Category Archives: News link

“City Demands Church Stop Sheltering the Homeless”

Homelessness, News link

The article,“City Demands Church Stop Sheltering the Homeless” addresses a nationwide trend of cracking down on both those trying to help the homeless and those who are homeless.  One worker from a church that served the homeless comments how the homeless people have feelings and basic needs just like all people. This relates to the common theme of treating homeless people with dignity and respect.

Politics must be involved that prompted the conclusion that the church has inadequate zoning permits. People in power have access to resources and the ability to enact laws and pass legislation. In my home town members generally agreed that there was a need for another homeless shelter, yet the disagreement resided in where. Nobody wanted the homeless shelter by them.  Perhaps a large reason why is because of the negative untrue stigmas attached with being homeless.  I wonder if people knew more about homelessness if their perception would change. Maybe some of the people living around the church were upset and did not want the church to act as a warming shelter for homeless people and voiced their concerns to public officials.

Not allowing the church to help homeless people also prevents non homeless people from interacting with homeless people. While interacting with homeless people the housed population will be able to witness the humanity in homeless individuals which can help combat with negative stigmas. The relationships and interactions that develop might be shared with community members and facilitate in developing a more accurate perception of homeless individuals which will be beneficial in challenging existing structural inequalities.

 

Panhandlers in Redlands

About being poor, Homelessness, How we should treat each other, Local organizations, News link, People, Poverty

I picked up a copy of the Redlands Daily Facts (our local newspaper) today and saw that the front page headline was “POPULAR WITH PANHANDLERS: Redlands’ reputation for giving lures locals, out-of-towners seeking handouts.” Of course, the “handout” stereotype caught my eye, and I proceeded to read the article (which can be found online, here.) Just the way the entire article is set up and written bothers me. It is full of negative stereotypes and stigmas against panhandlers and focuses completely on the police’s and the businesses’ side rather than taking a deeper look into the lives of the panhandlers. The article points out the way people spend the money they receive while panhandling, pulling quotes from interviews with the panhandlers such as, “You’ve got to survive out here. You’ve got to do it to make money to buy your food, beer and tobacco.” The article emphasizes the fact that many panhandlers have drug/alcohol addictions, posing addiction as a cause of the homeless problem rather than an outcome and stereotyping these people as lazy drug-addicts who spend the “handouts” they receive on booze and dope. The article lacks empathy for the people who apparently are “coming from outside city limits to come to Redlands to panhandle because it’s more profitable” due to Redlands citizens’ “big hearts.” The article emphasizes the fact that “one out of three panhandlers are not homeless,” as if to persuade people that the housed people are even more unworthy of donated money. It goes on to explain different tactics panhandlers use to get money, characterizing these people as liars. The police and the newspaper article encourage people to donate to organizations that help the homeless in the area instead of giving directly to homeless people. This is a recurring theme we have seen throughout history. The authorities encourage people to funnel their money through the institutions that help homeless, but there are not enough truly helpful organizations to solve the problem.  Overall, this article was frustrating, but not surprising. It lacked an understanding of the homeless problem and brushed over the backgrounds of panhandlers, stigmatizing them as lazy and evil.

Taking Action

About being poor, Government programs, News link, Solutions to Homelessness

As we transition into the part of the semester in which the underlying theme is about what  the government is doing about the homeless population, I found an article which shows how taking one step can make a huge impact. On March 8th, The Los Angeles Times published an article about having a safe space for homeless people. In Sonoma County, supervisors lifted the ban of people sleeping in their cars. They realized that for some people, living in their cars is their only option. They made a Safe Parking Program that allowed homeless people the opportunity to park their car in a designated lot and could keep their cars there overnight.

This program provides a safe space for homeless people. One man described it as “heavenly” and was grateful for this safe space. While reading, I was asking myself why is this just happening now? This is a great program that should have been brought about sooner. One woman states “A man walked up to me and his entire face and beard was covered in frost”. This just shows how action needed to be taken. It is said that four men died from freezing to death, which is another situation that should not have happened. By lifting this ban and allowing this safe space program, homeless people not only feel safe, they also being taken out of bad weather conditions that they would have to face if they were sleeping outdoors.

After reading this article, I am confident in some of the steps our government is taking towards helping homeless people. If more ideas and solutions like this were put into action, homeless people would be given a better outcome.

Safe Space Program provided these people with a place to park their car and sleep overnight

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-santa-rosa-homeless-parking-20140309,0,3081428.story#ixzz2vbYjWG6y

 

Somewhere to Sleep

About being poor, Homelessness, News link

In recent news an online article was published by the local Los Angeles Times entitled “In Sonoma County, a heartwarming safe-parking program for the homeless” which described the unique response of this affluent county to both the freezing temperatures and the spike in homeless persons sleeping in their cars. This article was unique in the fact that it described all kinds of people who have found themselves needing to utilize these safe parking spaces at night for a place to sleep. With the waiting lists for shelters growing increasingly long and the temperatures continuing to drop, the homeless were out of options besides sleeping in their cars, which is against the law in Sonoma County as well as many other places. As Supervisor Shirlee Zane is quoted in this article, she states “It was just stupid to say it’s illegal to sleep in your car. For some people, all they own is their car.” This is why several other counties including nearby San Diego County, have began adopting this idea of safe parking spaces that allow people to sleep in their vehicles without being hassled by police.
As the article also stated “in Santa Clara County, four homeless men had frozen to death on the streets”. This was a huge catalyst for people like Shirlee Zane to get these safe parking spaces going. This quote was very powerful to me because despite this tragedy, there are still policymakers and community members who are advocating for anti-camping ordinances to ban homeless from sleeping in vehicles which could be their only way of survival. While this article was describing the recent situation in Sonoma County, it is obvious from our recent coursework in homeless counts around the nation that this is not an isolated occurrence and  that this is going to continue to happen in many areas. Because of this, anti-camping ordinances need to be reconsidered and altered as a temporary bandage to the problem while long-term solutions are formed.

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-santa-rosa-homeless-parking-20140309,0,3081428.story?page=1#axzz2vbNk21a0

 

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 for a Night

Homelessness, News link

This past weekend, dozens of students in Birmingham, Alabama participated in a project called “Cardboard Connect” that provides students with an idea of what it feels like to be homeless. The students then spend the night without the comforts of home and then are given the opportunity to discuss issues of homelessness and how to take active leadership roles in trying to solve the issues. The students ended up giving back to the homeless community by collecting hygiene products.

After reading this short article posted on March 8th, there were three comments following it. Two of the three comments expressed negative feelings towards this project and how it doesn’t “truly” teach the students about homelessness. On even expressed that the students should have attended drug abuse counseling in order to learn about the addiction and the cost of taking drugs. However, like the students participating in the project, do these commenters have any idea about what it is like to be homeless? The one comment about drug abuse was only mentioned based off a possible statistic that homeless people are drug addicts or have mental issues, which are common stereotypes associated with homeless people. Yet with the other comment, there was a good point made that this project doesn’t show the reality that homeless people experience daily. Although this project allowed students to become more aware of what is taking place, do you think that this project is an effective exercise and learning experience on homelessness? Or do your thoughts linger towards agreement with the mentioned comments?

To read the article and comments visit:  http://www.abc3340.com/story/24923385/birmingham-teens-spend-the-night-out-to-learn-about-homelessness

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.

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.

Musical protest against homeless evictions in Fresno

Dumping, Harrassment, How we should treat each other, Music, News link

Reprinted from Teatro de la Tierra (http://teatrodelatierra.net):

Agustin Lira & Patricia Wells sing Lira’s song “Don’t Come to Fresno if You’re Homeless” with the students of their music project “Generaciones” at the November 16, 2012 Annual Fundraiser for the Community Alliance Newspaper and Pacifica Radio station KFCF @ the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno. This video is of the City of Fresno’s demolition of homeless encampments in August and September 2013 .The pictures are by Mike Rhodes and independent photographers/contributors to the newspaper.

Antelope Valley homeless population takes unexplained jump

Dumping, Homelessness, News link

An article in this morning’s Los Angeles Times reports a large jump in Lancaster, California’s homeless population.  Reporter Gale Holland points out that Lancaster is the last stop on L.A.’s Metro Line, so it’s possible that L.A. authorities are giving the homeless a one-way ticket out of town.  On the other hand, the jump from 1,412 Lancaster homeless in 2011 to 6,957 in 2013 may be just a more thorough biennial count.  (Some counts don’t bother to look for people in cars, miss the ‘hidden homeless’, etc.)

Holland writes that local shelter operators see little evidence of dumping, and that most of Lancaster’s homeless population has local ties.  That’s the pattern our University of Redlands team found a few years ago, when we conducted a homeless survey: most local homeless were either long-term residents or had relatives in the area.

Read Holland’s article HERE.