busyThe first solution to homelessness is simply to put people in homes. Society needs to guarantee people a place to stay, if it doesn't want them camping out and perhaps freezing to death. Shelters don't count, and neither does any other kind of monitored living. Those interventions drive people away from help. They need their own apartment or house with the same freedoms and dignities as everyone else.
The second main thing the homeless need is income. That means jobs for those who can work, which is a lot of them; or some kind of public assistance for those who can't work. This is much cheaper than leaving them on the street to subsist through begging, stealing, or emergency services.
The third thing they need is resources. That includes everything from supplies to health care. Most homeless aid focuses on very small, short-term things like food or emergency medical care. That might keep people from dying right in front of you but it does not solve the problem. You have to make it possible for them to build up the components of a healthy life.
And you have to do all this in ways that the homeless population will find attractive because it meets their needs, and not shy away from due to strings attached. People don't risk death from exposure for no reason. If they're sleeping in the snow, it is because there are not enough shelters and/or those places are literally worse than death.
It's something I write about, periodically, because some of my characters are homeless. Danso and his family were homeless for months. Turq has been on the street even longer, and it's hard for him to accept help even when the offerings are safe and not judgmental. So I keep an eye out for ways to address these kinds of problems. How do you meet the emergency needs, how do you give people a route back into society, how do you get people back into homes, and especially how do you fix the root causes that drive people into homelessness in the first place? Solutions exist, a few places are using them, but most just can't be arsed.
September 30 2016, 02:33:06 UTC 4 years ago
Also, a lot of them are insane.
Shelters don't work very well because it forces them to deal with other homeless people who will try to abuse them. You'd basically have to put them in prison, or a mental hospital, or some other heavily supervised living situation. Against their will, because most of them would hate that.
October 3 2016, 20:41:49 UTC 4 years ago
You're right - some homeless people wouldn't be helped by homes alone; they need more support. But some pilot programs have shown a lot of promise.
Yes...
October 4 2016, 00:08:27 UTC 4 years ago
Also, housing greatly undermines the route into chronic homelessness. If you get people off the street quickly, then they tend not to deteriorate so far that they want nothing to do with society anymore. You can fix the damage before it gets too bad. Better yet are the programs aimed at preventing homelessness by identifying people in vulnerable positions, to make sure they don't lose their homes in the first place.
It won't fix everything, no. But it's one hell of an improvement over the current mess.
Re: Yes...
October 13 2016, 21:36:42 UTC 4 years ago Edited: October 13 2016, 21:37:18 UTC
Many, many years ago I read a Doris Lessing story about a homeless old woman who lived on the streets with the help of her cat, who caught and brought her pigeons to eat. And deep down, that's my fear...except possibly without a loyal and competent cat.
And. I am middle class, and my husband says our retirement savings are in decent shape, etc- but they have been trashed twice by stock market collapses that enriched the wealthy, AND people want to gut Social Security...
This is not because I want sympathy; I am lucky! And yet, it still seems like a possible fate despite all this- and how much more for others!
ETA- OH, and we need to be able to keep our cats in said housing!
I do my best to support everything that makes life more possible and pleasant for EVERYONE, and yes- that includes HOUSING for people who are homeless, as a first thing, without requiring the hoop-jumping that most areas now require.
Re: Yes...
October 14 2016, 02:11:14 UTC 4 years ago
:( Yeah, I know the feeling.
>> And. I am middle class, and my husband says our retirement savings are in decent shape, etc- but they have been trashed twice by stock market collapses that enriched the wealthy, AND people want to gut Social Security...
This is not because I want sympathy; I am lucky! And yet, it still seems like a possible fate despite all this- and how much more for others! <<
Exactly. L-America has created an environment of pervasive anxiety and depression because there is no real security for anyone. Survival has become a paid privilege, and almost nobody makes enough money to pay the prices charged for it in old age. >_<
>> ETA- OH, and we need to be able to keep our cats in said housing! <<
Agreed. I have seen a few motions in that direction, but most shelters forbid animals of any kind, and that discourages people from going there.
>> I do my best to support everything that makes life more possible and pleasant for EVERYONE, and yes- that includes HOUSING for people who are homeless, as a first thing, without requiring the hoop-jumping that most areas now require. <<
Good for you. A key reason people remain on the street is because it hurts less than seeking help. Think about that. The 'help' (really, helpiness) available is so abusive that sleeping outside is preferable and indeed often safer. If the goal is to assist people, it's a failure. If the goal is to shame and hurt people for having problems, it's a success. 0_o
Re: Yes...
October 14 2016, 02:48:19 UTC 4 years ago
When I really needed help myself, there was nothing. My father was sexually abusive; my mother was agreeable with that; and The only way I could get a college education was to bow to that.
I moved out ON my 18th birthday. I self-supported for over a year... which OUGHT to have meant that my parents' income was irrelevant for scholarships, etc.
And yet- while their income was technically irrelevant- the colleges insisted on KNOWING that before they would consider my scholarship. (Please recognize that I had brilliant grades and SAT scores!) And my parents refused to provide this, thus forcing me back into sexual slavery to my father, as a result of which I made serious suicide attempt, which they knew, but waited until it was clear I would survive it before taking me to the hospital; I can only assume they were hoping I'd be dead instead.
It worked out semi-OK; my father was scared to rape me more, but then he divorced my mother and said that since he was no longer married to her, me and my sister were not his family; he also stole things my great-grandma had left to me. My mother did identity fraud and stole the funds that were supposedly for my education.
No one would believe any of this, though, so there was no help.
And yeah- this is first world problems. but still- I learned NOT to ask for help. Even when I was close to homeless- suicide seemed better than dealing with my realistic options.
Happy ending, though- I have survived them all. :) AND got my education, AND have a happy life!
Re: Yes...
October 14 2016, 02:58:42 UTC 4 years ago
People who offer help routinely fail to recognize that the primary reason folks choose to avoid help is because their past experiences with it have been extremely negative. Caregivers think not seeking help is stupid. Well, getting yourself hurt when you could've avoided it is stupider.
>>When I really needed help myself, there was nothing. My father was sexually abusive; my mother was agreeable with that; and The only way I could get a college education was to bow to that.<<
Wow, that sucks. :(
>>I moved out ON my 18th birthday. I self-supported for over a year... which OUGHT to have meant that my parents' income was irrelevant for scholarships, etc.<<
It's a problem because of responsibility without autonomy. New adults are cast out of many services aimed at children, but often do not accrue full adult freedoms like choosing where to live or how to spend their money. Since college students are legal adults, parental income shouldn't factor in, unless the parents choose to help. But the system is set up in a way that tremendously reinforces abuse.
>> No one would believe any of this, though, so there was no help. <<
Feel free to prompt for fixits. I have characters in many situations that share aspects with this.
>> And yeah- this is first world problems. <<
I hate that term. It belittles problems which can be life-wrecking in scope.
>> but still- I learned NOT to ask for help. Even when I was close to homeless- suicide seemed better than dealing with my realistic options.<<
And this is why I hate it, because it leads to precisely this result. When people's problems are scorned, they learn not to seek help because it is unavailable or abusive. Then problems are harder or even impossible to solve. >_<
>> Happy ending, though- I have survived them all. :) AND got my education, AND have a happy life! <<
You won. Screw them. \o/