We have been constantly going over the importance of homeless counts and the ways in which they are conducted. Each state across the country has their own way of gathering the necessary information, some proving to be more effective than others. These counts are done in institutions such as emergency shelters and also unsheltered places which include the streets and parks. The overall purpose of these counts is to help communities so that they can be provided with enough resources to hopefully someday end homelessness. It is reasonable to say that it is absolutely impossible to come down to an exact number of homeless people yet homeless counts are an attempt to gather accurate information in order to provide the necessary resources.

Aside from homeless counts it is also beneficial to have an understanding of the things that lead to homelessness. This class has allowed me to gain a better understanding that loss is a major factor to this problem such as the loss of family, loss of jobs and loss of home. It is very easy to point the finger or simply place the blame on addiction when in reality there are so many other factors involved. Too often people become homeless because there are issues that are out of that individual’s control forcing them into homelessness. Even when a person loses everything, it can become difficult to get out of homelessness. On the other side, there are situations where people who actually want to help and make a difference run into several barriers that are out of their control which prevent them from giving homeless people the help that they desperately need. There are an immense number of things that one can learn yet simply being conscious of your place in society can be beneficial. For example do not just give people the resources that they need, but give them the tools that will help them in the long run. Sometimes it is down to one person’s attitude, instead of an entire group of people that can really make a difference.

We’ve been focusing a lot on homelessness in urban areas such as New York City and various parts of L.A. County, so I wanted to look more at rural areas and see how homelessness is affecting people. What I did found is that many who find themselves homeless in a rural area often try their best to make it to an urban setting with the idea that more people equals more job opportunities and more places to sleep. I stumbled across this interactive map that ranks each state’s homelessness per 100 thousand residents for the last five to six years, and I was surprised to see first off that Hawaii ranks number one in the country for most homeless people per 100 thousand residents. I could have guessed that California and New York have very large homeless populations, but I had no idea how prevalent homelessness is in between the two coasts. Places like Montana, Minnesota, and North Dakota have much more homelessness than I would have first anticipated (North Dakota went from 46th in 2012 to 6th in 2013), and Mississippi really threw me off when I saw it’s ranked 50th in the country with only 94 homeless people per 100 thousand residents; I guess those are my uneducated biases coming in to play.

Another thing I saw that I think is worth noting is that there are only four states on the map that have more unsheltered homeless than sheltered homeless. I get a couple different feelings from this data, the first being that maybe we are doing a decently good job dealing with homelessness and the lack of affordable housing if there is a vastly greater sheltered homeless population than unsheltered homeless population. Secondly, how many of those people (sheltered and unsheltered) are getting any other aid they need to survive. And lastly if there is potential for the unsheltered to get in to shelters, and the sheltered to get jobs and affordable housing, or are people just doubling up and moving around? From what I saw on the maps from years past the numbers in California have stayed pretty consistent; maybe this just looks like good news and we actually haven’t done that much to improve the situations of homeless people.

http://www.movoto.com/blog/opinions/homelessness-in-america-maps/

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?