This week resulted in a number of perspectives on the homeless community.  Each book report brought to light the same message.  The homelessness community is not what we normally expect.  That we, as a society, have to remember that just because they live out on the street or in shelters that they are human too. They experience the same things as we do.  They have just been dealt a different and harder hand then we have.  The book that I read focused on the homelessness community of women who live in shelters.  Each woman experienced a different reason as to being there.  Each woman was either stuck in a cycle or an unfortunate incident resulted into becoming homeless.  The book made me reflect on a number of things.  It is easy for us to forget what is actually going on in the world.  The homelessness issue in this country seems to be something that is brushed under the rug.  It seems as if we try to hide the homelessness community rather than trying to figure out how to help.  There are those out there who are trying to make an effort in combating homelessness.  Their efforts should not go unnoticed.  We should, however, encourage more to realize the issue at hand.  The homelessness community needs help and sympathy.  They should not be seen as a stereotype.  Understanding their stories and trying to find ways in which we can help is the first step that we can take in helping the homelessness community. 

After reading the chapter, “Patterns of Homelessness,” from the book Braving the Street, I could not stop thinking about the section where it discussed homeless children. It described that the cause for homelessness among families was from family disruption during their economic crisis. This deeply affected the lives of the children. In school, they were reported being fatigued, could not concentrate, and had difficulties academically and socially. This caused them to have to change schools or fall behind. These problems for the children normally occurred once the family was forced to leave their homes.

I was shocked when the author wrote that in New Hampshire “schools often close their eyes to the paperwork required for school entrance (which can take time) in an effort to minimize further loss of school experience” (24). This explains that faculty and staff ignore the suffering of the students who are obviously struggling. It is as if schools do not want to take children out of classes so that they do not fall behind in school, but how is this aiding the children in any way? Some of these children may be calling out for help, but the faculty does not want to put in the effort to do the paperwork.

This makes me look back on all of my experience volunteering in classrooms. I wonder if I had noticed a tired child who obviously was struggling, but I did not consider what was going on in their lives outside of school. How many homeless children in school go unnoticed and are in dire need of help? How can teachers see these children every day and do nothing about it?

This article in the New York Times from yesterday grabbed my attention because currently in my capstone class we are reading a book about gentrification in the cities of New Orleans, San Fransisco, Detroit, and New York. Although the book, How to Kill a City does not explicitly talk in detail about the homeless populations in these cities, it certainly discusses the thousands of residents in these cities being displaced due to gentrification. The city of New Orleans was particularly interesting to me because its gentrification is a direct result of how the city chose to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. As a result, whole neighborhoods have been forced to relocate themselves in different cities and states. They can no longer keep up with the increasing housing costs, the growing charter school populations, or the trendy neighborhoods that increase the costs of all sorts of necessary goods. For those who have chosen to stay in New Orleans despite all of this, one can assume they are certainly living precariously.

This article concerns the still failing infrastructure in New Orleans, and how the city does not have the funds to fix everything itself. Although President Trump has identified this as a crisis, it does not appear that he plans to allocate many federal funds to the rebuilding of this city that is falling apart. Because of this, the city is being forced to use its own money to restructure itself. The article points out that this means money will be taken away from other sectors, including housing for homeless veterans. But on the other hand, if these infrastructure problems are not addressed, more and more neighborhoods will crumble when there is any sort of rain or extreme weather, perhaps leaving more individuals and families without homes. It seems like there is no easy answer as to how to fix this cycle.

https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/02/03/us/ap-us-trump-infrastructure-new-orleans.html

I’ve recently been wondering about how both the U of R in particular and other universities in general address the problem of homelessness whenever it spills into their domains for the following reasons: a) questions about increasing “security” because of the threat of “transients” have emerged in my GeoDesign Studio class, a course in which my peers and I are helping design the proposed North Star 2020 train development on the south side of campus, b) the way in which campus security responded to the man that wandered into the Armacost Library a couple weeks ago (which seemed like a reaction to the same vein of fear), and c) the fact that I saw a Public Safety officer yesterday who appeared to scold a homeless man that was collecting cans from the dumpster behind Bekins Hall.

Is our campus security especially concerned about the problem of homelessness in comparison to those of other universities/colleges? If so, does the U of R have a reason to have a heightened concern, given the way in which homelessness in perhaps more pervasive here? (That is not to say that I actually think homelessness is more pervasive here than any other place in the US—this is a nationwide/worldwide problem—I just think that the University could employ such an argument to justify their treatment of the unhoused when they come on campus.

In a way, one could argue that the condition of the unhoused in Redlands is quite serious in comparison to those of similar populations nationwide, given the closures of both the Blessing Center and the Salvation Army shelter…but to what end? Of course, rather than addressing the root of the problem (the need for shelter among the unhoused), entities that provide “security” in town seem to use said argument to justify keeping the U of R campus a sanctuary with a force field around its perimeter that zaps the unhoused whenever they penetrate its border.

To provide some context, my GeoDesign professor said that the UC Berkeley campus was full of unhoused people when he taught there…

I came upon a heartbreaking article on Twitter about photojournalist Ted Jackson and his search for ex-NFL player Jackie Wallace. Wallace played in two super bowls during his prime and was released from the Rams 30+ years ago. When Jackson first came in contact with Wallace, it was under a freeway overpass in New Orleans where Wallace was living. After leaving the NFL, he had become homeless and battled severe drug and alcohol addictions. The article highlights his recovery and success over the years and his failures once again as he gives in to his addictions. Wallace has not been seen since July of 2017.

This article made me reflect a lot on how we treat our athletes and it’s really worth the time to read. We put professional athletes on a pedestal when they’re in the continuous spotlight, expect them to perform at their highest capacity, and even bet our livelihoods on them, and then forget about them the moment the big game ends. To think that at one point, Jackie Wallace received thunderous applause as he played on Super Bowl Sunday and then was left alone and forgotten about is sad. This article shows how fragile life can be and how easy it is to succumb to temptation when life gets hard. For Wallace, it was the death of his mother and a cousin who introduced him to crack. For us, it could be anything. Homelessness and addiction do not go hand in hand, but they certainly compliment each other.

http://www.nola.com/living/index.ssf/2018/02/jackie_wallace_ted_jackson.html#incart_2box_nola_river_orleans_news

This week my group and I presented on the book Voices in America. The whole book was a compilation of interviews gathered from the homeless community of Portland, Oregon. Sisters of the Road, a nonprofit organization, thought it would be beneficial to share their stories and remind the public that the homeless are humans, just like us. They need help, just like us.

One story I remember well was of a woman discussing how she gets ticketed for doing things required by the human body. She gets ticketed for sleeping- she sleeps in the wrong place, but is not directed to a place where she can sleep. She gets ticketed for urinating in public- despite trying to do it secretly in an alleyway, where there are no other options, she must be very alert while going to the bathroom to not get caught by authorities. One man was cited for possession of shopping carts, and he owned them legally. He had receipts to prove he had not stolen them, but was cited anyway.

Hearing stories like these help you realize how looked down on the homeless are. People automatically assume they are up to no good or are breaking laws when in reality, they are just trying to survive. One man talked about how all he wants is to be clean, because it makes him feel better about himself and allows him the blend in with society more. We all get dirty, but not all of us are privileged with a shower.

Homelessness can happen to anyone- devastation knows no class and can effect us all.

This week in class we spent our time on group presentations listening to what books our peers had read in relation to homelessness. The book that stood out to me the most was “Homeless Mothers: Face to Face with Women and Poverty.” They started off the presentation with a video of a family with 6 children living in a hotel. They were living in a hotel because they were kicked out of the home they were renting due to the landlord not paying the mortgage and just taking their money. This is just another example of how no one plans on being homeless, but sometimes life takes a dramatic turn for the worst – especially when crooks are involved like this landlord. They then went on to discuss the different mothers in the story and the hardships they were facing. Most of them had/were in abusive relationships (usually multiple) and quite a few had multiple children. It was sad to listen to these women’ stories because I felt as though they were all trying to escape, but kept ending up back into an unhealthy cycle of abuse and drugs. I am glad that they were all able to find the author, Deborah Connolly, a social worker for help, but it makes me think of the women who are not as fortunate to have someone. I hope that they one day do find the person who will help them out of this cycle though. One final thought, there was one thing that really grasped my attention at the end of the presentation and that was when one of the mother’s said she just wants to hear her child laugh again. That broke my heart to hear that this mother isn’t asking for money or anything, but simply for her child’s laughter because a child’s happiness is the purest thing I think.

Viewing this documentary put homelessness into a different perspective for me.  It was hard for me to see because I have never seen homelessness in this light.  I never really seen how the homeless live on a daily basis.  Seeing how Taylor wanted to create some sort of change was hopeful that there is still a number of people who care enough to try to improve the homelessness issue.  Growing up, I was always told to stay away or ignore the homeless population.  It was hard to see the harsh words that people would say to describe this community because it was similar to things that I have heard around the community.  People would rather choose to ignore the problem rather than figuring out a way to solve it.  Even though Taylor did not win his campaign, what he showed was enough to show people that things need to change.  People should not be faulted for being poor.  I do not think they should be faulted or constantly ticketed for choosing to stay out on the sidewalk.  Since we are a culture of individuality and free choice if someone chooses to be homeless why are people trying to change it? If people are trying to get off the street why aren’t more of the shelters or programs more willing to be flexible with their rules/regulations in letting people in? The stereotype of the homeless community turns people away from seeing the fact that they are just like any other ‘normal’ people who choose to stay outside.

The film, Taylor’s Campaign, introduces the story of one homeless man who decides to actually fight for the rights that should already be given to the homeless community naturally as all humans deserve these rights. Throughout the film, the audience can visually see the life of the homeless throughout Santa Monica and how society throughout the city handles this type of “community”. The film portrayed the acts against feeding the homeless, implemented by their very own city’s council. How can homeless citizens continue to have the willpower to live when the city in which they reside in constantly dehumanizes them? The council’s defense against feeding the homeless was the act itself allowed the homeless community to gather together to receive food, thus creating a “disturbing” sight. Instead of the government creating policies to help these citizens get off the streets and into a safe living environment, the council attempts everything possible to get these “humans” as hidden from society as possible. Tourists do not want to go on a weekend getaway and be surrounded by the one community who cannot afford or even dream about experiencing a weekend getaway. This scene of the film truly opened my eyes to the fact that the majority of everyday society is aware about the homeless community, but instead of creating useful and practical policies, we decide to blame these individuals for doing something so bad in their lives that they end up alone and homeless. In reality these individuals experience multiple factors that could have led them into poverty, but who says society needs to automatically assume they deserve the life without constant food, water, shelter, and a safe sleeping environment?

Unfortunately, it seems like the number of organizations in the Redlands area that serve those living in poverty or who are homeless are decreasing rapidly. The first internship organization I was assigned seemed great. It seemed like it was inclusive, like it was serving a large amount of people, and was making a name for itself in the community. However, it just recently shut its doors and is now allocating its services and resources to other organizations in the area. As sad as it is to see a great nonprofit close down, what is even more sad is that it is not the only one. Just in the Redlands area alone there seems to be a recent decrease in the number of agencies providing services to the homeless. As we have talked about in class, Redlands and nearby San Bernardino are definitely not predominately wealthy communities. I think being on campus all the time disallows us from seeing the reality of the area we are living in. If places like even the Salvation Army are not able to stay open here, who is serving and helping the homeless and near-homeless? I have been thinking about this a lot lately, especially after watching the film in class on Wednesday. In the city of Santa Monica, there was only one shelter people could stay in, and one recourse center that would help them get jobs or housing. In places like Santa Monica, or the Greater Redlands area, there must be the need for such shelters and organizations, but yet they are barely able to stay open in large numbers. This seems to just fuel the discouraging cycle of homelessness and poverty.