Category: Homelessness

by Renee Crosby

Is homelessness in our country really an epidemic, or is the media just making a big stink out of it for journalistic sensationalism?
You tell me. What are your thoughts? Here is something for you to think about:  In America based on an average classroom size of 30, in every state, in every city, in every town, in every school, in every classroom, there is one homeless student. (http://new.homelesschildreneamerica.org/mediadocs/275.pdf)
Well if that is not enough for us to classify homelessness as an epidemic in our country—then I don’t know what is. Let’s get a visual, shall we?
“For baseball games, Yankee Stadium seats 50,287. If all the homeless people who now live in New York City used the stadium for a gathering, several thousand of them would have to stand.”- source http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/10/28/hidden-city
Realistically, nothing I can say or show you can convict your heart to ponder the homeless in our country. You probably already believe we have a problem or you don’t. So, I will cut to the chase. What are we to do? What do you think we should do? How can we help? Who should be helping? Is this a government evaluation of social programs and their effectiveness? Is it a charity issue of taking from the haves and giving to the have nots? Is this about not giving a man a fish, but teaching him how to fish?
Well, all I can say is that if you don’t know much about the homeless and the life of a homeless person, maybe it’s time to take a peek into their world to try to figure out what if anything can be done.
In my book The Fringe- A Secret Society, one homeless woman comes to break the silence and mystery of their world. She shares true stories of those she met living as a homeless woman on the run from an abuser. In the end, as she learns about their plight, she hopes to build a bridge between the ignorance of society to their private world with compassion and awareness for who they are.

by Renee Crosby

Are you getting a visual of a panhandler on a street corner with a cardboard sign inscribed with something close to “anything helps?” Have you ever thought to wonder what they really want? Most of us, me included, assume they want us to open the window and hand them a few bucks. Which most of us won’t do, because we assume they will just use it to go buy another “bottle.” In the city I used to live in, one mayor even put up signs on the corner where panhandlers often worked that said, “Don’t give to panhandlers, it only feeds their addiction.”
OK, I get that. But can we move beyond that image? Let’s just take money off the plate. What else could that sign mean? What could possibly help? What do they want from us?
In my book The Fringe—A Secret Society, one of the true stories shared is about a homeless man named Ralph. As a do-gooder, a woman engages in conversation to learn this man’s name—Ralph, and then he asks for help. He asks for her to run to the grocery and get a few items for him. The list did not include alcohol by the way.
But, she had grandiose ideas for Ralph. She wanted to shower him with a listening ear and share a meal with him at the restaurant that was right next door to where they were. She was sure he was probably lonely and would enjoy some company and some conversation, and some good grub!
Only Ralph refuses, stating that if he ate that good food, then when his next meal that came out of a can was eaten he would be real disappointed. It would only remind him of what he couldn’t have on a regular basis.
So what did Ralph want? Perhaps he only wanted food. He only wanted some basic needs met. But perhaps it was more. Perhaps he wanted someone to just ask and say his name. Perhaps someone saying his name validated his basic human need for acknowledging his existence. It’s what I describe in my book as intentional dignity giving (IDG).
Homeless people are not invisible, so quit acting like they are. You can give them dignity by asking their name, and saying hello. You can just roll down your window and say, hey man. What’s your name? Then say, well, “John” I want to wish you well today.
In answer to the question, what do the homeless want from us, many just want a friendly hello, or a smile. Don’t just fixate your eyes forward hoping to avoid eye contact with them. By George, acknowledge them. Uncomfortable—maybe?
But power through. If you feel like a dork, just open your window to “chat.” Then get beyond it and give it a purpose. Hi, what’s your name? Hi, “John.” I don’t have any extra money today, but I have a bottle of water. Or, I have a new toothbrush and toothpaste. Or, I have a book here I finished reading if you want it. You get the picture?
Does this take the heat off you? Can you maybe now look them in the eye and say hi? The homeless want you to acknowledge them and maybe even give them a bit of dignity by not judging them and ignoring them.

by Renee Crosby

I believe we cannot end homelessness in our country, do you? I mean after all, Jesus said, “you will always have the poor among you.” [John 12:8] Is it time for us to just reconcile that it is a cause without end? Let’s face it people, it’s a daunting, worldly, far reaching problem that will never stop! There I said it.
So how do we approach the problem of homelessness in our country? First, let’s stop naming programs that guarantee failure and lead to mass disappointment to end these problems to the point where we throw in the towel.
Here are a few examples of what I am talking about:

• Seattle, WA: Names Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness
• June 2010, Obama administration: set a goal of ending homelessness among veterans by 2015.
• Nashville, TN: In 2013 the city launched How’s Nashville, a concerted effort to end chronic homelessness by the end of the decade.
• Denver, CO: Denver’s Road Home Program, 10 year plan to end homelessness
• Chicago, IL: Chicago’s Plan 2.0, is a broad ranging 7 year action plan.
• Portland, OR: in 2004 pledged to end homelessness by 2014.

Are we all so delusional to think that we can really end homelessness- and why is the magic number seem often be 10 years? Let’s scrap it and start over! Our first concern is one I have pointed out in my book, The Fringe. Who the government labels as homeless—are they really homeless? Well, interestingly enough, the definition used by the government, of those meeting those guidelines—the majority of them do not believe they are homeless. What’s up with that?
Are we throwing money and time into a problem that doesn’t really exist? Ha! No, the problem of homelessness really does exist. But here is how I see as a reclassification of the term homeless.
Our social structure and government programs have long held onto the theory that there is the upper class, the middle class and the lower class. There needs to be a dramatic shift in the social paradigm of our country.
Here is what I state in my book, “perhaps it is time for the Urban Dictionary to add a new term for our times, Permanently Adaptive Temporally Housed. I proclaim PATH people, a brave people blazing a new trail, a new path in society.” (page 77) These people, mostly families, are without a permanent residence. By government definition, they are homeless. They are the majority that do not believe they themselves are homeless. They have “shelter,” albeit doubled or tripled up in homes or living from one motel to another. These are PATH people. They have a very different level of socio-economic needs that cannot be addressed until the government quits calling them homeless and lumping them into the same category of homeless.
Then and only then can we develop social programs to help elevate their quality of life while at the same time focus homeless funding on the “real” homeless. I believe for all intents and purposes the term homeless should only include those that have no shelter. They have a completely different set of life complications that need to be addressed as compared to those that are PATH people. We are wasting government funding by throwing money at these two groups as if they are the same. They are not! If you don’t fully understand either of these life styles, please read my book, The Fringe, A Secret Society. It gives a very realistic and true picture based on true stories of homeless people and what their lives are really like.
I truly believe that once we establish two separate groups from the one group of government labeled “homeless” can we then really come to end homelessness. But the way it stands now, I have my serious doubts.
How about you? What do you feel about our social programs from Roosevelt on? Are they working? Do they work for everyone? Do you think the approach to these two different levels of low income should be clarified?