The homeless and the lack of will to solve a problem that has many solutions

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

Most people have shelter of some sort. This immediately puts a homeless person in the position of being the "other". What's wrong with them? Why don't they have a home like everyone else? Many Americans give the homeless no thought at all except that they don't want to have to see them. There is a real callousness that exists in our society for the poorest of the poor - those who cannot afford a roof over their head.

But, perhaps the housing crisis and the millions of foreclosures that are turning formerly prosperous, well-sheltered middle class Americans into the New Homeless will give us an opportunity to finally address the many issues of homelessness and look for real answers. We cannot lump all the homeless together in one bunch without understanding the uniqueness of each individual's personal tragedy.

In the title to this thread I mentioned the lack of will to address this issue. I believe that there is no will to solve this problem. If I were an incredibly wealthy altruistic individual who had a plan to alleviate homelessness in a particular area, I wonder if I would even be allowed to.

What if I were able to buy acres and acres of land outside of some city or suburb and I was willing to put hundreds of Katrina cottages on the land that I would allow the homeless to live in. What if I built a community house with computers, weight rooms, a common dining area? What if I had a private transportation system that ran a bus to and from my enclave every hour on the hour from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm. What if I forbade drugs and violence on the property with permanent eviction being the penalty for those who ignored this restriction? What if my goal was to help people get on their feet with housing and transportation with the goal that they would transition themselves with the savings my plan would provide them back to the place where they could work and be self-sufficient once again?

My plan addresses the problems most people have with homelessness:

***My homeless residents are invisible because I have brought them to a remote setting. People want the homeless to be invisible.

***My homeless residents are not drug addicts so I am not creating a community of vice. People think the homeless are criminals and drug addicts

***My homeless residents have opportunities for employment since I solved most of the transportation issue. People think the homeless don't want to work.

So here's my point. I bet I could unfurl that plan at almost any town or city in America and have it be shot down. Why? Because in their heart of hearts, we just don't want to help the homeless, because if we did, we would have by now.

[marketcrazy1]

1. thank you for this thoughtful post.

we COULD have or make a plan IF we really wanted to. you wrote: "the housing crisis and the millions of foreclosures that are turning formerly prosperous, well-sheltered middle class Americans into the New Homeless will give us an opportunity to finally address the many issues of homelessness and look for real answers." this may be the catalyst for change in how we as a nation and a people deal with homelessness. if so I will welcome it although it is a pity that this is what it takes to open our eyes the this problem.......

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

2. We could build these for a safe and secure place for people to sleep

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsule_hotel
The guest space is reduced in size to a modular plastic or fiberglass block roughly 2 m by 1 m by 1.25 m, providing room to sleep. Facilities range in entertainment offerings (most include a television, an electronic console, and wireless internet connection). These capsules are stacked side by side and two units top to bottom, with steps providing access to the second level rooms. Luggage is stored in a locker, usually somewhere outside of the hotel. Privacy is ensured by a curtain or a fibreglass door at the open end of the capsule. Washrooms are communal and most hotels include restaurants, or at least vending machines, pools, and other entertainment facilities.

This style of hotel accommodation was developed in Japan and has not gained popularity outside of the country, although Western variants with larger accommodations and often private baths are being developed (such as the StayOrange.com Hotel, Yotel the Pod Hotel, and citizenM in Kuala Lumpur, London, New York and Amsterdam respectively). Guests are asked not to smoke or eat in the capsules.<1>

These capsule hotels vary widely in size, some having only fifty or so capsules and others over 700. Many are used primarily by men<2>. There are also capsule hotels with separate male and female sleeping quarters. Clothes and shoes are sometimes exchanged for a yukata and slippers on entry. A towel may also be provided.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

3. We could bring back the concept of dormitory housing ala YMCA and YWCA. nt

[Warpy]

4. Most homeless are substance abusers

If they're not homeless because of substance abuse, they start because it's a coping mechanism for being in that special human hell called homelessness.

Any solution has to deal with substance abuse and the attendant problems of theft, violence, and a propensity to catch on fire right out front.

Homeless people need shelter that doesn't rely on their staying clean and sober. They need indoor space with locking doors to protect their property and themselves from theft and violence. The rooms need sprinkler systems to knock down fires. Once the pressure of being exposed on the street is removed, many would simply curtail substance abuse on their own. Most importantly, the release from the dormitory warehousing in shelters would cut down on the transmission of a lot of diseases of overcrowding, especially the new strains of TB that are resistant to drugs.

No one would voluntarily live in one small room if they had the means to provide conventional shelter. However, as a means to transition from homelessness to appropriate housing, this is one solution that might have a chance of working for people who have been down so long they forgot what up looks like.

There was even a time in my own life when I would have welcomed such a place.

I read of one residence hotel in San Francisco that opened to accept actively drinking homeless men. I haven't read about that project for about three years and wonder if it is still ongoing. It's really the type of solution we need for homeless people. Some will succeed in moving out of the bottom and into their own places. Some will not. They all deserve safe housing.

Removing people from the area where a social support system of parents and siblings are, even if those people have given up on them, is not a great idea, in any case. That's where the support during their transition is likeliest to come from, believe it or not.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

5. My utopian homeless plan that I described in my OP is not really

what I think would necessarily work - it was working backwards from what society perceives IT needs, not the needs of the homeless themselves. That's why I envisioned the more remote location since society wants the homeless to be invisible. My point was that you could twist yourself into a pretzel trying to solve the problem with all the roadblocks that are commonly thrown up and you STILL wouldn't get approval.

I actually think the solutions need to be where the homeless are - RIGHT HERE! So I agree with you about not removing them from a social support system.

There is also always a strain of self-righteousness that pervades any effort to help the homeless - they always seem to be forbidden to drink and often they are forced to listen to Bible thumping as a condition of receiving help. I used to support a mission for the homeless because they sent you a little card that allowed you to direct the donation to "Hard services" like food and shelter or you could pick "general" which meant that they might spend it on the proselytizing part of things. Then they dropped the part where you could direct your donation, and sorry to say, I stopped donating. Food and Shelter yes - proselytizing, no.

[izquierdista]

6. You are spot on

Providing transitional housing is a great idea, but some will never make the transition and will stay at rock bottom until their addiction finally kills them. And in a decent society, you just have to shrug and let them have the freedom to do exactly that.

[JonLP24]

8. About 38% are substance abusers - US Conference of Mayor's Report on Hunger and Homelessness, 1998.

Lack of affordable housing is the leading cause of homelessness. Many homeless work park-time, full-time, 2 jobs and still cannot afford permanent housing.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

9. "Lack of affordable housing is the leading cause of homelessness"

Thank you. The cost of shelter as a percentage of income has gone through the roof. And every industry in America will suffer for it. If you can barely make your rent or mortgage, you will NOT be buying a new car or new furniture.

Where do the Almost Homeless live? In motels. In every town and city in America you will find families camped out in motel/hotel rooms. You will see the school bus stopping in front of the motels. And what have some of our compassionate cities and towns decided to do about this? Pass laws that make staying in a motel for more than 30 consecutive days illegal, adding to MORE upheaval in the lives of these poor families.

[Greyhound]

7. You are so right, you could never get it through. K&R

[Fireweed247]

10. "we just don't want to help the homeless"

I don't know if it is 'we', but the homeless apparently aren't able to hire lobbyists in DC, so the politicians just don't seem to give a damn since there is nothing in it for them.

The ultra rich could do something to help, but they only seem concerned with hoarding and making more money. I think it would be such fun to just buy people houses if I had billions, but the kind people never seem to be the ones with all the money for some reason.

I love your plans. With the recent news "A record 19 million U.S. homes stood empty at the end of 2008 and homeownership fell to an eight-year low as banks seized homes faster than they could sell them", the government could easily 'bailout' the homeless by purchasing homes and converting them to low income housing.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

11. Give cities and towns the right of first refusal to buy foreclosed housing

and to create "infill" public housing. That is, individual homes, seeded throughout many neighborhoods that do not have the "project" stigma. Offer these homes on a lease to own basis on an equity sharing basis to those who qualify. At time of future sale, the city or town recoups it share of the equiity or claims a right of first refusal to start the process all over again with a new buyer.