A little over a month ago, New York’s governor Andrew Cuomo gave an order to  “compel the police, state agencies and social service providers to seek out and in some cases forcibly move homeless people to shelters when the temperature falls below 32 degrees.”  I found the article to be of particular interest, primarily because it deals with the idea of criminalizing homelessness, and using police force to try to combat the issue.

The first thing that angered me about Governer Cuomo’s claim was that he said that it was “natural human instinct”  to not want to stay outside in 32 degree weather, yet he still ordered police to move the homeless, and use force if necessary.  While getting people out of the cold should be a priority, it should also be mentioned where they are being taken to.  The shelters, as the article mentions briefly, don’t really “shelter” as much as they “endanger.”  Once inside the shelter, the homeless are more susceptible to theft and assault, and are put in a hostile environment.

The one’s making the policies regarding homelessness and putting forth these orders truly don’t know what it is like to be homeless.  They probably don’t know the dangers that are present inside these shelters.  I can also believe that the Governor, city councilman, and mayors do not consult with homeless people on the streets when they make these policies.  Perhaps we should talk to the people the policy is affecting before we make the policy itself.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/05/nyregion/questions-over-cuomos-order-on-homelessness.html?_r=0

People mess up. They do bad things sometimes. The unlucky few that get caught, if that bad thing is bad enough, get sent to jail or prison. But a lot of these people that mess up and commit a crime are people just like you and I, and they deserve to be treated that way. There are over 2 million people in lockup right now. 2 million US citizens behind bars who when they are released back into the real world will have to where to go, no one to turn to and no services to lean on. Because we as a country have deemed them “unworthy” of public services such as welfare, food stamps, and even getting a job. They aren’t even given back the basic right to vote or to get a drivers license. They are stripped of their voice and of their ability to survive in society (Jones, Sabrina).

But who are we (the citizens on the outside) to decide who is “worthy” of our help? How can we make that distinction? Most people who end up in prison end up there because they had nowhere else to turn, so they did what they needed to do to survive. So it is not fare to judge someone by the crime they commit. Because not all people who break the law are criminals. I could honestly say that I know more bad people who aren’t locked up than I do who are. So how is it fair to deny people who just were released from lock up the resources they need to get back on their feet? How are they supposed to start again if no one gives them a hand? Because if we don’t give them a hand then they will result to what they know how to do, and most likely that will put them back behind bars.

So lets stop this. Stop the labeling, stop the exiling and stop the judgment. Everyone deserves another chance at life, and we as a government should support that chance, not take it away.

Reference: Prisoners of the War on Drugs   By Sabrina Jones, Ellen Miller-Mack & Lois Ahrens

How helpful is the help that is being offered?

This is the question that I tried to answer as I stood outside of a boba shop in San Bernardino County. A young man approached me, who will remain anonymous throughout this post. He asked me and everybody else going in and out of the establishment for financial help. The young man was hoping to accumulate enough money to be able to put himself up in a motel room for the night. However, I recall when I was being trained to volunteer, to refrain from giving money to the homeless. They suggested I point them in the right direction for them to be able to get the help they needed. This meant letting them know of certain shelters and organizations that have the potential to offer them help.

Stuck between giving him the money that I didn’t have and walking away, I offered that man a cigarette. He denied. He thought, “if people saw me standing out here with a cigarette in my mouth, they would think twice. They would wonder how I would spend it.”

Before I could ask him, he told about the fear he had about going to the nearest shelter not too far from where we were. Instead of feeling used by some of the people at the shelter for drugs, he was willing to spend $82 for one sheltered night in a motel.

This particular experience reveals the presence of flaws in the help that is being offered to those in need of help and are homeless. If individuals are being steered away from one of the only hands available to help due to fear, where do they have left to turn for help?

Do you know anyone that is homeless or has ever been homeless? I know people that have been homeless, my best friend was homeless when were in high school and he had no place to stay because his mom kick him out of his house. He came and lived with me because he had no place to go and didn’t really have any family. I called him a couple days to go to ask him how everything is going and he said it’s a struggle he is still moving from place to place stuff but after our conversation we had he told me that I made a huge difference in his life and that he wouldn’t know what he would do with out me. That brought a tear to my eye and made me think about how fortunate I am to have a household above my head and not really have to worry about much.

Going onto another topic that really caught my attention as we left class the other day when were talking about just the struggle of being homeless and about welfare. We talked about how people that when they get out of prison or jail that they are automatically denied welfare and aid for them to live , which honestly sucks because I feel like everyone should be given a chance to make stuff right in their life and not be rejected based off a couple life decisions. Like what are people getting out of prison supposed to do if they are rejected from everything they are most likely going to rob and steal just to get by but even then they get caught and go back into the system. I know some friends that are in prison and have been in and out of there since they were 15 just because they don’t have to worry about were their next meal is going to come from or were they are going to stay for the night, one of my friends told me it’s a struggle in jail but it’s a different struggle than being on the streets and he would rather take the jail struggle over anything any day. I sucks to see your friends go through stuff like this but its life and all we can do is try to make a change no matter how drastic it is anything helps.

Yesterday, February 13th, in Los Angeles Chinatown the dragon parade was hosted in honor of Chinese New Years. This is the year of the Fire Monkey who’s character is ambitious and adventurous, but irritable. The monkey’s character was essentially synonymous with surroundings of Chinatown, filled bustling bright blood red streets flashed by my eyes as the dragons floated by. The image created was beautiful- the neighborhood was packed and morale was high. And the lack of space and desire for authentic dim sum made me irritable.

Families were everywhere and the demographic was scattered- the difference night and day compared to ‘typical’. I wanted to see typical, I wanted to see who really occupied the streets of Chinatown. I did not want to forget that the majority of people (asian and latino descent) who are residents of the Chinatown area lived on annual incomes of $22,754 six years ago.

I did not want to forget that homeless people line the streets- but I could not ignore my reality and my blindness to the true brutality. The truth was sheltered, covered, replaced with ambition and adventure. There was a makeshift mart made of various vendors selling knock-offs of clothing brands, five shirts for ten dollars. Extending the line of poverty- working the system to buy, sell, and waste more. The cycle being perpetuated threw me to a further spiral- dim sum the only cure.

Our group scattered to a hole-in-the-wall recommended by an old local Chinese lady.

The dim sum was super- tasted just like it should, with a price that matched wonderfully. Fortunately or unfortunately, do to a ten dollar minimum on card purchases I loaded boxes with ten dollars worth of Chinese dim sum. Obviously unable to devour all deliciousness in one sitting, and having had made eye contact with a homeless man sitting in a wheelchair I decided to ask my friends who was willing to give up their food.

Without hesitation all of my friends donated to the food box we were about to present this man. I confidently walked over to him and presented him with the box of food, “Hi sir, this box of food is for you, there are some dumplings and bread that will last and I would love for you to have it.” He looked at me, smiled, thanked me, and refused the food.

I did not question him but smiled in response, said thank you and wished him a good day. I forgot to consider all that comes with being homeless and the obstacles one must face while homeless. Mainly and particularly for this case- the difficulties of finding a restroom as a disabled and unkept homeless man.

I recently saw a post on social media, of people congratulating the “heroics” of a cop helping out a homeless woman, so I sought to find another article about it. There was to be a snow storm to hit Massachusetts, when the police department received a call at a Walmart about a woman in distress. After arriving and assessing the situation the cop on the call found out that the woman was in fact homeless and hadn’t eaten in days. The cop took it into his hands to buy food for her and help with paying and finding a hotel room, for her to ride out the storm in. The police department, took a photo of the exchange and later posted on Facebook to share what their own had done; and since then has been shared and viewed thousands of times.
For me, this brings up many concerns, but the main one is the cold. What are the ways in which homeless protect themselves from the cold?
I personally am so cold when the temperature drops below around 70 degrees, from there I have to have enough to cover up or have a heater right next to me. Here in this case the weather is dropping below 32 degrees, since there is snow, but is probably even lower. With the homeless typically outside, how do they stay warm? Sure, some might be able to go into shelters, but many shelters close at a specific time or only allow so many people. Or those who typically make enough money to buy some form of room for the night, what if they couldn’t make enough money because of the storm and then will be kicked out. So what can they do?

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/massachusetts-cop-helps-homeless-woman-food-shelter-before-storm/

The reading assigned for this week, which was chapter two of Braving the Street by Glasser and Bridgman, explained the patterns of homeless individuals. The chapter begins by asking, “Who are the homeless?” I find this interesting because before taking this course, I though I knew exactly who the homeless were. I used to believe that the homeless were drunks and addicts, crazy or just plain lazy. I believed that they were nothing more than lazy drunk men and women. However, now that I am five weeks into this course, I realize that homeless individuals cannot be generalized nor stereotyped, because they are humans, and each person has their own backgrounds and experiences. Yes, it may be the case sometimes that they are addicts or alcoholics, but there are also people who fell into homelessness purely because of unfortunate circumstances. And as went went over in our class discussion today, there are many circumstances that can cause homelessness. Trauma, divorce, loss of job or home are some just to name a few.The chapter went on to explain the statistics of those living in homelessness, and the authors found that most homeless people are single white men. The authors explained that women, children, and individuals with mental illnesses also account for a portion of the homeless population. What really intrigued me while reading was learning about homeless youth, and how unfortunate it is that there are people my age or younger living on the streets. It leads me to ask how do these youth become homeless, and what kind of aid or help is there for young adults and minors? And are they more likely to be homeless in their adult lives?

This past weekend I came across a documentary about a man in Oakland who collects illegally dumped furniture and materials, and builds miniature homes for homeless individuals. He is able to build one home a day at no cost. These miniature homes made from materials found on the street give people a safe, dry, and respectable place to call their own. However, with this being one of the many videos I have seen floating around Facebook with individuals doing the exact same thing, it rings up the question of where these miniature homes can be placed. Homeless individuals are subjected to move where they live within a moments notice of police or greater authority telling them, so what would a homeless person do if they had to move their miniature home? Could they even manage to move their miniature home? Could permits possibly be given out for these new tiny homes?
Similarly in Seattle, a tiny house village just opened consisting of 14 tiny homes with access to a building with toilets and showers. This tiny house village is located on a piece of land owned by a church and will cost a total of ninety dollars of month to live there. While tiny homes aren’t a solution to the bigger homelessness problem, it sure is a creative and interesting way to help get some homeless people off the streets.

Check out both links and tell me what you think about tiny houses!

A Big-Hearted Man and His Calling to Build Tiny Houses for Oakland’s Homeless

http://www.kiro7.com/news/seattles-first-tiny-house-village-homeless-open-we/40000629

Have you ever volunteered? If so what have you done? I had the opportunity this morning to volunteer my time at Redlands family services. This is something I will continue doing these next couple of weeks. Today being my first day I got to experience the clothing room and if you haven’t ever been to thrift store they can be kind of crazy and messy sometimes. This was no different; there were stacks of clothing everywhere, which was very frustrating to say the least.

After one hour of hanging and organizing clothes the customers started to arrive. This lightened the mood up because they were so grateful of what they were able to take and all of the behind the walls things we could offer for them, specifically if they had babies.

The process of them receiving the clothes was interesting to me. Each person is allotted fifteen minutes to shop around then they much check out. They are also allowed to take fifteen items per family member they have along with one pair of shoes for each person. They are allowed to come in for clothes every two plus weeks. When they enter someone working takes there slip, which has family member information and when the checkout the number of clothing pieces they take is counted and recorded. There could be faults in this, but to me it seemed pretty reasonable and would not lead to many issues.

If you have never volunteered your time I highly encourage you to do so. It can open up your train of though to think in a way you may not have previously. These people brightened my mood and helped me realize I have so much and cannot get upset over small things.

Last week’s book presentations demonstrated the difficult life that homeless people live in the streets. The way in which they are constantly degraded by citizens, police officers and people in homeless shelters. Initially I had a strong belief that every organization was there to help and support people who willingly showed up to their agency. After hearing what my classmates had to say, I realized that sometimes asking for help is not enough. That people in these agencies believe that only they know what is best.

 
This weekend, news articles from the Bay Area made me realize that above all of the challenges that homeless people face, there are still good people in the world. An article from Mission Local: Local News For A Global Neighborhood wrote that several homeless people were provided with access to port-o-potty’s and several received a meal and pairs of socks. The article also pointed out the GoFundMe campaign that a celebrity launched in order to buy tents for the city’s homeless. Mission Local also points out to their readers that the current policies on homelessness have not fixed San Francisco’s problem. This only comes to demonstrate that there is something that is not being done right.

Super Bowl Party in SF Mission Feeds Homeless