panhandle for bus fare, then travel to the agency you believe is most likely to help. You fill out the paperwork and sit in the lobby all day. After hours of waiting you are told you don't qualify, or the program is full and your name will go on a waiting list. If you're lucky, you'll get a bus pass to get home. Either way, at the end of the day, you're still homeless without housing or food. And you have to repeat this process - over and over - until you find the help you need.
Of course, this is a worse case scenario. It's important to remember the many instances when the safety net works, when it saves people from the streets.
Still, in some cases - like Jay's - people just give up. Perhaps his story will help you understand why.
Jay from InvisiblePeople.tv on Vimeo.
Where Did You Sleep Last Night?
Published November 16, 2009 @ 07:42AM PT
A simple question, answered in pictures. This is the premise of a new photo book released by an organization in Portland, Oregon. It shouldn't be surprising, to see the places where those without a home have spent the night. But the images provide a powerful and deeply disturbing narrative about the reality of homelessness in America.
The book, Where I Slept - a project of the Transition Projects - marks the 40th anniversary of the organization's efforts to combat homelessness in Portland. According to the organization, "In the spring of 2007, we asked the residents of Transition Projects shelters to show us the places they slept while living on the streets. Equipped with just disposable cameras and the willingness to show us their truth, they delivered the photographs in this book in a matter of days."
The images were only intended to be a temporary exhibit. But the response from the community was so powerful it was decided the message had to reach a wider audience. Hence the book, now available for $20 at Transition Projects' website.
Great idea by a great organization. It's always great to see innovative approaches to telling the stories of day-to-day struggles of homeless individuals. I think Ted Wheeler,* the chair of Transition Projects, said it best: "The most basic thing we can do to help the homeless is to reach out to them and acknowledge them as fellow human beings. The worst thing we can do is pretend that they don't exist."
*Correction: Ted Wheeler is the Chair of Multnomah County, not Transition Projects. According to the Transition Projects website, Doreen Binder is the Executive Director.
Nearly Half of Homeless U.S. Veterans are Black
Published November 15, 2009 @ 06:05PM PT
Veterans experience homelessness at a greater rate than non-vets in the United States. But a new study finds that minority veterans - particularly African-Americans - are disproportionately represented among the homeless veteran population. Today, a whopping 45 percent of the homeless veteran population is African American, proving that race is still relevant to any discussion about poverty and homelessness in America.
These findings were revealed in a study by the Homelessness Research Institute at the National Alliance to End Homelessness. The study was released shortly after President Obama rolled out his bold-but-necessary plan of ending veteran homelessness in five years.
M. William Sermons, Director of the Homelessness Research Institute, told BlackAmericaWeb.com that the factors driving disproportionate homelessness rates among minority veterans are the same as those causing disproportionate rates of homelessness of minorities in the general homeless population. "Some of the risk factors affecting African-American men are high unemployment rates (almost double that of whites) and highly disproportionate rates of discharge from prisons and the foster care system."
In a perfect world, race would no longer be a factor when discussing issues of socio-economic equity. But clearly, this is not the case. This new data exposes the complex and continued link between poverty and race in America, even among those who have worn the uniform. To address poverty, to end homelessness, we must confront these challenging issues directly.
Image: scanned
