Category Archives: Causes of Homelessness

Deconstructing The Master Narrative of Homelessness

Causes of Homelessness, Homelessness

Living in Portland, Oregon you become desensitized to the homeless because of its prevalence. You stop wondering about the individuals on the streets and their stories and assume their homelessness was a product of mental illness or addiction–you accept the master narrative regarding homelessness in America.

But this week in class the stereotypical narrative surrounding homelessness in America was disrupted. We heard the stories of the homeless, discussed the harsh realities of homelessness, and the systemic forces that “trap” the hungry, homeless, and near homeless in America.  The website “Invisible People” contains interviews with the homeless community and gives them a platform to tell their story. After listening to their stories it is clear that there is no one same experience and the master narrative of the “mentally ill addict” stereotype does not stand true. In fact, it is a stereotype that blames the individual rather than the true culprit–the American class system.

While the cost of living is increasing at an exponential rate and minimum wage is no where near living wage, the American welfare state has retreated. In “A Tattered Safety Net: Social Policy and American Inequality” Colin Gordon explains how social policy exists to cushion the impact of the market and social inequality by securing the incomes of workers and providing support for those who cannot work. Historically the aggressive implementation of public social programs make a huge impact on poverty rates. In the 2012 recession social programs kept roughly 41 million Americans out of poverty, explains Gordon. Unfortunately our welfare state is poorly targeted and leaves low low income families and the childless extremely vulnerable to the impact of the American economy and class system.

This week we dismantled the master narrative surrounding the homeless community. Not only did I learn about individuals stories, the harsh realities of the hungry, homeless, and near homeless, but also the systemic forces in place that “trap” them poverty.

Social Support: Loss of Family

About being poor, Causes of Homelessness

Last week at my internship I met one of my case manager’s clients I had been completing paperwork for. I formed the client’s rental packet to assist for the January’s rent, so I was surprised that the client visited us a second time in a month. This client was a single mother of three toddlers with difficult family burdens. When she described her situation and why she was back asking for Redlands Family Services to pay a second month of rent, I wanted to give her the world. She was bright, intelligent, and was her family’s punching bag for all baggage and events that occur within the family. With no one to rely on, she was able to rely on our services. This made me think of the loss of family that some people face that leads them to homelessness. I typically think of death as the tragedy that causes the homelessness, along with other factors, but this time I thought about loss of family from a different perspective. What if the loss of family wasn’t physical but emotional? They are not dead, but emotionally you find yourself unable to connect or feel loved by your family, an outcast essentially. This too, is the type of loss people can face that can lead to financial struggle, emotional instability, and depression/anxiety.

I dwelled on this aspect of family life for a while with my case manager. We discussed how it would feel to be in her shoes. Being kicked down, when you believe things will get better, and having family members tell you “you have failed”. How would I react? Would I have others to rely on? These types of hypothetical questions are often dangerous to think about, but I couldn’t help but reflect on what would happen. I also wonder how many of those who have lost family, have lost family due to death or due to the families unwillingness to help. This emphasizes just how deep the boxes we categorize homelessness as really are in our Hunger and Homelessness course. The main point: everyone is in need of social support.

People’s Beliefs about Homelessness

Causes of Homelessness

This weekend, another classmate and I went to the sustainability fair to teach the community about homelessness in the US and what some of the causes are that we have learned about.  We also addressed some of the stereotypes people often assume about the homeless population.  It was startling how many people believe exactly what we have learned is not true.  When asking what people thought was the issue with homelessness, most of them responded with answers involving blaming the homeless.  Whether it was that they don’t want to work or that they are drug addicts or alcoholics, most of the responses were directly related to the stereotypes we have learned about.  All this really did was further prove that this problem is as big as we are reading it is.  We attempted to educate the people that there are other ways to think about the homelessness problem and that it is out of these people’s control, but most said thank you and went on their way.  Of course some of the participants were extremely interested in what we had to say and were on board with our argument, but it wasn’t enough.  There has to be some way to educate the world and having them really listen.

The Real Causes of Homelessness

About being poor, Causes of Homelessness, Government programs, Homelessness, People, Portraits of Homeless, Poverty, Solutions to Homelessness

I found this story written by Mollie Lowery that hit on many of the points we have been making in class about what truly causes homelessness. Lowery writes the story of a chronically homeless woman named Lourdes. This story is powerful in pointing out the many different flaws of our current system and the ways in which we treat the homeless. I see a lot of the arguments Vincent Lyon-Callo makes in his book  Inequality, Poverty, And Neoliberal Governance: Activist Ethnography in the Homeless Sheltering Industry (purchase on Amazon) within Lourdes’ story. One of these arguments is that our society medicalizes homelessness. The best way I can describe this is by pulling a quote from Lowery’s story of getting Lourdes back into housing: “I began each day with reassurances that if Lourdes got in the car with me, I wouldn’t take her to a mental hospital. Such fear and distrust do not emanate from some genetic pathology. It comes from years of being marginalized, excluded, exposed and traumatized.” Both Lyon-Callo and Lowery emphasize the very important fact that the systems that we have in place to “help” homeless people place the blame on personal attributes, rather than acknowledging that the problem comes from these systems that create inequalities.  Though we have many systems in place to try to help the ever-growing number of homeless, Lowery stresses that “a far more humane, effective — and cheaper — strategy would be to prevent people like Lourdes from winding up homeless in the first place.” Rather than putting a band-aid on the problem, we need to focus on preventing the problem from ever happening. And this involves seeing the true cause of homelessness instead of focusing on “individual pathologies and solutions.”

Increasing Animosity Towards Homeless Population

Causes of Homelessness, Causes of Poverty, Harrassment, Homelessness

Looking for recent news articles relating to homelessness, I stumbled upon one published by Diane Turbyfill in the Gaston Gazette online site entitled “Is Something Bringing Down our Downtown?”. The article focused on Gaston North Carolina where a reported increase in homeless population has been negatively impacting dining and entertainment areas by decreasing business according to the business owners. Being fed up with this, one owner reportedly created t-shirts saying “Throw the bums out, Gastonia, N.C.”, creating a media frenzy around this business. The article went on to say that while some people have formed an increasingly negative view towards the homeless as a result of this, the majority of the population in this area expressed embarrassment by the actions of this business.

Because in this city the shelters that are available to homeless populations are nearby the busy downtown area, the homeless have no other option but to walk by this part of town when going from one shelter to the other. While the people in this city have an awareness that there exists a homeless population, they don’t want these individuals to be visible in areas of high traffic business because of the simple fact that the homeless make the rest of the population uncomfortable.

In the article, the author mentioned an interview with Capt. Mark Hunter with the Salvation Army of Gastonia who described the homeless population by stating “That’s why they’re on the street. They don’t like structure. Those people are always going to remain homeless”. I found this to be extremely shocking due to the fact that this man works with the homeless population for a living. It is clear that he sees them as those who have placed themselves on the outskirts of society purposely by not adhering to social rules. In this way, he is making generalizations towards the entire homeless population when in reality the cause of homelessness cannot be summed up in this way because there are endless amounts of reasons for ending up on the street. However, his statement further illustrates the ways in which homelessness has been socially constructed to be thought of as an individual issue and not a larger structural issue.

While Hunter shows a point of view suggesting that the homeless are responsible for thier situation, when speaking about the apparent increase of homelessness in the area he stated “Ignoring it is the worst thing we can do. There’s a problem, and we just need to come together.” I think thta this is the correct way of looking at tackling the issue of homelessness that should be encouraged in this town and everywhere. The problem with this is that members of society are so far removed from the homeless population. Just like these business owners who wanted something done about the increase of homeless in front of their businesses, people generally want to pretend homelessness does not exist by keeping themselves far removed from it. Out of sight, out of mind.

Raising the Minimum Wage

About being poor, Causes of Homelessness, Causes of Hunger, Causes of Poverty, Government programs, News link, Poverty, Solutions to Poverty

Image Detail

I saw this image on an Upworthy article, which can be found here. This map shows how many hours a minimum wage worker in each state would have to work per week simply to afford a 2 bedroom apartment, without paying more than 30% of their income. Not a single state’s minimum wage is high enough to adequately cover the costs of housing without working at least 65 hours a week. This means that housed minimum wage workers are either having to sacrifice other necessities for life such as food, child care, transportation, etc., or they are having to work two or more low wage jobs. Most likely, many low wage workers are doing both of these things just to survive.

We have seen several examples throughout this course (and on this blog) that show that a huge cause of homelessness is the imbalance of housing costs and wages in America. It seems so obvious that the current state this nation is in is not sustaining so many of its members. Raising the minimum wage is one way we can start addressing this issue. Gov. Peter Shumlin (Vermont) and Gov. Dan Malloy (Connecticut) wrote a piece on CNN’s Opinion section called “No brainer: Three reasons why a $10.10 minimum wage is good for America.” Their third reason was that “it’s the right thing to do. No American working 40 hours or more a week deserves to live in poverty.” The governors go on to debunk the bogus arguments many make against raising the national minimum wage: “Republican governors across the country have also stood in the way of progress. Some have pandered to stereotype, suggesting that a raise in the minimum wage should be rejected because it would only help young workers rather than acknowledging that 88% of workers who would be affected by moving the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour are over the age of 20, and more are over the age of 55 than are teenagers.”

There is no logical reason that the minimum wage shouldn’t be raised. It is clear that this would be a good start to counteracting the cost of housing and to abolishing homelessness.

Causes of Homelessness

Causes of Homelessness, Uncategorized,

In the 1960’s Christopher Jencks presented his causes of homelessness in The Homeless. The causes discussed in his book included the closing of mental wards, the crack epidemic, marriage and jobs, as well as the decline in a variety of safety nets. Some new things to consider for today’s populations are the economic crash, the decline of the middle class, and the foreclosure crisis.  If surveyed, the majority of society may not include such causes. Many people tend to think homelessness is an individual circumstance. Through readings and class discussions, we are learning this is not the case. Each of these possible causes are all structural based sources.

Understanding the causes of homelessness if an important step to realizing the proper solutions to the issue. Many of these causes are structural and most of the solutions to these problems don’t take that into consideration. There are  many ‘band aid’ solutions, meaning that they will help the problem but they are not permanent solutions. Examples of this can include public aid/services. These band aids are important but they also allow for homelessness to continue as it is currently. There is little to no affordable housing or other more permanent solutions to the issue and the funding for ‘band aid’ programs continues to be cut year after year. What will happen to the homeless populations as funding continues to be cut and as more laws pass criminalizing the homeless? The current options for solutions are limited and do not seem to attack the structural part of the issue.

I think it’s important that when a community discusses homelessness they consider the structural causes rather than the individual causes. Such a gap in recognizing the true causes of homelessness can often result in more band aid type solutions. The permanent solutions won’t even be considered because many times the community fails to recognize the true issues.

To read a summary of Jenck’s The Homeless click here: http://www.vanneman.umd.edu/socy498/jencks.html

 

Tiny Houses for the Homeless

Causes of Homelessness, Homelessness, Organizations, Related topics, Solutions to Homelessness, Solutions to Poverty

In class during the past week, we began looking at the major and minor causes of homelessness today in comparison to what they have previously been. We found that decline in public assistance, mental illness, domestic violence, and lack of affordable housing were just a few of the main causes of homelessness today. While it was easy to find the top causes of homelessness and poverty, it was quite problematic to try to brainstorm strategies and solutions to alleviate these problems. It can become overwhelming because there are so many of these issues that choosing which to tackle first can be difficult.

While continuing my research on the different ways that non-profit organizations and individuals are working towards solving these wide array of problems, I came across a recent article titled Tiny Houses for the Homeless: An Affordable Solution Catches On, the content of which is exactly what it sounds like. In several cities around the country, these villages of tiny, low-budget houses are being built to offer support to the homeless. These small communities offer safe places for the homeless to sleep, maintain hygiene, and form bonds with one another.

As for the costs of this effort, the article states that  “many of the building materials were donated, and all of the labor was done in a massive volunteer effort” (Lundahl 2014). In the article, the author discusses how even though the cost of each of these tiny houses can be around $10,000, the overall costs of these buildings is much lower than the alternative route of building apartment housing for these individuals. The cost-effectiveness of this plan is what is catching the eye of other city officials who are seeing the affordability and advantages to investing in these communities, which in the end will save them money.

After reading this article, I feel that this would be a good way to house the homeless and offer up a solution to the problem of the lack of affordable housing. Learning in our class that while the homeless population increases, the amount of low-income housing has actually decreased is very shocking and confusing. If there were more of these small communities of low-budget housing available in more cities, the effect would be dramatic. Clearly this is just one solution to one problem that the homeless are facing, but any efforts to push for these tiny houses would make an enormous impact of the lives of these homeless.

 

* http://truth-out.org/news/item/22050-tiny-houses-for-the-homeless-an-affordable-solution-catches-on

How Utah Will Soon End Chronic Homelessness: A First Step?

Causes of Homelessness, Causes of Poverty, Homelessness, Solutions to Homelessness, Solutions to Poverty, Uncategorized

Our Data Exercise #3 assignment pushed my level of being overwhelmed to a new height. When we ended class on Thursday with thinking about ways to possibly end these causes, I had no idea where to start or even which one to choose. Therefore, I decided to focus this week’s blog on what others are doing to end these causes. Affordable housing was one of the most common causes that were seen from Jenck’s 1980s research and the class’ updated research.
In focusing on affordable housing, a 2011 article on The Huffington Post surfaced and discussed How Utah Will Soon End Chronic Homelessness. The state of Utah has had a 26 percent drop in homelessness since 2010 and credited it to its “Ten-Year Strategic Action Plan to End Chronic Homelessness”. According to this plan, Utah will reach its goal of eliminating chronic poverty by 2014 by implementing Housingworks programs. With the Housingworks programs, the state is giving the homeless access to their own apartments that tenants will pay 30 percent of their state-facilitated income for rent, so the housing isn’t freely given. The state will also provide job training and social services to assist in keeping a job and social life. Huffington Post Blogger Anna Bahr also reports that Utah’s homelessness is at a four year low, as of 2011.
It seems that this plan had been showing progress and would help with other causes of homelessness besides just affordable housing. Does this mean we cannot just focus on eliminating one cause at a time? That these causes of homelessness are too related? In further research to see how Utah’s plan has either been successful or unsuccessful, my research fell flat. But is Utah’s plan the first step to ending these causes?

Reasons for Homelessness

Causes of Homelessness

I have known there were multiple causes of homelessness, but I didn’t know how much of homelessness was caused by problems completely unrelated to the homeless person him or herself.  When reading about the different causes of homelessness 20 years ago I felt as though a lot of them still related today, but there are so many new issues today.  With some of the main populations of homeless people having either disabilities, chronic health problems, or fleeing domestic violence situations is alarming.  These people aren’t drug addicts or lazy.  These are people who are sick or unable to work, and people who are being forced to either stay in a home where they are abused or become homeless.  I think society forgets about these people.  They get overlooked, because it is easier to think they are all doing this to themselves than thinking about the fact that they just need help.  If everyone knew just how many people are actually homeless because of drug addictions or alcohol addictions, they would be surprised to see how low the number actually is.  In San Bernardino County, according to the point in time count of 2013, on 24% of the homeless people surveyed had substance abuse problems.  This leaves another 76% of people who are homeless for other reasons.  Education to people about this problem has to be the first step.  People have to be aware of how many people are on the streets for reasons they cannot change.