O Homeless Brother

            There is a homeless crisis caused by the economy, rising house costs and lost jobs. Most attempts to help, have been hampered by irrational fear, indifference and economics

            While the problem is hotly debated in city meetings across the country, shelters and missions are filled to capacity and people wait on long lists to find anywhere to live. Instead of active compassion, the homeless are dismissed with worn cliches:  "These bums are a hopeless plague of thieving junkie locusts that leave garbage everywhere. Go out and get a job.  The next time you hear that ask them, would they hire a homeless person? How easy was it for you to get your job? Where can they get a full night's sleep, wear clean clothes and show up for employment on time while living on the streets? If giving the homeless a safe, healthy place to live seems extravagant, imagine wandering around downtown in pain or in severe weather without money or warm shoes and see how that feels.

            All the pleading for help and affordable housing also gets nowhere because: money. Cities rely on real estate tax revenues for services and, as the folks in Portland OR discovered, county officials tried to squeeze more revenue out of them by suddenly increasing the property taxes on "granny units". "Affordable housing" means it won't be profitable so to cities and developers so it's not encouraged as an investment.           

            The homeless would be off the streets if they had a safe place but many city governments are unwilling or unable to even provide space for tiny homes or camping. Elvis Summer, A well meaning activist in LA  built portable shelters for those on the streets only to have the city confiscate them with all the possessions inside.

     The claim by Councilor Llanos that they are "a safety hazard" is absurd given the alternative, of sleeping out in the open. He says they'd be better off taking advantage of official resources like shelters or housing vouchers. Obviously there aren't enough resources otherwise there wouldn't be a demand for the tiny houses. If officials were truly concerned, they would embrace this solution not dismantle it. They clearly don't care about the homeless. What's behind all this effort is the lack of taxes from tiny houses. We can not expect government to solve the problem when they have no incentive to do so.            

            The next tactic is criminalizing the homeless, which is spendy and doesn't work. In Oregon, the cost of jail is approximately $85 a day per person, or about $30,000 a year. Having people on the street varies from $25,000 to $80,000 depending upon the location. The cost of affordable housing in Portland is $85,000 to $250,000 per unit.  After doing the math, many cities have decided it's cheaper to build low rent apartments rather than having people living on the street or in jail/prison. Utah had a 67% drop in homelessness by giving the chronically homeless an apartment and a social worker to help them regain their life.

              Next up is ignorance and denial. "They chose to be homeless" is another way of saying  "it will never happen to me, so why should I care". Actually it could happen to any of us as many live one pay check away from eviction or foreclosure. 60% of Americans have less than $2,000 in savings for an emergency.

             We don't want the homeless around to remind us how close to the edge we are. "In reality, there are scary people in this shelter and it’s going to be located very close to lots of children."  Replace the shelter with a liquor, adult or gun store and you have the usual over reaction so common with NIMBY.

            "There will be trash, needles and waste if they live nearby," goes the angry objection. No, not if they have a home and are educated on how to be a good neighbor, not to mention the stability to get treatment for addiction or mental illness. Culturally, the are poor are seen as dangerous failures. Seeing them as a imagined threat is an excuse to justify a community's intolerance. Never mind that they are members of said community. The homeless are suspicious, paranoid and violent as a reaction to their harsh situation, not as a normal behavior. How would you behave if you were scorned, ignored or derided all the time?

            Once we get past our reflex fear and see these are human beings who are, for numerous reasons poor, jobless or ill, we can see that helping those less fortunate is the way to improve the wellness of the whole community here and now.

      Some cities are making a difference. Albuquerque and Little Rock hire the homeless to pick up garbage. They get paid, free lunch, and access to social services. Salt Lake City provides an apartment and counseling services and decreased chronic homelessness 67%. This is cheaper than the revolving ER / lock up policy currently being done.

      The solution is here if everyone cooperates but if profits are the only goal, if indifference and fear drive the narrative, then there is no incentive to help our fellow human beings have a warm, safe place to live.


homelessness, affordable housing, LA City Councilor Llanos, news

Homelessness, Elvis Summer,