Category Archives: People

What Not To Buy: Dictating the Choices of Low Income Families

About being poor, Food stamps (SNAP), Government programs, Harrassment, Hunger, People, Poverty, Solutions to Hunger, Solutions to Poverty, Working poor

As the debate over Food Stamps receives media attention, once again conservatives, the gullible, and the ignorant do not understand what Food Stamps themselves provide. Whenever this government program is brought up, like welfare, conservative media enjoys reporting on instances of misuse and abuse of the system–except unlike welfare, people cannot purchase anything but FOOD with Food Stamps. Fox News analysts in particular report on instances of people using Food Stamps to buy movie tickets, toys, electronics, cigarettes, even tickets to Disneyland, and the simple truth is that none of these statements are true. Jon Stewart essentially equates this kind of “rumor reporting” to be no better than believing chain emails threatening bad luck if one doesn’t  continue the chain.Food Stamps can only provide those who receive them with food. However, as everyone knows, people need more than food to survive day to day, and from many comments I’ve read on tumblr regarding this debate, it often takes scrambling in order to make up money to pay for the inedible necessities. Thus, the prospect of cutting Food Stamps even further only hurts those who need this program in order to survive because it ruins an already strict budget.

The controversy about Food Stamps continues because some conservatives believe that the government should regulate what people should be purchasing. As Jon Stewart jokes, in his segment What Not To Buy: What Would Jesus Soil, poor people shouldn’t purchase junk food because that’s bad for their health, but they’re also looked down upon if they purchase higher quality luxury foods (they’re abusing the system, they don’t really aren’t poor if they can afford those foods). Thus, low income families are being ripped apart by the media with classism, thus perpetuating stereotypes and classist discourse about poverty.

Another perspective

News link, Portraits of Homeless

In an article written in Philadelphia, PA,  a homeless man writes about his perspective of the hardships of being homeless.  He goes on to say that homelessness is much more than not having a place to live, rather the issue is most likely deeper. Overcoming the hardship of homelessness is not as simple as some might think. When someone has reached this kind of low in their lives, it takes much more confidence to rise up and see a hope in one’s future. One Step Away is a small newspaper that is produced and sold by homeless people.

As soon as I read this, it reminded me of Street News that I read about in Grand Central Winter. After selling the newspaper, he realized he had a job and a new stable foundation to only grow from.  he said that even though people might not think that selling a newspaper could give you any new skills, but he has learned much in customer service, promotion, and more. He ended his article by thanking his audience and to those who have displayed random acts of kindness.

Reading articles and books from the perspective of the homeless continues to blow me away. How genuine, kind, and full of life some people can be when they have so little, is amazing. From my internship to observing people going about their daily lives, it is hard to see genuine optimism and love of life. Yet, for the people who have so much, nothing ever seems good enough. Why is society like this? What are we doing wrong? Who instilled this thought process in us? All I know is that this course has opened me up to a new kind of compassion, willingness to help, and outlook for others well being. I hope to be more like the man who wrote this article. If that were the case, the world would be a much better place.

 

 

 

 

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/one_step_away/Homelessness-can-run-deep.html

Homeless College Students

About being poor, Homelessness, News link, People, Poverty

This article by Blake Ellis from CNN Money describes the issue of being homeless in college. I had never really given thought to homeless college students before reading this article. I suppose I had the assumption that if you could afford to go to college, you couldn’t be homeless. But after reading this article, I realize that this is assumption is just as flawed as the rest. I was shocked that there were 58,158 (reported) homeless college applicants in the 2012-2013 school year. The true number is probably even higher than this, since people often don’t consider themselves homeless if they are living in a car or in on friends’ couches. As Duffield says, “‘There’s an assumption that if you’re homeless, you’re so focused on basic needs like food and shelter that school isn’t a concern,’ said Duffield. ‘But for these youth, education is the answer — the jobs that are available don’t pay good wages if you don’t have a degree, so [education] is the only way out of their situation.'”

These students work harder than most others to get through school because they can barely even afford to pay the 15% (or more) of their tuition that financial aid doesn’t cover.
Yet, they can’t afford to stay on campus over breaks. I know that the University of Redlands charges students to stay on campus over winter break. This makes me wonder how many students can’t afford to stay here during the month long break and if any are technically homeless during that time. Though this is a fairly affluent university, there may be some students who have no home to return to during the breaks.

What do you think the major cause of homeless is?

Homelessness, People

After doing the Data Exercise this week, I was curious to see what other people thought the major cause of homeless was. After researching last week and reading various articles and studies I found many different causes of homelessness, but the major cause was job loss and the lack of income. Taking this into consideration I decided to ask various people what they thought was the major cause.

In response to this question I got various answers:

Drugs/Addiction

Financial Issues

Economic Region

Inability to Change

Criminal Record

Based on these answers I saw that many believed that homelessness is caused by something that the homeless individuals did wrong. In our world, homeless people are constantly stereotyped as people who did something wrong which brought them to the place they are today. One theory I thought was interesting was “economic region”. This is something that is very important because in some cities there are less job opportunities available for people, which makes it hard for people to earn a living.

After asking everyone, one person said that they thought the leading cause was drugs and addiction and that everything always comes back to addiction. This was upsetting to me because after seeing countless videos and reading various stories of homeless people, I know that not all homeless people are affected by drugs. Yes, some do turn to drugs because they feel like they have no where else to turn, but this is not something that should be a stereotype of homeless individuals.

 

 

 

County to County

Government programs, Homelessness, Portraits of Homeless

This weeks data exercise put faces to the countless numbers of people who are homeless. While researching Riverside County I found that there was 31% decrease in homelessness between 2011 and 2013. In 2011 the homeless population was 4,321 people and in 2013 the homeless population was 2,979. Of that 2,979, 1,888 people were unsheltered and 1,090 were sheltered. Within Riverside County, the city of Riverside had the most homeless people at 571.

These may just seem like numbers but each one represents a specific individual. Seeing these numbers and the methods they used to come up with these statistics really put things into perspective.  I was surprised by the numbers in Riverside County because I thought that the numbers were a  lower compared to other counties. During my research I found that San Bernardino is the poorest county in California. The fact that Riverside County and San Bernardino County are so close to each other really shows the effect that bordering cities have towards one another.

For example, Pasadena, California tends to be an extremely upscale city. With that being said, homeless people often are not present. But less than 15 minutes away in Downtown Los Angeles is the greatest population of homeless people living on skid row. Our society stereotypes people to where we think they should reside. People believe that if someone is homeless then they should be with the rest of the homeless population. This is something that needs to be changed and by doing research and making people aware of the homeless populations within their own counties gives them the opportunity to step in a try to make a difference.

http://dpss.co.riverside.ca.us/files/pdf/riverside-county2013homelesscountandsubpopulationsurvey-6.3.pdf

Problems with P.I.T.

Homelessness, News link, People, Poverty

I found a news article on CNN today that relates perfectly to what we have been discussing in class for the past week. This article discusses some of the problems encountered during the P.I.T. (Point-in-Time) count of Camden County, New Jersey. Camden is the poorest city in the U.S. and has an unemployment rate of 13%. Yet last year’s P.I.T. count found only “589 homeless people in the 513,000-person county.” This makes it the perfect example of an area with a very understated homeless count.

As we’ve seen throughout this past week, there are many problems with the current system of P.I.T. counting. P.I.T. counts takes place within a 24-hour period in the last week of January at least every other year. These counts are required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for each county, but they are not funded by the government. There’s the first problem –  without proper funding, of course we are not going to get an accurate count. Furthermore, as the homeless in the CNN video repeated many times, homeless people often don’t want to be seen. There are many places that probably go unchecked by counters simply because they can’t see them. There are plenty of homeless sleeping in cars, couchsurfing, living in abandoned buildings or “tent cities,”and hopping back and forth from the street to various family members’ homes. All of these people fit HUD’s description of homeless. Yet they most often are not being counted in the “homeless census.”

Obviously, it is close to impossible to get a completely accurate count of homeless, since the numbers change from day to day as it is. But as shown by this article and the other data we have seen this week, there is a great importance in improving the P.I.T. count. The homeless are being under-counted and therefore misrepresented. These counts determine how much federal aid is given to the shelter systems, so they directly affect the people being misrepresented.

“How I See Homeless People Now”

About being poor, Books and Films, Homelessness, Portraits of Homeless

In the article “ Anderson Cooper: How I See Homeless People Now”, he describes how his perception of homeless individuals has changed because of his encounters with dozens of people living on the streets of Nashville while working on a projects for 60 Minutes. Cooper expresses his surprise at the candidness and honesty shown by these homeless individuals when asked personal questions about their situations. He was stunned by the fact that the majority of these homeless persons seemed more than happy to share their tragic stories, with most of them just being glad to have someone take an interest in what they had to say. These series of interviews quickly proved to be eye-opening to Cooper and his team because of the diversity of stories, with many of the homeless coming from a variety of different backgrounds.

Cooper admits that prior to this project, he was guilty of walking past homeless people and simply pretending that they are not there, something that most people in society do because facing these people has the tendency to make others uncomfortable. He discusses the fact that to the majority of the population, these homeless individuals are invisible and ignored, and that is the way that they feel. This was a lesson learned by Anderson Cooper that he considers a huge source of personal growth. In his interview for 60 Minutes, he explains that there is a man who camps and panhandles in front of his residence and has been there for some time. Before this story, Anderson felt annoyed and uncomfortable with the man being there and never spoke to him at all. However, after completing this project Anderson has since spoken to this man almost daily, at least greeting him kindly as they pass one another. He has also taken an interest in this homeless man and learning about his past and the road that has lead him into homelessness.

This story relates to the course material that we have been covering because it reinforces the key theme shown throughout all the books, that homeless people have a story to tell and these stories are worth hearing. Individuals who take the time to listen to the stories of the homeless grow in understanding and compassion for those living on the streets. Whether these individuals are addicts, suffer from mental illness, have come from backgrounds of abuse, have suffered from a physical injury, or any of the other reasons that they have ended up in the situation of living on the streets, they deserve to be heard and taken seriously. In Morrell’s text Voices From the Street and many other course readings, the stories of homeless individuals and their daily struggles are heartbreakingly portrayed and they definitely change the perspective of outsiders. As Anderson Cooper concluded, homeless people are just like any other individuals that you may meet, they have hobbies, interests, fears, and struggles, the same as everyone else, but they just happen to live without a home and therefore are constantly disregarded and invisible. The opinions of people who discount the homeless as unimportant would undoubtedly be changed if they took the time to listen to the voices of those who are on the outskirts of society.

We Have the Power To Help

News link, People, Reflections on our Reading

Listening to all the presentations given in class, really opened my eyes. Many of them touched on similar conflicts and struggles of homelessness which showed how prevalent these issues are in our society.  In everything that we have learned so far in class including documentary clips, texts and book presentations my views of homelessness have changed. My enitre life I have grown up in the suburbs where I do not see the effects of homelessness and poverty. Realizing the truths behind homelessness had made me think about what I can do to help.

After graduation I am planning on becoming an Elementary School teacher. As a teacher, I will be faced with many obstacles involving the life of my students at home. Some might come from families who are in poverty and are under priveledged. As a teacher it is my responsibility that I give them as much care and help in the classroom as I can. While reading Homeless Mothers by Deborah Connolly, I saw the effects that povery can have on children whose parents are under priveledged. Some do not get the care or event he love that every child deserves.

homeless

I recently read an article in the LA Times about a LA Unified School District giving back to the homeless. This article brought me hope that our schools are giving back. The students in these schools were very passionate about helping in any way that they could and one student said “”Just looking at them you can tell there is so much need and they’re in so much  pain,” from this you can see how this student is becoming an advocate for helping the homeless. The article mentions how many of the students vowed to return to the shelters and to encourage friends to  raise money for the area”, showing how these students really do want to make a difference. As a future teacher, this makes me very proud of students today realizing the struggles in the world and realizing that they have the power to help.

To buy Homeless Mothers by Deborah Connolly visit this site: http://www.amazon.com/Homeless-Mothers-Face-Women-Poverty/dp/0816632820/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392069254&sr=8-1&keywords=homeless+mothers+deborah+connolly

To read the LA Times article click on this link: http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-student-volunteer-homeless-20140209,0,2391622.story#axzz2sxOq6XPM

Sandy Banks: “Farewell, my Texas cowboy”

News link, Portraits of Homeless

Los Angeles Times columnist Sandy Banks published a beautiful story this morning, about a homeless man she knew well.  Eddie Dotson had been living on L.A.’s streets for many years by the time Banks met him.  He was polite to everyone and helpful to others.  He built a lovely and comfortable dwelling out of scraps and others’ throw-aways; he would rebuilt it without complaint when the street cleaning crews destroyed it (as they did every few months).  Banks remembers his patience and tenderness.

Banks wrote about him in 2009, which is the first that Dotson’s family in Austin, Texas, had heard about him in years.  They came out to L.A. and brought him home.  He died last week, so Banks wrote a moving essay about him and about how much he taught her.  Read it on Page A2 of this morning’s Times.

I want to praise Banks for her large heart and her clear prose.  I also want to praise the Times for hiring columnists — she is one of several — who show us that homeless people are human beings.

Eddie Dotson in 2009, after one of the times when the city of L.A. dismantled his sidewalk home.

What if we cared about those living in poverty as much as we care about celebrities?

About being poor, Books and Films, News link, Organizations, People, Portraits of Homeless, Poverty, Uncategorized

I recently discovered through tumblr a project known as Homeward Bound, which is affiliated with Woodgreen Foundation and is a part of United Way Toronto. This particular project focuses on the life of single mothers struggling with poverty, and suggests giving these women’s problems the proper representation and time.

I think these magazine manipulations are powerful, because a significant portion of society does care about celebrity gossip and tabloid news. I think this campaign cleverly critiques our society’s obsession with the wealthy and famous and flips this consumption of popular culture on its head.

No doubt if we were exposed to the reality of poverty on a daily basis as we waited in lines at the grocery store where our eyes inevitably wander, we as a society would be much more enraged about the problem.

[For more examples of the campaign’s pictures, click here: (w) (x) (y) (z).]