One of the most common preconceptions people have when someone says they're homeless or about to become homeless is that anyone can just show up at a shelter and be housed. Nothing could be further from the truth. From my experience, service providers will gladly tell you all about their programs and what they have to offer and how many people they've helped but there's a side to them they all too often do not mention. For one thing, how many of them will openly admit that they feed a revolving door system?
In order to get funding, many shelters must fill quotas and in order to fill those quotas, shelters may have too many people in them or strict stay times to keep the flow of people coming and going in order to have the numbers required by funding programs. Overcrowding leads to safety issues you may not be aware of but the homeless people who have gone to shelters certainly do! If you want to know what goes on at some shelters, click on this link to get an idea.
One of the reasons I personally didn't just show up at a shelter is because I knew I couldn't do that. There is a "process" that you have to go through and even if you go through that "process," there is no guarantee of immediate permanent housing due to the indefinitely long waiting lists. Many places expect you to keep calling them every day to let them "know" you still need help and they won't call back unless there's an opening and no one can tell you when that will be. Say you get through "processing" and by a stroke of luck, there's an opening. Guess what? You get to stay for maybe 90 days. Where do you go after that if you can't be moved into housing? So my line of reasoning is "If you can't guarantee me immediate permanent housing, why would I call you?" For one thing, I'm wasting cell phone minutes to call when I should be saving them in case a possible employer calls.
Another issue I have with some shelter providers is if they are faith-based shelters that require conversion from its patrons. I'm going to call out the Union Gospel Mission on this one because when I first called them I was told that attending services was mandatory! What if you're a Muslim, a Buddhist or Jewish? Even if they tell you that you don't have to be a Christian to get help, the expectation is very much one of conversion as I was told "I would still have to hear about Jesus". That's fine but how can you say you're helping ALL of the community when you obviously have an agenda? The idea that you won't help because someone does not choose to believe as you do is both ignorant and disrespectful to other cultures. If you don't believe me, talk to us natives about conversion.... and what's up with those homeless guys standing around downtown Seattle with signs screaming about God and for sinners to repent? Every one of the ones I talked to said they came from the Union Gospel Mission's shelter system. The only thing this kind of behavior tells me is that you're a creepy organization!
Also, some shelters discriminate against LGBT youth and adults. I find that to be rather sad due the fact that from everything I've read about Christ, he didn't discriminate against anyone much to the dissatisfaction of the clergy during his time. From what I've read, Jesus served the very people everyone else looked down on as an example of compassion. Seems to me some folks pick and choose from their belief systems to justify their attitude towards other people.
A big reason I find myself on the outside of some programs is because I don't fit their eligibility requirements. For one thing, I've never had a problem with addictions or the law. I'm also not a domestic abuse victim so I can't go to those shelters or programs. What if I were a single dad with kids? If you think it's bad for a single mother trying to get help from programs, you ought to talk to these dads about how little help they get! Not many family shelters exist and if they do, it's women with children only. Dad gets sent to a men's shelter if he can get into one.
I have a question to service providers to answer honestly if they can: How can you offer help to get into housing when you already know that Section 8 has been closed to application for years and state funding has been slashed? In the case of Seattle, what shelter are you going to send folks to considering the fact that many are closing due to lack of financial support? How safe and clean are your shelters? How much of your budget is spent on "administrative costs" versus providing more housing?
How many of you know that there are no standards on health and safety in shelters? If you and your family were to suddenly become homeless, would you go to a shelter that was dirty or dangerous to be in? How many of you have seen the news bits about some shelters having problems with bed bugs? If you as a service provider wouldn't stay at the shelter you run, why on earth would you expect others to do so?
Now it's not my style to just bring up issues without thinking of ways to make better solutions to an obvious problem. I've been pondering about whether or not shelters should figure out a way to get corporate sponsorship to help with funding issues because I've noticed that many programs to help the homeless tank when government funding does. I've also noticed that programs and shelters not dependent solely on government aid stay in operation when others are closing. Many companies that are able to, often look for ways to give back to the community and I can't think of a better way for them to do that than to provide support to responsible local shelters or food banks.
Standardized health and safety policies in shelters are badly needed. You cannot just cram a bunch of different needs into a room and think there won't be problems. A prime example of this is putting families in the same shelter as severely mentally disabled homeless adults who might be prone to violence or individuals who could be undocumented predators. Also, how do you separate individuals with contagious diseases from everyone else?
Here's another suggestion: how about treating patrons with dignity? I spoke to a man who showed up at Nickelsville one night looking for a safe place to sleep for the night. The man told me that a shelter ran in the bottom of a church had just kicked everyone out because someone did not hold up their end of an agreement to help with housekeeping therefore EVERYONE was punished for what one person failed to do. I understand the need for rules but seriously, how does punishing people not responsible for the actions of another, help? Homeless people are people and do not appreciate other people looking down on them anymore than you do.
I could sit around talking about homelessness all I want to but the only way anything is going to actually change is if individuals get involved in their local communities. Writing blogs can help bring awareness but awareness doesn't mean a thing if there's no active involvement behind it to make real changes to end and prevent homelessness. The biggest loss in the homeless population today is hope. How can hope exist if nothing changes? The government isn't going to make new opportunities for change, WE DO!
So here's my challenge to all of the non homeless people out there. Pretend you're a homeless person or about to become homeless. Look up services for homeless people in your area and call them. See, this way you'll own the experience of what it feels like when you call "resources" looking for help. If you're a services provider, the same challenge applies only call your own facility or org so you can see what a homeless person hears when they call. You may be in for an eye opener.....
At the bottom of this blog is a list of links with helpful information on it regarding shelters and how they operate. Get educated.... get involved!
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dhs/html/home/mccainenglish.shtml
http://www.wlwt.com/r/26213912/detail.html
http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/pages/the-revolving-door-spins-faster
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/8/17/893974/-Homeless-LGBT-Youth,-Lost-in-the-Crowd
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Although I don't have 1st hand experience with homeless shelters (and I am incredibly grateful for this, because I have been close several times in my life and did squat for several months without electricity) - I do know of people who were denied access to a shelter because they were transgender or a pre-op transsexual woman. Several of these people ended up committing suicide - and some of these people were veterans.
There have been several shelters for trans youth, but many of them go out of business because of lack of donations. Many transgender people are underemployed or unemployed, which makes it difficult to keep a shelter open.
As homelessness continues to be a problem in this nation, we need to find solutions to the problem - solutions that do not discriminate based on gender identity, sexual orientation, gender, religion, disability, or any other factor. We also need to find solutions that don't include using 19th century solutions like poor houses and debtors' prisons. We need solutions that don't mean putting people into prison for mental illness, because they are poor, or they have committed
I also feel that a homeless shelter is, and should be a temporary situation; it should be a safe and confortable environment, however, not as comfortable as “home.” The goal is to get back on your feet. Unfortunately, just as any other organization or business, the consumer is subject to the bureaucracies and processes, which often times are not practical and this is why people get lost in-between the cracks of a system.
Perhaps the real key to making these shelters safer and more effective in reducing the recidivism is funding, and corporate sponsorship
In my opinion, the topic of homelessness doesn’t get the national attention that it warrants. The reasons for homelessness have evolved within the last decade; homelessness is not the sole result of drug addictions, being a battered or abused women or criminal behavior. More people (in recent years) have become homeless not because they don’t have the qualifications, but rather due to employment scarcity.
One problem shelters face is deciding which element of the homeless population they will serve. Many do not have facilities to handle families, safely house both families and singles, or people of both sexes. Good shelters make these kinds of decisions, because of facility limitations and target populations they feel most in need. Usually they prefer families and single women, feeling that men are less likely to be abused out on the street.
There should be standards for shelters, at least in terms of safety and cleanliness. I am surprised by the note that says they do not know any shelters with time limits - I do not know any that do not - too many needy people, as well as the abuse by a few. Shelters are "temporary housing." Our local one has people work with a financial counselor and social worker, to find employment, make sure they are doing what is necessary financially, get them government assistance, get permanent housing, and help gain independence.
Shelters are rarely warm, fuzzy experiences. They are run by people and organizations that are dealing with a system that panders to the rich, and victimizes the poor.
As for the writer, Society does not owe you a home just because you have no home. Make better decisions. Take what is offered. Do better for yourself. Be grateful shelters exist. Yes we need more of these. And they could be better operated. Life sucks. Get used to it, deal with it and make your lfie better.
What you said is sad but true. We are supplying sox to an agency in Boston because their previous "Christian" supply stopped sending sox when they found out they served youth with aids.
Tom Costello Jr
in the end, all the losers are eventually rendered "homeless" as in no "safe" place to land, not owe rent. soon their cash runs out, and it's game over for them.
in the monopoly board game, there is a beginning and end, and after one player wins, a new game begins. but in the real world monopoly, the winning set of properties are inheritable, (that's exactly the republicans and the 1% are so against inheritance taxes) or a winning set can be acquired through marriage.
likewise, a losing set can be inherited or married. the winners stay winners and losers play "winner says", which is sorta like simon says. for example, if a loser can't pay the rent, then maybe they can pat their head and their belly at the same time while hopping on one foot. the american real estate game is like that, but without the sense of humor, and meaner, and more dangerous.
real estate investors, the rich and their bankers love to play monopoly, especially with your savings, and quite a very few hard working and law abiding americans throughout history didn't even realize they were in the middle of a big monopoly game.
kinda like an episode from the twilight zone.
If you believe that then you haven't read the Bible.
I also agree about placing families seperately. Again, where I am located this is the norm. There is a seperate family shelter, our facility specifically works with female adults. And your story from Nickelsville is infuriating. Handing down so called "punishment" in that way flies directly in the face of the NASW code of ethics.