"Get A Job!"

Many people think that the homeless should just "get a job". The homeless, especially in holding signs looking for money or work will be told this. However, it is very difficult for the homeless to get a job. I had been planning on writing an essay on this, but Steven Samra has done it for me! Check this out:

http://homelessness.change.org/blog/view/dont_be_homeless_get_a_job

The Injustice of the Inaugeration

An excellent article on "Treating Homelessness" found:
http://www.spotlightonpoverty.org/news.aspx?id=0b40f7e1-834a-4a73-b8ac-91ea94362460&refer=rss

Treating Homelessness for the Long Term, By Scott Schenkelberg, Executive Director, Miriam’s Kitchen
A Problem That Can’t Be Swept Away


"Ironic” isn’t a term often used to describe the recent inauguration of Barack Obama. But it was, in my opinion.


Despite the event’s prevailing message of diversity and inclusiveness, there was one population that was left out: the homeless.


To ensure a safe inauguration, many of DC’s streets were closed, fences were erected around the Mall, and security sweeps were made throughout the city. While these measures were an inconvenience for many of us who work in the nation’s capital, they were devastating for the homeless men, women, and children who call those areas home. The places where they sleep — parks, bridges, and streets downtown — were swept “clean” to ensure security; but, perhaps more insidiously, they were swept to present a “clean” image of America’s capital to rest of the world: one that doesn’t include desperate poverty and grinding need.


These men and women were forced to abandon their homes and belongings in a way that none of us with more conventional homes would have tolerated. While we may not like thinking of their homes as the city’s streets and parks, they are. And they were ordered to leave those homes and spend the night before inauguration in a shelter.


Some might say that this seems like humane, if not generous, treatment for folks who don’t receive this kind of service every day. The city’s ten shelters are not normally open all day. And the city doesn’t usually provide free storage for men and women who have no place else to keep their worldly possessions. But they did for inauguration. And perhaps did it in an effort to hide the image of DC’s growing homeless population.


Just like any of us have our routines, so too do those who are homeless. Where they sleep, where they eat, and where they go for services are all part of their routine. But those are a much bigger part of their lives than just being a routine, they are methods of survival. By uprooting our homeless neighbors from their homes and taking away their possessions, we negatively impacted their lives—and their chances of surviving.


This may all seem perplexing—the city gave them shelter, warmth, and food during one of the coldest days of the year. How does that negatively impact them? On its face, it all seems fair. But when you consider that many of these men and women were shipped off to shelters on the outskirts of the city, that shuttles to and from the shelters were suspended on the day of the Inauguration, and that they had no access to their belongings, it begins to take on a different appearance.


Unfortunately, these injustices aren’t limited to inauguration day. They happen every day in cities across America. The “cleansing” of the city on inauguration day is emblematic of the little consideration that is given to the trials and tribulations of people living on the streets. Rather than looking at them as a temporary blight on the American cityscape, it is time we addressed them as a population that isn’t going away.


We need to lower barriers to services for the homeless and reach out to those in need, instead of waiting for them to come to us and making it difficult for them to receive services when they finally find us. Both the expunging of the homeless from downtown DC during the inauguration and the persistent treatment of homelessness as a temporary crisis with a fixed solution is insidious because it allows us to become complacent. We can’t think of homelessness as temporary; we have to think long term.


We here at Miriam’s Kitchen believe that much like hospitals serving sick patients, agencies like ours serving homeless men and women will continue to exist. They will have to. As advocates for our guests, we believe that homelessness is not going away. Therefore, we need to focus on providing the best services for those who experience homelessness on a regular basis.


The thought that homelessness isn’t a solvable problem will rankle many who are very well intentioned. Certainly, there are things we can do to help alleviate many of the problems associated with homelessness. Cities and organizations can invest more in permanent housing, make mental health and addiction treatment services more readily available, and provide basic income supports to those living on limited means. However, there are two strikes against ending homelessness through these reforms—the laws surrounding how those with persistent mental illness are engaged in treatment and the ongoing cycle of homelessness that those who find themselves newly homeless inevitably fall into.


The current laws surrounding how those who have severe and persistent mental illness are engaged in treatment are in part born out of the civil rights movement. Concurrent with the closing of state mental hospitals, patients’ rights also changed to rightly allow patients a say in their treatment. These laws counteracted the abuse that many patients faced in a mental health system that effectively held them as prisoners throughout their lives. Now, unless you are endangering yourself or others, you cannot be treated against your will. This high litmus test comes with a caveat, though: those who are held forcibly may only be held for 72 hours, after which an administrative hearing is held to determine whether the patient is meeting this standard for hospitalization. In three days, many patients have stabilized to a point that they no longer meet this standard, and they are released. For many of these patients, this means they are released to the streets. Unfortunately, this often begins the cycle of moving from hospital to street to jail and back again. And no matter how well constructed our safety net is for these patients, some are going to fall through it.


So what can we do?


By treating homelessness as a permanent need rather than a temporary crisis, we can build lasting institutions to serve these men and women. What are needed are downtown spaces that aggregate numerous services for those who are homeless. Instead of asking those with the least ability to travel to go numerous places for services, we should be working to consolidate services and make them geographically accessible. Service providers of all stripes—mental health professionals, addictions counselors, attorneys, medical doctors, job counselors, public benefits agencies, life skill coaches, and housing providers should all be available in these centers to meet people where they are rather than making them travel.


Permanent service centers such as this also allow people to develop trust in service providers. Creating a warm and inviting environment with competent professionals and caring volunteers goes a long way to convincing vulnerable people to take the next step to recovery. It is only through long-term commitment — not measured in weeks and months, but in years and decades — that we can start to deal with the persistent needs of those who are homeless.


The inauguration swept away homelessness in DC for a few days, but it is time we faced the reality that homelessness isn’t a temporary problem with a fixed solution. It is a fixture in American society that deserves long-term solutions for long-term needs.


Scott Schenkelberg is Executive Director of Miriam’s Kitchen, a homeless services provider in Washington, DC. Each year, they provide healthy meals, comprehensive case management services, therapeutic groups, and transitional housing to more than 4,000 homeless men and women


For more information, please visit www.miriamskitchen.org

What Is Community?

A community is a self-sustaining entity
A community is a collection of different ideals that coalesce into a whole
A community is an “us” that lives together
A community doesn’t always live in harmony, but issues are resolved for the sustaining of the whole
A community is usually recognized by other communities as being a unit—but even if it is not, it does not negate its viability.

The homeless are not a “problem”. The homeless are a community.

I’m not talking about the homeless who are out on the street for a month, desperately seeking a way out and then getting a home to their great relief. I’m talking about the chronic homeless, who seek to sustain in a population that denies their right to survive. They are denied who they are because of the prejudices that are forced on them. The labels “addict”, “lazy”, “violent”, “irrational” that are less likely accurate to an individual person, but is applied to the group as a whole without remorse end up causing the homeless to hate himself for being a part of what he is not.

The chronic homeless are not just outcast, they are an outcast community. The homeless have gate-keepers, who take the newbies under their wing, guiding them to the methods of survival on the street. They have leaders that keep the peace and determine the limits and allowances of their community. They have loves and hates, dramas and conflicts, resolutions and truces, hopes and goals just like all other communities.

Although the homeless are at the center of their community, they are not the only members. At the outskirts of this community, one foot in, one foot out, are the middle class servers of the community. They offer food, clothes, showers, AA meetings, sermons, temporary housing and many other services. These charity givers have different purposes, and have different impacts on the community. Most of them do their service, but don’t really want to connect to the community out of personal preference or even fear. Many of them have relationships with some of the community, but only out of professional goals, due to their job. A very few actually make the full step into the community and have personal relationships with the homeless. These are the bridges, the ones who see the community for what it is and who try to communicate this vibrancy to those who live in fear of the community.

The community also has its enemies. The city leaders who deny the existence of the community, and only see the homeless as non-citizens, roadblocks to the way of life they are trying to achieve. The police who move camps on, telling the homeless to leave their city. The young people who attack the helpless, beating up and even burning the homeless who aren’t on their guard. Those who take it upon themselves to throw away the camps of the homeless, including their tents, sleeping bags and personal items that cannot be replaced. The mutual anger at these enemies can also sustain unity, just as every other community.

I deeply regret what the community is not allowed. They are religious but not allowed a church, for they do not have the land in which to have one. They are hard workers but not allowed to be self-sustaining, because no one sees them as working unless they become a part of the community of employed. They are proud but not allowed to be respected because they are outcast. They are moral but not allowed to be legal because they are by definition criminals.

The worst of all, is that, for the most part, the homeless receive their community definition defined by the stereotypes of the threatened community—the middle class. They see themselves as a community of addicts, of the lazy, of the worthless. Not because the community fits the definition—almost everyone they know are exceptions to the rule of the stereotype. But because everyone believes of themselves what they hear. No matter how untrue it is.

Excellent Point

This post is from a chronically homeless person, whose blog "The Homeless Guy" I highly recommend. Check it out:
http://thehomelessguy.blogspot.com/2009/01/dont-panic.html


Don't Panic.

Nothing could be more true. Many of you may be familiar with that bit of advice from the very popular book, "The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy." That story is a most improbable one, just as becoming homeless is also improbable, though admittedly possible. "The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy" is a story of homelessness. The story starts with the destruction of planet Earth, which would prompt most readers to ask, "Now what?"

And so a person finds himself homeless. His world, as he knew it, is completely gone. This would cause many people to freak out. Although freaking out would be completely understandable, it doesn't help. So, whatever you do, when you become homeless, don't panic. Millions of people have been, and have overcome, homelessness before you. The way out is clear enough, though perhaps a relatively difficult task.

According to the most reliable sources, at any one time there are just under one million homeless people in the United States. But those sources also say that about 3 million people experience homelessness at one point or another in a given year. Doing the math, this means that the average homeless experience lasts about 3 to 4 months. For the majority of people, homelessness is a short term event that they experience only once in their lives. If you're about to become homeless, just know that "this too will pass." Don't Panic.

The Working Poor

I was asked on a survey about my experiences with the working poor. This was my response:

How much space do you have?

I have been working poor since 1997 when I quit my job and started living on donations. However, my children have never gone hungry, even one meal, nor have they had to sleep on the street. God has provided for us, and now even a house and our daily food, although we often eat food from dumpsters-- but not filthy food.

I have seen people who don't want to beg and so they look for cans to recycle. They may make 30 dollars a day for working five hours in independent recycling.

I know of some people who work for phone sales. They get hired in one place, work for a few weeks or months, get laid off and then they have to look for work again. They never get enough to get an apartment.

I know of others who are on disability at about 500 or so dollars a month. They try to work as often as they can, but their physical or mental disabilities don't allow them to work for long, so they soon have to quit or they get fired. Eventually they find another job.

People who live on the street all want to work. Everyone is looking for work to do. But they have mental or physical or social limitations that don't allow them to work as long as they would like. I know of some people who look for work, but then they have an attack from their mental illness, and they are unable to work for two days to a week after that. They can't hold down a job like that.

What people on the street and some folks on disability need is work that will be flexible with their situation. Work that will allow them to take off and who will help them to fill out the necessary paperwork. Not just a day labor place, but a social assistance project that gives people work as they are able to work so they can make more income than they currently get-- even if they don't have enough for an apartment.

Gentrification and the Homeless

Gentrification doesn't have to mean kicking the homeless out of their outdoor homes, but it almost always does. After all, the name of the game is "beautification" and "improving the real estate value" and the homeless are unwitting enemies of those shining values.

When my apartment building in Rockwood was being "cleaned up" on the first day the new owner took ownership, he gave me and my family a thirty day notice, because the homeless people we had visiting us in our apartment (not sleeping around our apartment, mind you) wasn't good for the "work I am doing" as he put it.

The fact is, the homeless are seen as non-enitities, non-existant, or persona-non-gratia by property owners and developers. And those who work with or defend the homeless are simple nuisances.

What a wonderful day it will be when the poor of the world can kick the developers out of their homes for being compassionless!

Church Arrests Homeless

An article from the Associated Press:

November 11, 2008

CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Even a church cannot be a home to the homeless.

Police were called to First Christian Church in Corvallis recently to cite homeless men for drinking in public and camping on the property.

Although church officials have been tolerant of homeless men in the area for months, their patience had worn thin by Friday night, when a homeless man became combative.

Assistant City Manager Ellen Volmert said Monday the church requested targeted police enforcement in an Oct. 28 letter.

The church has attracted homeless people because it provides free meals, and because it gave permission for a few disabled transients to sleep there temporarily during the summer.

But Pastor John Evans said the property can't become a homeless camp.

It is true that most churches can't be a homeless camp. Most churches aren't prepared to deal with the arguments from the neighbors, and they wouldn't want to be responsible for the homeless who have substance abuse problems.

But is the answer calling the police? Can't the church deal with the problems that they invited themselves? Honestly, if you invite some responsible homeless to be security, many of the problems would be resolved.

When you get the police involved, you can actually be inviting more problems. See this story on http://www.nowheretolayhishead.org/fearofthehomeless.html

Again, Stealing One's Home

 

This man lost his home and all his property without prior notice. He came back and wowzer! his life was gone, and all he got was this stupid piece of paper.

To read more, check out this article by Portland Mercury reporter, Matt Davis:
http://www.portlandmercury.com/news/without-notice/Content?oid=837161

Government Stealing Her Home

 

This woman lost her home-- her car-- to the police and to a towing company. To read how a beuracracy can take a person's livelihood, read Matt Davis' article:

http://www.portlandmercury.com/news/towing-the-line/Content?oid=899984

Stuff I Learned From the Homeless

1. God will provide to anyone who asks Him for help

2. Money isn’t necessary, meeting our needs are—and these two things are almost never the same

3. We all have mental weaknesses, and to be a benefit to others, we have to recognize those weaknesses and find ways to sidestep them.

4. We ignore social rules when we feel we need something. Thus, it is better to determine to lessen our list of “needs”

5. When we are too busy, we don’t have time to do what God wants of us

6. Our society requires too much of us for basic necessities. On minimum wage, 40 hours of work a week isn’t enough for a place to live, food and toiletries. For some, it is better to live on the street rather than be enslaved to impoverished employment.

7. There are basic needs we should provide for everyone, no matter how bad they are: food, water, clothing, basic hygiene, a place to go to the bathroom, basic shelter, protection from extreme weather. If we have the ability to provide these needs, yet fail in this, whether the one in need is good or evil, lazy or hard-working, crazy or sane, loving or bitter, then we, who are in authority, are the worst people who have ever lived.

8. We can make excuses to torture people, if we think they are “bad” enough. We will think it is okay to steal people’s possessions, to take away their sleep, to starve them, to take away their meager shelter, to deprive them of their sanity, to make them fear for their lives, simply because they live a lifestyle that we consider inappropriate.

9. An authoritative moral cop with the ability to punish is bad for any society. They end up punishing not only criminals, but anyone who is feared, even if there is nothing to fear.

10. No one is an island—we all need others. Those without others go insane. (Not enough just to read John Donne and Thomas Merton-- got to experience it, too)

11. Everyone works to meet their needs. Some work in a job. Some recycle cans. Some walk long distances and stand in lines for disability or a free meal. Some hold a sign in poor weather conditions for handouts. The real question is: what work does God have in store for us?

12. Shelter or food or clothing is not the most basic need. Faithful companionship is.

13. How to dumpster dive. Important life skill everyone should know.