How can we change things?

Chronic Homelessness

Image retrieved from Examiner.com at
http://www.examiner.com/faith-social-
issues-in-omaha/homeless-america 

            There are many homeless shelters and assistance programs available to those in need in almost every city across the country. One fortunate fact about homelessness is that the majority of victims become homeless due to some sort of financial crisis and are able to turn their circumstances around after the crisis is resolved. However, there is an unfortunate group of the homeless population that, mainly due to mental illness and chemical abuse, remains chronically homeless. The primary factor contributing to this population’s persistent homelessness is a lack of programs and shelters that are able to deal with substance abusers or those suffering from mental illness. There is a significant need for programs that can provide shelter and counseling for the mentally ill and substance abusing homeless. Although there are programs like the Canadian initiative to create an alcohol distribution program for those chronically homeless who are alcoholics, many of them remain in clinical trials and never make it to the mainstream social support systems. Even though the chronic homeless make up a smaller percentage of the homeless population as a whole, they consume over half of the available resources in shelters that were not designed to handle them. If real change is wanted, then there must be a push for more specialized resources that are able to handle the homeless with mental illnesses, substance abuse, or both.

Homelessness and children

     At the age of 24 my dear friend went through hard times.  She was unwanted by family and had nowhere else to go.  After months that I had not spoken to her, because of losing touch with her.  She called and had given me some insight to her homelessness that touched her and her 2 kids for months.  She began stated that her family was disgusted with her behavior and that noone wanted to take her in their homes.  Embarassed by her actions and decisions that she once created for herself, so was everyone else around her. 

     She has been on the streets without a car or somewhere to call a home.  Her kids were small and did not understand what was going on around them.  My friend,Jennifer, stated that she found a shelter that would take them in.  The only conditions were that she would only get 2 small cots, 1 for herself and the other for her small children that had to share.  She would need to beat the rush in the evening and if she and her children were lucky would have a nice warm place to sleep in for the night.  She needed to be gone first thing in the morning whether she felt sick or not.  This was not a good situation for her. 

     By the time that we had contacted each other I could somehow relate with what she went through.  At the age of 22.  I had found myself lost and with noone to turn to.  My family didn't want to help me.  I turned to the only help that I thought I new, my daughter's father.  For a short period of time he wanted to help me have a place to live, but with 1 condition that he would take me back and forth to work.  At that time I had no choice I did not want to live on the streets.  I decided that I need to find a place so I set off.  Only for the next 2 days would become my homeless state.  With my 2 year old daughter and myself we called my car home for 2 days. 

This was a terrible situation not for myself but for my daughter.  This was the worst time in my life that I reached.  The only thing left to do was to try to reach for my sister and have faith that I would get throught this.  I did.  With her help I found a place to live within 1 week and she helped me get through this.  I am so grateful that she was in my life and that she new that this living situation was over.  I was lucky many are not.  There are so many teenagers and adults that fall under the same siutation.  Sometimes this is unevitable and reoccurs.  Some choices are not always the best but are the choices that we have made.

     Many don't understand that most of us don't want to be on the streets.  Many don't have any family or friends to turn too so they are left broken hearted and treated as if they are not human.  I believe that everyone should be given a second chance in trying to find themselves within themselves.  We are not promised anything in life, not even another day.  It is truly up to ourselves to want and to want change. 



     This an image that I located.  It is not affliated with my story or my friends story.

Help for the Homeless

Homelessness is a serious issue around the world. Here, in America, it needs serious attention. Our streets and shelters are growing more populated with people without a home. More than 17% of the homeless population in America are considered to be chronically homeless. This means that these individuals have been on the streets for over a year. They have no home to go to, no career to provide them with a paycheck, and must sometimes fight to eat and stay warm on the cold, rainy nights.

Many have mental conditions, drug addictions, and have lost their reason to go on. Many have no family, while others are living on the streets with their families. Many are simply individuals that have lost their jobs and their homes in today's struggling economy. The numbers of homeless are on the rise again and due to our economy, funding has been cut. What is going to happen to the homeless people of America? It is important that we as Americans start reaching out to help the homeless and bring attention to the needs that must be met to stop homelessness. It is simple...the homeless in America need help. We must help.

Chronic Homeless are a Small Percentage - Right?

Only 20% of the homeless population that utilize homeless shelters use it for more than a month.  80% of the users of these facilities come into a shelter once or maybe twice.  Their stays are usually short(a month or less) and after that they never come back.  Sounds pretty good, doesn't it?  Only 20% routinely utilize the system and the resources that it provides.  Think again!

Approximately half of this 20% come into homeless shelters an average of 5 time per year and stay nearly two months each time.  That is 10 out of the 12 months!  The other half - they only come in one or two times each year, but there stays are extended and they average 280 days per stay. 


But here is the interesting part!  This 20% of the overall homeless population uses up over 50% of all the available resources!  The other 80% uses less than half of the resources that are available.  So, in these economic times, isn't it about time that we get serious about the problem of chronic homelessness?  Think of the amount of services that would be available if we could reduce the chronic population to even 10%.  Or, even better, 5%.  How many more people could get the assistance they need if the services were available.  And this is without adding any more money to the budget.

The man on the bench

During the team meeting this morning, we got an exciting announcement. Some beds opened up in our program, and they needed to be assigned. Four single beds in group residences or coops. One shared room. One rooming house. The population served by our program: about 450 people in various states of health.

Each of my team members has at least one client living in a transitional shelter. We recently enrolled a man in his 70's whose permanent address for the past two years has been a bench in Cambridge center. Two days later he was missing, and no one knows how to find him. His bench is empty, which is a shame because today we might have had a bed for him. With so many people vying for the bed, we can't hold it even for a day, hoping he'd reappear.

Statistics tell us that each year, about 650,000 people will be homeless. Most of these, reports indicate, will be homeless for a short period of time. They will get help and get back on their feet. But what happens to the rest? - They become "chronically homeless".

Not many people know what "Chronically Homeless" looks like. They visualize the stereotypical disheveled man, mumbling to himself as he pushes an empty shopping cart down the street. In reality, our clients look like you and me.

In the shelters, you'd have a cot to sleep on. The shelter provides two meals a day. There are showers, and you'd have a locker, like the ones at the gym. Laundry facilities are available.

At 9:30am, staff would tell you to leave. The shelter must be empty during the day to ensure you don't get too comfortable and "homey". Having showered, eaten, and taken any medication you're prescribed, you would have to find a place to be during the day. You can't return to the shelter before 4:30pm, regardless of weather or your personal health. You could spend the day walking around town if the weather is nice. You could also find a program at which to spend your days, which would provide lunch.

When you return to the shelter, you'd have dinner. You can't really be a vegetarian, or lactose intolerant. You can't eat Kosher food, or avoid fats or sugars. The shelter simply can't handle these things or the associated financial burden. You also have to learn to sleep in a room with multiple strangers who snore, scream, or sleepwalk at night. This is why you might opt out of the arrangement, choosing a park bench.

It Could Be YOU!!!!

In a society of self absorb individuals too consumed with their own lives will anyone speak out towards the homelessness. Will anyone stand up and be the voice for those who have nothing compared to what the average person has.

No one is exempt from having everything taken from them or losing what they've worked so hard to achieve. Sometimes misfortunes are something that can't be avoided, but regardless of the reason an individual winds up be homeless, we as a national should rally around them to help reintegrate them into society. We are a nation built on the charity of our very own citizens that brought us become such a great society in the eyes of other countries. We have a social responsibility to each other as being members of this great American nation.

The question can be asked what the face of homelessness is and the answer to that question can be YOU. It can be your sister, brother, mother, father, or anyone in your family.