Tag

social work

No Late Fees for Housing Referrals

By | Homelessness, The Race to End Homelessness | 2 Comments

When I wrote about my hope that this month’s Superbowl would be an uncharacteristically peaceful and inclusive one for the homeless population in New Jersey, I had no idea that the game would actually lead to finding housing for one youth experiencing homelessness. A young man who was spotted at the Seahawks celebration dressed in San Francisco 49ers garb inspired die hard SF fans to get the boy a ticket to an upcoming game. Upon learning the youth was actually a homeless ward of the state, fans raised almost $25,000 to support him.

San Franciso, while having some of the most generous football fans in the league, is also home to a revolutionary approach to homeless services – from inside its main library.

In what seems to be an ever increasingly expensive culture, there are few free places to spend long periods of your day without being asked to purchase a coffee or get off the bus at the next stop. Combined with their climate control and their access to books and internet resources, this makes libraries a desirable destination for many experiencing homelessness. This is well known not only by those who are homelessness, but by other library patrons and staff as well. Branches, often those in urban settings, that see a consistent homeless population visiting them, have approached the situation in very different ways.

In Summer 2012, Newport Beach public libraries put an end to this trend by banning anyone who “lacks personal hygiene.” Sleeping bags and blankets – even if carried in, not used on site – are also banned. Many other districts have similar policies or bans in effect.

The San Francisco Main Library is not among them. In 2010, this branch employed Leah Esguerra, a licensed social worker in the library five days a week. Much like Michelle Walsh, who calls Penn Station in Newark her office, Esguerra meets with individuals who are struggling with homelessness in a place they already visit regularly. She strikes up conversations, makes referrals, and aims to make calling security an option only in extreme circumstances, instead of just because someone is sleeping. Her program also employs formerly homeless individuals part time to help connect with those using the library and encourage them to seek help.

Since her start in 2009, Esguerra has helped more than 60 individuals find housing, and she and her staff – individuals who were once homeless themselves – have connected hundreds of people to services.

Demand for positions like Walsh’s and Esguerra’s exist because they can meet individuals experiencing homelessness in locations that are already popular for other reasons. The Department of Social Services – in most city’s, anyway – doesn’t offer free internet access of comfortable chairs for a few hours.  The success of each of these positions suggests that homelessness is not a problem we need to ban from public spaces, but that we can use these places to meet people where they already are, and help them find a better place to stay.

The Real Winners Aren’t Playing

By | Homelessness, The Race to End Homelessness | One Comment

The Super Bowl makes me a little nervous. I’m hardly a die-hard football fan (to be honest, my plans for this Sunday were based around getting myself the best chips and dip), but I know that the biggest game of the year means all eyes will be on Newark, New Jersey this weekend. When everyone is looking at your city, you want it to look its best, and that’s when it gets tempting for city officials and law enforcement to sweep the social problems of a city out of the way – at least until the camera crews leave town. That’s why I was concerned for the homeless individuals of New Jersey, who are in the middle of fighting for their lives amid freezing temperatures this week, just as the media begins to arrive in their home state.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that – so far, anyway – there has been minimal disruption of those that are experiencing homelessness in New Jersey. Based on the behavior of other cities in the past, those without housing in Newark are right to be nervous for their temporary home, but NFL and NJ Transit authorities claim there are no plans to disrupt homeless people. Mayor Luis A. Quintana has even mentioned plans to set up television sets at a local shelter so those experiencing homelessness don’t miss out on the big game this weekend.

Penn Station in New Jersey is open round the clock to ticketed passengers, and since an un-punched train ticket is valid forever, those experiencing homelessness see these as a ticket not to a train, but to shelter and a little sleep. The station guidelines state that the transit police cannot ask someone to leave unless they are breaking a rule. In Penn station, unlike in some places, simply “being homeless” does not count as breaking a rule.

Newark does more for its homeless population than ensuring they can see every touchdown. Michele Walsh, NJ Transit’s community intervention specialist, works to get shelter and services for those that live in Penn Station. She tries to engage those that spend their days and nights in the station, and helps them with everything from emergency shelter to obtaining birth certificates and state IDs. Her position, created by the Mental Health Association of Essex County and then-Mayor Corey Booker to engage those that live at Penn Station, can be slow going, she admits, but she reports that more than seventy five percent of the individuals she approaches work with her in some way.

Newark holds the distinction of being the first outdoor cold-weather Superbowl, but this won’t be the only memorable aspect of this year’s game. This city has the opportunity to show the world not how clean it can make its streets for television and visitors, but how humanly it can treat its people – especially those without housing.