EP006: Why have we not ended homelessness?
Transcript available here.
Dene in September 2022
We want to begin this episode by asking a big question. With all the suffering, all the helplessness and fear felt, as expressed by Dene and others living on our streets, why have we not ended homelessness? Beyond what the solution needs to be, whatever combination of more housing, more mental health, more drug rehab, more job training, and whatever else ‘more’ is needed, why haven’t we made it happen? Could it be that we are only seeing the forest, and because of it genuinely missing the trees? Are we so overwhelmed by the larger issue of homelessness, we are truly missing the person going through.
When folks living inside discuss homelessness, among each other, the conversation often ends up being about how (quote, unquote) “the issue” affects them or their neighborhood. To put it directly, what impacts the lives of the housed is what gets talked about when discussing the unhoused. That list includes…. the piling up of garbage, drug-use, loss of park use, taxes, panhandling, right down to how the homeless smell and look on public transit. And because many people living inside are frankly tired of it, or overwhelmed by it, or even angry over it, often the knee-jerk reaction is to want, all of it, the whole issue, to just go-away.
As community, we then support, or quietly consent, while the city erects chain link fencing around areas that were providing cover from the rain for those without shelter. We are okay with hostile architecture installed that prevents people from being able to sleep on benches, where they can be off the ground. We are put-off when we see folks hiding in the bushes or back alleys publicly going to the bathroom but we don’t demand public bathrooms and garbage pickup for those without a place to live. We turn away when sweeps are conducted, not seeing the lives being uprooted.
Despite these types of actions, as well as the efforts to provide programs and services, the issue not only persists, it is getting worse. We have to ask ourselves, really, “Why is that?” “What are we missing here?” Is only seeing the issue of homelessness and its effect on us, the housed, part of the problem? Would our programs and services change if we changed how we see the issue, meaning seeing the person actually suffering through homelessness?
Dene in 2015 at the Facing Homelessness office.
Excerpt from the episode:
”The problem with mental health is nobody's going to receive help. Unless they want it. That's the thing that gets kind of iffy, you know, for me, because it's like, you can't exactly. I don't think it's right to force somebody into like a psych ward. Because just because they can't, they can't deal with the trauma that they've been through. That's, that just perpetuates it, you know, that makes the, the issue worse. You know. I'm terrified to go into the hospital because I, you know, I went through some things on the streets where I was, you know, bound and you know, and sexually abused for like, a few days. And so, when I was in the hospital, and I had a freakout, they found me. And it immediately sent me into, like, some PTSD, flashbacks, and I just, I saw these doctors, these doctors were no longer doctors, they were, they were, you know, they were abused. They were abusers, and I was a victim, and I had to protect myself at all costs, you know, and it was it was, it was terrifying to be in that position. And I know that it's hard for somebody to comprehend that. That hasn't been through it, but but it makes sense. If you really look at it.” - Dene
Denes current living situation - 2022
Why have we not ended homelessness?
To answer that question, truthfully, we need to know, are we wanting to end homelessness so that we, the housed, are not impacted by it, or do we want to end it so that the folks experiencing it will no longer suffer?
Those are two very different reasons. The former looks for solutions to address the symptoms of homelessness with little consideration for those struggling through it. The latter dives deeper into the reasons for homelessness in an effort to address root causes, focusing on the specific needs and barriers of the homeless.
Both approaches cost lots of money. There is no way around that. We can continue to spend funds sweeping the issue under the rug or we can decide to earnestly invest in our communities by addressing the core issues of those struggling.
Ending homelessness begins with each of us understanding why we want homelessness to end. Are we doing it for ourselves or for the homeless? It’s an important distinction.