In class this week, we gave group presentations on books we had to read giving different accounts on what it meant to be homeless, and giving a variety of different accounts on people’s experiences regarding homelessness. For the book I had to research, Down and Out and Under Arrest: Policing and Everyday Life on Skid Row, I researched and read about three different accounts on what being a resident on Skid Row was like. Through the accounts of a group of weight lifters, street vendors, and the LACAN film crew. It gave account to how they used their “cop wisdom” to learn to adapt to therapeutic policing. With the three ethnographic accounts the author provided, we can see how these groups proactively taught those around them how to adapt, and in the case of LACAN, fight back by giving the residents of Skid Row a voice to be heard in opposition to how the police treat them. In the beginning portion of the book, it tells how the relationship between therapeutic policing and the mega-missions in Los Angeles came to be. Over all, I found this book to be very informative, and am happy with what I walked away with in terms of knowledge on what happens in Skid Row. In terms of the other presentations, I learned that it is very hard to keep an exact idea of homelessness when reading only one books account on homelessness.

This week, our class presented a number of different books regarding homelessness in America. My group read and presented “Grand Central Winter” which was a man’s story of his experiences on the street in New York. I found this book to be very interesting and eye-awakening. Also, the past week or so in Redlands has been especially cold and rainy (not ideal conditions for someone living on the street). My own unwillingness to spend time outside because of the cold weather, is only met with thoughts of those who have nowhere else to go and are forced to be outside. California’s weather stays pretty nice year round, yet places like New York or Chicago (where some of the books took place), aren’t as lucky. Lee Stringer talks about bracing the cold, harsh winters in New York and how they survived. I couldn’t even imagine how individuals live outside in such cold weather conditions.

Another large theme that I saw in the book I read, as well as some of the others that were presented was the role drugs played in an individual’s housing condition. Lee Stringer, the author of “Grand Central Winter” had a job, apartment, and an honest man’s life prior to becoming addicted to crack. Several months after starting to smoke crack, he found himself several months behind of paying rent, and as a result was on the street. He described this transition in his life as liberating. He was no longer tied to his apartment or job, he was free. Another thing that was talked about was how both rich and poor men do drugs, but the difference between them is that the poor man will get caught because he is on he street and a rich man doesn’t because he does the drugs behind closed doors. I struggled to agree with the author’s thoughts of unfairness about this. To me, drugs should be seen as “a luxury” if you will, and should only be bought and taken after your basic needs as a human are met (shelter, food, water, and safety). The rich man addicted to drugs is not posing a threat to those passing by on the street, whereas a homeless individual doing drugs on the street may (incorrect disposal of needles, exposing children to drugs, bad drug dealing, etc.).

This week was very informative and eye opening and I’m looking forward to seeing where we go next with our learning!

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.

This week in class we discussed the books that we were assigned. Each one talking about life for the homeless and the things they go through. In my book “Grand Central Winter” by Lee Stringer, it talks about his specific life story of homelessness. Now not everyones path to homelessness is the same or life in homelessness, but there are similarities in them. Whether it be how they got there or the treatment they receive while being homeless. These insights from readings give us perspective and allow us to see at least a glimpse of the day in the life of a homeless person. Which can help us better combat the situations they may face and help them get out. At my internship for Redlands Family Services, I have been talking to this pastor about finding ways to better use American money to combat homelessness instead of wasting it on things that don’t better the American economy. He had many great ideas but at the end of the day we kept coming back to the same thing, “you need funding”. Even RFS now is running into trouble, with their funding deal running out, they will be having a hard time feeding the homeless here in Redlands. Same goes for a lot of places, funding for homeless agencies has been few and hard to come by. That’s why these readings are really important, they humanize homeless people and allow people to sympathize with them.  Leading to more people funding and finding help for homelessness, which is desperately needed.

This week was very eye opening as we got an overview of a number of different books that students read that included Grand Central, Tell Them Who I Am, Down & Out and Sidewalk which my group was assigned to. Sidewalk brought us into the lives of street vendors in New York City. 

The part that was so interesting to me about everything that I read was how we treat these people as if they aren’t happy, as if we need to change their lives and as much as they may need a hand at times these people do have aspect to their lives that make them happy. The one main character Hakim talks about how he could put on a nice outfit, walk into some sort of corporate business and get a job but he chooses not to. He enjoys selling books on the street, he loves the human interactions and connections he makes. Although to some individuals this may seem like a dreadful job it is everything to this individual. The other part that the book spoke about was how some of these homeless individuals may want to sleep on the street. One man talks about how he could get a hotel room for eight dollars a night and he did while he was with his girlfriend but once she got put in jail he would sleep on the streets in the warmer months. He said with the money that he saved he was able to afford a better place to stay in the cold winter months.

I think a lot of time when we look at the homeless population we think that these individuals are not choosing to live on the streets but that is not true for all of them. I think that every individuals situation is different and that is how it should be looked at.

For class this week, I and the other members of my group read a book called Sidewalk, which detailed the observations of sidewalk life of several blocks of New York City in the 1990s by the sociologist and professor Mitchell Duneier. At the core of his argument was a condemnation of “broken windows” policies and an advocation for a ‘fixed windows” approach. Duneier suggests that sidewalk life and its participants can have beneficial effects, and that policy makers should accept the continued existence of sidewalk life rather than viewing it as inherently problematic.

I found solidifying my ideas on Duneier’s proposition to be difficult. On one hand, I agree that simply approaching those who live on the street as a problem and trying to eliminate the homeless by making life as difficult for them as possible, is not a policy I agree with. At the same time, I struggle to see the benefits of wanting to allow homeless lifestyles to continue. Yes, some benefits to some aspects of street life exist, but I still believe the end goal is to eliminate it.  i may not like the idea of approaching the homeless as broken windows, but i am not sure they are fixed either. Perhaps my difficulty lies in the fact that in “fixed windows” Duneier presents an alternative attitude, rather than a concrete approach, leaving the details of efforts to assuage homelessness to the reader.  Despite my reservations, I appreciate the added perspective Duneier provides to my understanding of homelessness, and I respect a great many of his ideas.

Being out in California, sometimes I forget about the fact that other places, like back home in Chicago, actually go through huge temperature shifts. This past week, the Midwest made the news because of the polar vortex. Friends from back home were telling me classes were cancelled (and you know that means its serious because Chicago does not cancel classes often), and I got texts from my dad with the weather report, reading a temperature that “Feels like” -50. I even got texts from friends here, asking if everyone was okay back home, which was thoughtful. Yes, everyone I knew was fine, but that is because they could stay inside. Instead, my mind went to the people who don’t have a roof to sleep under, and I believe this class played a part in that for sure.

I thought about the people that are usually lined up outside the mission near my home, and sure enough when my mom called, she told me that they were using propane tanks to stay warm, and one even exploded. I was happy to see that the homeless shelters decided to stay open 24 hours, and didn’t turn any away in this weather, as some literally froze to death. However, it was another story that truly struck me, and it came from a regular citizen. Candice Payne, without worrying about what was going to happen, payed for hotel rooms for 70 homeless people who were otherwise going to be left out in the cold. She was eventually paid back by donors and other civilians, but this single act of human kindness is the type of thing that gives me hope for society. People often think, oh someone else will handle that for sure, shoot, maybe even the government? But no, Ms. Payne took matters into her own hands, stooped into her wallet, and saved lives. It is a shame that it even had to come to that, but im glad that there are people out there who are willing to sacrifice like Ms. Payne did.

What I would like to focus on in this blog post is the movie which we viewed in class. It was a movie called “Taylor’s Campaign,” in which it showed a man named Taylor running for a seat on the council in Santa Monica. His main focus was on helping the homeless, and ways in which the city can become more involved in helping the homeless. He went around Santa Monica showing his deep connection with these people, talking and sharing stories with them. In some cases, he even drove them to interview appointments for housing. Overall, Taylor was a fantastic man from what was put on screen.
There were instances in which the movie showed how the police would interact with the homeless, and ways in which they would throw away their possessions, make them relocate, and sometimes harass them. It reminded me of the Group “A” book I am reading, “Down, Out, and Under Arrest: Policing on Skid Row”, in which it tells the history of Skid Row. Much of its history revolves around the LAPD constantly arresting the homeless, and relocating them as to not bother the people of the downtown area. It is almost ironic to see similarities, if not the same exact instances happen in real modern times.

In class this week, we further explored the realities of homelessness through several readings, a film, and an exercise. These same mediums gave us a glimpse into the, at times shocking, lengths that people will go to prevent anything that might “attract” the homeless to their communities. While the realities – read hardships – of the homeless were on a scale of their own, what interested me far more were the reactions of the politicians, community members, and neighbors to the homeless. Specifically, what interested me is why I thought they stood out to me.

Objectively, the way people characterized and treated the homeless was horrifying; some calling these people a waste of space and human life. Others campaigned ferociously against the creation of affordable housing units in their neighborhoods or worked feverishly to criminalize the feeding of the homeless on whatever grounds possible. Even more disgusting, was that one attempt to criminalize the feeding of the homeless was predicated on “concern” that these homeless persons would contract a food-borne illness. An argument that may seem reasonable until you consider the testimony of experts that insisted the dangers posed by possible food-borne illness were insignificant compared to that of malnutrition and starvation.

I thought this interested me because I was seeing a level of hate and dehumanization that was mind-boggling. It seemed these people lacked such a basic sense of humanity, that they could have easily become dehumanized to me. How could someone have so little basic empathy for another human-being? A manner of thinking that seems increasingly popular, especially amongst the left. After some reflection, I realized that it actually interested me because I understood how one could come to see people this way.

Poverty is acceptable and a condition that deserves our sympathy if you’re from a developing country where resources are scarce, and safety is all-but guaranteed. Why else would I willingly donate to UNICEF out of my – at best – 10-hour a week, minimum wage check? But when you’re poor in the land of opportunity, why should I care? There are accessible social services at every corner – at least that is something believed in the past. Why should I care especially if caring might come at the cost of my property value or serve as a very uncomfortable reminder that my success is hardly the sole product of my own grit and determination. To be clear, I don’t nor have I ever believed that the homeless were a “waste of space and a human life”. I simply understand the aversion to them. The desire to avoid that uncomfortable truth and the persistent reminder that I sleep in a warm, safe room, spend money at starbucks, and type this blog post on a luxury laptop when there are people sleeping in the rain at the park across the street.

To fully address Hunger and Homelessness, especially for myself, I believe that I must engage in deep self-reflection about my own attitudes about the homeless and be determined to remember what that transition looked like. Without that, I will not have the toolkit to empathize with those who have less kind and altruistic views of homeless persons. Something that is a requirement to address their concerns and have any chance at making effective change.

A video was watched in class about homelessness and it really was hard to watch. A man is running for a seat in council in Santa Monica, thinking this will help the homeless and working poor to be heard. Multiple times during the movie the way most people speak on is so rude as if they don’t deserve their life. I remember one man saying since these people cannot feed themselves maybe they should starve. I wonder if people still have the same thoughts on homelessness in that region compared to now. A law was trying to place in Santa Monica to not allow people to feed them so they would move out of the region, since santa monica is more tourist area homeless didn’t help with business. Police were on the homeless like they had nothing better to do. Constantly giving them tickets knowing they couldn’t or wouldn’t pay and making them move from location to location with no warning. I remember watching when the police forced them to move promising they had shelters when in reality they didn’t and one of the women began crying and I couldn’t help but cry myself

Many assumptions are around the homeless the one that bugs me the most is saying they are criminals and should be looked at more for the crimes that are commited. After gaining some knowledge about this topic a majority of them are focused on getting themselves through the day. Only in the true rock bottom will they commit crimes such as robbery. Every incounter I have ever had with the homeless is never as horrid as it made to be, people look at them as another species sometimes forgetting they are one of us. It hurts my heart so much 🙁  THANKS FOR COMING TO MY TEDTALK