Tag

shelter

Inside Out

By | Homelessness, The Race to End Homelessness | 5 Comments

Growing up, my mom had a framed print on the wall that proclaimed “It takes a village to raise a child.” Since we lived in suburban Rhode Island, which can hardly be considered a village, this confused me. When I walk around Baltimore City, it may seem like even less of a village, but I know now that a “village” can exist in a suburb, a city, or even hidden in the woods. It all depends on the people that call that village their own.

Despite its urban setting, many Baltimoreans wake up and see forest surrounding their homes. The woods of this city are the home to dozens of individuals without traditional houses. Photographs by Ben Marcin reveal the wide range of these dwellings – some are simple tarps, while others boast clotheslines and home gyms. This is not a phenomenon unique to Baltimore. Many cities actually have far more developed groups that live outdoors. Tent City, a Steven Cantor documentary, shows the mini society that exists in the woods of Nashville, and the people that prefer the outdoors to the shelter system. It is not uncommon for these makeshift cities to have their own rules or guidelines, and for neighbors to work together for protection, or to build some of the more elaborate shelters that exist outside.

Are the shelter systems failing the populations they aim to serve? What would draw a person into the woods rather than sleep in a shelter bed and utilize heat, indoor plumbing, regular meal service, and daily shower accommodations ?If we really think about it, there are plenty of reasons, and the decision to stay outside is different for each individual. These include fear, not wanting a record in the social services system, freedom from rules, or not wanting to be separated from one’s partner or immediate family (as most shelters only accommodate single adults).

Have you ever had a roommate? Have you ever been annoyed by something your roommate did or said? Now multiply that by 10 roommates. Or 30. Or 200, depending on the capacity of your local shelter. Shelter life and tent living are drastically different. When you are outside, you might have a few neighbors, and not many people know where you are. Living outside allows you to choose the people with which you surround yourself, a privilege that usually disappears when someone becomes homeless. Shelter life means living with strangers.

Respecting both privacy and personal space is crucial to the well being of all people. The prevalence of a tent community is not the markings of a city that is failing its homeless population. In Baltimore, individuals can receive services at many shelters or drop-in centers without staying nights at the program. It is important that we allow these individuals the right to choose what services they want. This practice is important to allow people the space they need to survive, and the power to chose their own village.

Leaving the Next Generation Outside

By | Homelessness, The Race to End Homelessness | No Comments

Yesterday, October 10th, marked the third annual observance of World Homeless Day, and many homeless youth in our country’s capital city spent the holiday outside. Since shelter staff members are not considered essential, Washington D.C.’s only youth housing program and drop-in center has been forced to downsize during the government shutdown. 

Forty-six staff members at Sasha Bruce Network, located in Capital Hill, were furloughed this week, and the program had to end its tutoring, job training, and HIV education/ prevention programs. The organization has managed to keep shelter beds open for the time being, but they do not know how long they can maintain their work without government dollars.

Other youth-centered programs are already being forced to close their doors, leaving youth vulnerable and with nowhere else to go. Even beyond Washington, agencies dependent on governmental money are nervous each day that the shutdown continues. As the temperature starts to dip, so do the bank accounts for many social service programs. Not unlike their clientele, many small organizations operate on a budget with little room for error. A non-profit is not created in order to rack up savings in a bank, so a freeze on funding — even a temporary one — can be devastating. Twenty-five transitional houses were waiting on bridge funding after a grant expired September 30th, but now they do not know if or when they will see that money. One program in Arkansas has already had to downsize its programming, and others worry they will have to do the same.

Traditional shelters will not accept individuals under the age of 18, so youth without a safe place to go must seek specific programs that can meet their needs. On the streets, unaccompanied homeless youth are at an increased risk for physical violence compared to adults, but this is a resourceful demographic. Without homeless shelters as an option, youth will frequently turn to breaking and entering or selling themselves in exchange for a place to sleep. Youth centers provide a crucial service to an underserved population, but not this week.

On the holiday known as “World Homeless Day,” youth education and health programming was suspended, leaving crime and risky behavior as some of the only remaining options for this generation. The youth programs in this country are doing extraordinary work to support our youth — when they are able to operate. It is crucial that these programs be restored so that young people experiencing homelessness can resume tutoring programs and job training in safe places, and one day focus their energies not on survival, but on on creating a future without youth homelessness.

Proceed Directly to Jail: Do Not Pass Downtown

By | Homelessness, The Race to End Homelessness | No Comments

Lawmakers in Columbia, South Carolina, are worried about you. Yes, you — even if you don’t live there. They’re worried you won’t want to visit them. They’re worried if you do visit, you won’t patronize their businesses. They’re worried that if you do visit and you try to buy something, you’ll be afraid to get out of your car. It turns out Columbia city officials are much more concerned about you — a potential visitor — than about some people who currently reside in the city. In order to protect you, the city council passed a plan to outlaw homeless people from the downtown area.

Richard Blasser, a business owner in Columbia explained that the homeless “scare people.” To quell the scariness, City Council put an end to homelessness, just not in the way service providers and social justice groups might have hoped. There was no Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness used, no input gathered from service providers or people experiencing homelessness. Instead, City Council member Cameron Runyan wrote a plan on his own, a provisional version of which was approved by the council, and which will be reviewed in full in September.

It is now illegal to be homeless in Columbia. Anyone found committing the crime of homelessness in the downtown area will be asked if they would like to be transported to the city shelter, the city jail, or if they would like to leave town (and as appealing as it might sound to leave a city as intolerant as this one, there is no assistance provided for this option). Since the city shelter contains 250 beds, it is unclear where the remainder of the city’s estimated 1,500 homeless individuals should sleep.

By trying to become a thriving economic center, the Columbia City Council has placed their city last in the race to end homelessness. Michael Stoops, from the National Coalition for the Homeless, even awarded the plan with the title of “most comprehensive anti-homeless measure that [he had] ever seen proposed in any city in the last 30 years.”

At the same time, Interim Police Chief Ruben Santiago seems unwilling to let his city lose this race so easily. Santiago opposes the police involvement proposed by the plan. City Manager Teresa Wilson has also expressed confusion in regards to implementing the proposal, and has not yet allocated police to enforce its rules. While Santiago and Wilson are still in talks with the City Council, Santiago stands committed to the rights of Columbia’s homeless. He has stated that he and his team are not about to coerce people into jail because homelessness is not a crime.

In Columbia, Chief Ruben Santiago is doing more to change his city for the better than the City Council, and others can learn from his admirable stance and follow his lead. The ideas of the Columbia City Council may not be law everywhere, but these baleful attitudes exist across the country. May every city be lucky enough to also have a voice protecting these supposed “criminals,” because only then can it move forward in the Race to End Homelessness.