How to get the homeless off the streets

[dmc]

OK, what are your plans on solving the homeless problem. I remember driving through a part of town when I was a kid in the early 70's that had government housing. They were basically shacks, they dosed them down and built apt. buildings, in 5 years it was back to being a slum. People take better care of things when they have to earn it.

Why don't we send them to Detroit? There are plenty of abandoned or cheap homes that the government probably already owns. We can give them some tools and materials to fix the places up themself's and they can farm the vacant lots. Some can do other things to help contribute to the community. It could be a Socialist's utopia.

Some could maybe even drive the buses to transport them there.

[bae]

I used to spend a fair bit of time in the Tenderloin District in SF. From my observations, there is a certain baseline level of the homeless population that can not resolve their problems on their own - they need treatment and care.

For the rest, Lenin said: “He who does not work shall not eat”.

The place where I currently live attracts a certain homeless element. We have a moderate climate, plenty of places to squat on others' land or even in their unoccupied houses, a very functional food bank, lots of food just for the taking in the woods and on the land, free walk-in health care at several of our clinics, and a very progressive caring population. Because of the logistics of getting here in the first place, these are people who have decided to locate here for the "easy" living, and had their life together enough to locate us and figure out how to get here - they are not typically locals down-on-their-luck who lost their homes.

Tricky business.

[redfox]

Ok, let's go:

1. Your husband beat the shit out of you & your home is now unsafe for you & your kids? Here's your ticket to Detroit!
2. Your mental illness means you cannot hold a job, which means you have no access to care that might help you manage that illness? Blammo! Ticket to Detroit.
3. Your parents hate Gay people, and you're a Gay 16 year old who just got beat up by her Dad? Off to Detroit.
4. Apartment building burned down? 20 tickets to Detroit.
5. You're an Iraq Vet, and untreated PTSD has you seeing shooters in every doorway, so you can't stay inside? Detroit, my man!
6. You're under the age of 12, and your parent just lost her job? Better likes foraging in Detroit.

Next idea.

[Gardenarian]

There are many different reasons why people are homeless.
For the temporary homeless, safe shelters and job-seeking and/or training help are probably the most important measures. I'm thinking of women with children who were left in the lurch, people who lost their homes due to debt, etc.
There are many people who need help with addictions. We need social workers and hospitals and possibly housing for these.
There are the many mentally ill, who need some sort of permanent housing solution.

I believe that people are willing to donate their time, money, and energy to help the homeless. Right now there is a waste of resources because of duplication of effort. Various organizations try to help, but I really think this needs to be administrated (but not completely funded) by State or Federal government.

[dmc]

Surly some of those who are homeless through no fault of their own have skills. Some may even be social workers. Detroit has cheap housing. Many like yourself could go and supervise the rebuild.

Whats your answer?

[dmc]

There are many different reasons why people are homeless.
For the temporary homeless, safe shelters and job-seeking and/or training help are probably the most important measures. I'm think of women with children who were left in the lurch, people who lost their homes due to debt, etc.
There are many people who need help with addictions. We need social workers and hospitals and possibly housing for these.
There are the many mentally ill, who need some sort of permanent housing solution.

I believe that people are willing to donate their time, money, and energy to help the homeless. Right now there is a waste of resources because of duplication of effort. Various organizations try to help, but I really think this needs to be administrated (but not completely funded) by State or Federal government.

This actually sounds reasonable, but we can still send some to Detroit.

[redfox]

Surly some of those who are homeless through no fault of their own have skills. Some may even be social workers. Detroit has cheap housing. Many like yourself could go and supervise the rebuild.

Whats your answer?

My answer is many answers. Since there is no single cause of homelessness, one solution doesn't work. Regarding Detroit, if someone wants to move to Detroit, well, there it is.

For battered women: transitional shelters with support services, such as social workers to help them cope with the trauma of being beaten by their spouse. Child care so they can get their adult business taken care of in order to get back into their home. Lawyers to assist them during the legal process. Also, very strong domestic violence laws that put abusers in jail, so that those who have been victimized; yes, they are victims of violent crime; can get back into their homes.

For the mentally ill: state provided medical care, social workers, and housing. The research is very clear that it takes YEARS for the mentally ill to stabilize. And it is considerably cheaper, as well as much more humane, to provide free housing, food, and medical care, since the other option is jail.

For gay teens kicked out and victimized: Yes, indeed, being beaten means there is a perp and a victim. In some states, it's a crime to abandon your teen, so again, a perp & a victim. Safe shelter and foster care, state provided, so the teen can continue in school and graduate. Counseling to help them cope with the trauma. Transition program as for them, once they turn 18, to help them get into college.

When a fire strikes an apartment building, the Red Cross is first. If twenty families lose their homes, and don't have credit cards, family in the area, or lots of cash in the bank, then providing transitional housing, food, and mental health support helps them get back on their feet. It takes time to recover from losing one's home to a fire. I went through this 22 years ago.

For vets: a much, much more robust federal program that pays for medical care, especially mental health care, and housing while someone recovers from their injuries. However long that takes. They left a part of their healthy bodies and their soul on foreign soil. We owe them.

For poor children who are homeless because their parents lost a job: food stamps (the majority of food stamps go to children under the age of 12), safe and stable transitional housing, job search support, and medical coverage until the adult is employed again. For however long it takes. Because having children stabilized in their school means they are more likely to graduate, and break the cycle of poverty.


All of these solutions already exist. They are grievously underfunded in most cities, and if one only thinks of the dollar savings, providing basic life necessities until someone gets on their feet, even if it takes years, is cheaper than them cycling in and out of jail and the emergency rooms. From a humanitarian perspective, taking care of each other is what we do.

That smelly, disheveled man in the nice park you think of as an eyesore? He is someone's son. He may be someone's parent. Perhaps he's a vet with PTSD. Maybe he is mentally ill. Turning away from him only means that we are too scared to see the truth in front of us; that one of our own kind needs our help.

[catherine]

Thinking about my family, there's my great-grandfather who apparently was alcoholic and mentally ill, so my great-grandmother and grandfather lived with one of my relatives in CT and my great-grandfather was committed to an asylum--a dumping ground where they put everyone who just couldn't get by for many reasons. I'm not sure we want to go back to that model--but that was a "ship 'em elsewhere" solution--Willard Asylum was in upstate NY.

Then there's my father, an artist/carpenter who had an education, wealthy, educated parents, a beautiful wife and four children. My mother kicked him out for a wake-up call. He never "woke up" to a healthy life and depended upon St. Vincent's Home for Homeless Men in the Bowery, and died on the street at age 43. For that reason, I've volunteered at the Bowery Mission, where they have a really great food program, residential rehab program and an overnight shelter program. I think that program works well. But in NYC the homeless are pretty invisible and tend to coexist and blend in with everybody else.

Now, my brother had the same environment and opportunities that I did, but he has been alcoholic since he was 13. Luckily, he did a stint in the army, so he goes from living on the streets in Tampa, FL to living months at a time in residential housing provided by the VA. His brain has been fried for years, and he is pretty much unemployable.

Granted those are JUST examples of the effects of alcoholism on homelessness, and there are lots of alcoholics/addicts in the homeless population but Redfox and gardenarian gave great examples of other situations in which one might be homeless.

As I mentioned on another thread, I think if I had an unused area between two buildings up to the size of a half a block here in New Brunswick, I would try to get support from the city to come up with a gated and well-supervised "hooverville" of small, independent, private dwellings or pods. They could face inward around a courtyard that would have greenery, community gardens and benches. There could be a common building for food and clothing distribution. Homeless could "check in" and be approved, examined for weapons and drugs, and then given a key to a dwelling for the night. Those who are able could be asked to garden, sweep, etc. There could be segregated areas for men vs. women/families.

I'm sure there are other creative solutions, but that's mine.

By the way dmc, referencing your post in the other thread, I understand that in societies people need to pull their own weight wherever possible. Sometimes that's not possible, for a short time, or longer time, and then it's up to families and/or society to provide for those who can't. As the great-granddaughter, daughter, and sister of people who have been homeless, I can say I don't consider "liability" to be an appropriate, loving, or merciful way to describe them. You're a good, decent person, so I have a feeling that if you had walked in my shoes, you wouldn't think so either.

[redfox]

Wow, Catherine. Addiction is a disease, and often a terminal one, as you so well know. My nephew is a heroin addict. He's not homeless because my sister continues to house him, and it is taking a huge toll on her health. Thanks for telling your story, and for giving back.

[JaneV2.0]

They just announced on the news that there are 30,000 homeless children in Washington, and more homeless families every day. Last night's news announced that rents are being raised by enterprising landlords to two and three times what they were as buildings are being sold. Jobs are scarce, and employers want to hire people who already have them. Middle-aged people may age out of the job market. Often, families can't shelter together due to scarcity of appropriate housing. Just untidy collateral damage of the rich getting richer, it seems.