This week in class we began with the jigsaw presentations of our required reading. Each group in class was assigned a chapter to read and present to each other. By doing this we were able to present the chapters how we understood it and present the key points of every chapter. The book went through various problems that organizations and the homeless people themselves face in a system that isn’t solving homelessness on a large level but on an individual one.  Our chapter mainly wrapped up every issue in the book, laid them out in a simply but efficient way. It then went into the individuals who work into those organisations and later how to solve homelessness itself.

Later in the week two groups presented their group B presentations. Both essentially were historical accounts of homelessness from its very beginning, the beginning of the United States (after the war of 1812 etc.) to modern day.

blamed racial discrimination, economic downturn and the inability to afford housing for modern homelessness. Our book went into further detail, specifically in New York. We saw how these people were living and the legislation that had to go into affect in order to see how homeless citizens got the housing they needed. There was few major cases that caused a major change in how these people were treated. Various civil rights groups and national advocacy was the reason that they were given the shelters and things they needed just to survive in that city on a daily basis.

This week in class we went over homeless counts and a speaker on Monday that was making a difference in our community. This man was actively working within the city system to make change for the homeless in the city of Redlands. Although met with numerous road blocks by the city council he is managing to get ideas into action. I didn’t realize how a city council can block projects by the community with a simple no because of one reason. The image of a city is that important,and but I wasn’t surprised it was prioritized over the welfare of other human beings. I live in Victorville and expect the same to happen,since it’s criminalizing how these people survive. The Skype call on Wednesday made that much more apparently by the method used to count these people. Knowingly having to avoid law enforcement and be sneaky about getting accurate counts was alarming. But his methods for getting those counts was very interesting to hear about,by using people in the community or are homeless make all the difference to get accurate counts. I’m glad I was able to hear both talks,it made me much more aware of how these people are going to get help.

This week our group presented “Tell them who I am” by Elliot Liebrow. It illustrated what women in the 1980’s endured while being homeless in the Washington DC area. These women suffered not only  physically, but emotionally. They live differently than we do,and forced to abandon values in order to survive. The problem lies in the communities that don’t support low in come people. All though the situations are different there is a similar outcome,they end up on the streets. By looking at the other books in class we were able to see the similarities that these people went through. They each had to change their life style in order to survive and deal with disappointment and sadness in their own unique ways. By understanding and being proactive about their situation we can find solutions outside of just forcing them to get out of their situation on their own. Even so,every situation requires funding, from multiple sources to lift these people because every situation is different,and not everyone wants to leave.  I understand the policy of forcing them out,but its not effective. The end goal should be to eliminate homelessness,not push them to other areas or policy that criminalize their forced lifestyle.

At the beginning of the week our task was to establish the cost of living on a $1600 income for a small family of three. Quickly we determined that without some form of public assistance the monthly income was impossible to live off of. Rent in the Redlands area alone averaged over $800, at least $400 for a small family to afford groceries, leaving $400 for every other category of spending. This family wouldn’t be able to afford food, clothing, health insurance, or car payments without substantially giving up another.  Our group relied entirely on getting WIC or food stamps to alleviate some of the financial burden. We learned that the current wages that the working poor are living on are much too low to be able to live somewhat comfortably.

This notion was further proven by our reading Tell Them Who I Am with multiple women in the shelters having full time jobs and still unable to afford any type of apartment in the area they lived. Many worked multiple in order to be able to save anything.

On Wednesday we watched a film in class that further gave insight to how these people live under the situation they’re under. I sympathized with these people greatly, they were treated poorly by the communities surrounding them and forced from the places they made their homes. Many weren’t considered for jobs because of their looks, and were only looked at solely because they were on camera. Even the city made propositions to criminalize them and the way they live, and many cities have. The city wasn’t trying to solve the problem, but simply push it onto someone else. I learned that it takes large communities to make change for these people, to address the issue of housing for these people. To at least get them off the street.

After reading and discussing Barbara Ehrenreich’s book, titled Nickel and Dimed: on Not Getting By In America, I had a new found sympathy for the people going through these types of situations every day. Similarly, I grew up poor, we couldn’t afford name brand shoes and everything I owned was used and from a swap meet, essentially a flea market. Being under the poverty line requires a different mindset, and a different form of surviving. Looking back, I never questioned why our family couldn’t afford certain things. My father was unable to take any days off work, in order to make ends meet. And although we have managed to escape it, I don’t take the privilege I’ve gained for granted. He couldn’t leave work early, it was money we desperately needed to pay the mortgage, and we were lucky enough to afford the one we have. These people who are stuck in the “trap” that is poverty rarely escape. We are stuck without the best that the world has to offer because of financial struggle. I understood the struggle these people went though, and although I was a child during that time, I remember what my parents went through every day to make we ate every day. Like I said, I couldn’t sympathize before, because all I ever thought about was how nice it was to not be them anymore. But I had to sit back and realize that it might as well been. If one decision wasn’t made my family could have stayed in the situation we were in, and that the one we didn’t have it as bad. Because at least we had healthcare, and a stable home environment. Working 40 hours a week won’t get you anywhere, especially out of poverty.