homelessness

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<b>Clean42day</b> - Tue 07 Feb, 2006 4:21 pm<br>
<b>Post subject: </b>homelessness<hr class="sep" width="95%">
I wanted to post this topic because it is one that is close to my heart. I was homeless for 10 years out there in the streets of claifornia. it is a topic that is directly related to addiction/alcoholism, but not exclusive to it. many of our members in 12 step recovery programs have come from homelessness or arrive just on the brink. this paper that I wrote is not only from direct experience but also from statistical information, but also from a community and governments perspective. although I did research this from my own perspective, I was also surprised to learn some things along the way. many of us assume homelessness is a choice.....and that is not always true. I myself struggle with this aspect of myself when faced with a panhandler asking for money at the local grocery store. Now that I am in recovery, where do I draw the line of being able to give back what I have freely found? How selfish can I be when I have been where these people are?
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I am no longer homeless, and my heart breaks for these individuals who for various reasons have fallen through the cracks of society that we all so delicatley walk on, and many times, take for granted. I just wanted to share this with you all and get some feedback if possible. I am going to do an informative speech on the topic for my public speaking class.
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this is a rather long essay....but well worth the read.
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Gail VanEtten
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English 101-09
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Professor Gross-Mejia
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Ethnography Essay 4
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18 May 2005
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Homeless in Lancaster
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The homeless in Lancaster have a face, a name, and an identity. At any point in time these people are still someone’s mother, daughter, father, sister, son, husband or wife. People are quick to make assumptions when they see these people living on the fringes of survival. Some may look on in disgust or pity, pass judgment based on mainstream beliefs, or worse refuse to acknowledge that another fellow human being is suffering right before their very eyes. Once a person has hit the bottom of homelessness, they say, without family support, their life chances to actually make it back above the poverty line are next to none.
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According to a summary report given to the governor in the year 2000, on any given day in the state of California 361,000 people are homeless.(www.sen.ca.gov) Because Lancaster encompasses both the city and rural areas, there are no concrete statistics for the number of homeless in this community. It is difficult to comprise accurate statistical numbers, because many homeless people have found ingenious ways to survive without community support or shelter assistance and do not come forward to be counted. A recent UCLA study revealed the current estimate for the number of homeless in the Antelope Valley is 4,500 - 6000 people per month.(Foster, L. and Patricia Snowdown. 2004) This study also admits that that actual number in reality is three to six times higher than the census estimate.
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It is important to note that the government assistance programs define homeless as, not having a fixed address or a place to sleep. There are a wide range of extremes within the term defined as homeless. Not having a place to stay for a night or two, periodically homeless, and chronically homeless for years, all fall under the same definition. A person can be considered homeless if they live on the street, in makeshift houses or tents, a car, abandoned buildings, a community shelter, emergency transitional living, or domestic violence shelters. Contrary to popular belief the greatest contributing factor for homelessness is the loss or lack of employment. The second contributing factors are disability or mental illness, and the third is a mixture of dual diagnosis - which means chemical dependency combined with mental disorders.
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After talking with many homeless people in various settings; Grace Resource Center, the Lancaster shelter, St Vincent’s community outreach program, and a homeless person who lives in the field across the street from my apartment building, they all say that the community based resources in Lancaster do not adequately assist the growing number of the homeless in this area. Nor is there a final link to transition back into independence. It is almost as if they keep a person just on the brink of poverty but do not have enough support or funding to help them over the hump with adequate affordable housing.
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According to Steve Baker, the director of Grace Resources, his organization feeds 8,000 people per month in this community. Of these individuals 39% are mentally ill, and 39% are veteran males. One half of these people get hot meals and the other half get groceries. The Lancaster Community Shelter (in the winter months) holds a maximum capacity of 99 people, 54 of these people are temporary long term residents who are waiting for section 8, or looking for employment, and 45 beds are open to individuals who walk in off the street. In the summer season, March 16 - October 30, these walk-in beds are reduced to 10. The Department of Welfare offers Emergency General Relief Assistance to individuals who are homeless, but it takes over 45 days from the date of application to receive $212 dollars, which is paid monthly. They also offer emergency hotel vouchers for a 2 week stay but there are only 25 vouchers available per month.
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Section 8 housing is so overwhelmed with applicants in this valley the waiting list is 3 to 8 years long. Bill the homeless man across the street from me said, “that working within the system is so frustrating and depressing that it is like trying to get up a greased hill�. Many of the individuals I spoke with described this same frustration as they all passed through various stages of hopeless desperation to a level of acceptance that the system they once use to believe in, and paid their taxes into, has failed them. It is clear that this segment of the population face many obstacles and the community support system is extremely limited and grossly underfunded. Many, in their own ways have given up working within the system and have found ingenious ways to survive without community support.

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The homeless in our community have a subculture all their own. They live by a different set of social rules and structure. There is a hierarchy within the homeless community. The ones who live in cars or who have claimed squatters rights to abandoned buildings are considered to be better off or fortunate. The next level are those who have built makeshift houses or tents out of pallets or blankets and live in alleys or fields. And the lower half, or the ones at the bottom, live where ever they end up, usually in stairwells, store doorways, in alleys, or in the park. One determining factor of status is the different levels of security these places offer and the other factor that defines status is being transient or stationary. Many of them take pride in their ability to adapt. In the words of one homeless man he says, “the shelter is for sissy’s�(Anonymous).
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Some other aspects of social behavior is there are some unspoken rules of respect. They rarely ask or speak to eachother about the things that are topics of conversation for upper level society like; their past, their family, the work they once did or ways they survive now. They feel they have been disrespected enough by society and do not broach topics that are painful or will cause eachother more shame. Also they do not give up information freely to “outsiders� for fear that it might be used against them. Their anonymity is precious and some do not even reveal to eachother where they live. They gather in social settings of free meal lines, community resource centers, the shelter, or in designated areas on the street. What binds them together is being destitute. Since most of them are forced to focus on basic needs of survival, they are more concerned with what happens within their neighborhood from sunset to sunrise than they are social issues of upper level society. They communicate and relay information by word of mouth about the best places to find edible food, what meal line serves the best meals, or what neighborhood or apartments buildings throw away the best material goods. A major fear that underlines these peoples existence is the possibility of being arrested for being homeless, a transient, loitering, or a vagrant. A popular topic is who was arrested lately for what crime and what sections of town, or store fronts to stay away from. Evidently being homeless in the state of California is profiled by the police as being a crime. They have very little trust for anyone.
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Since many of them work in ways that are unconventional, they are very protective and territorial with eachother. The people who panhandle have staked a claim to certain corners or store fronts that they call their own. Others who recycle cans and bottles have a defined salvage route and they know which dumpsters theoretically belong to whom and they don’t encroach on each other’s livelihood. A few of the females I spoke with prostitute for a living and call certain streets their strolls or their territory. Violations for these rules of respect result in the perpetrator being taxed for a portion of their profit, robbed, or shunned from neighborhoods. Others work side jobs when they can or at Labor Ready for the day.
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Their economy flows in cycles at different times of the month. At the beginning of the month many of them get their GR, disability, or unemployment checks and they will not be found in meal lines or on the street while they have money. This is the time of the month where they are distrustful of even eachother and the local neighborhoods for fear of being robbed of what little they do have. They believe they cannot rely on the police for help or support. Many times when they report a crime, they are taken to jail for what the police claim is for their own protection. Towards the middle and end of the month when their money runs out, there is more of a community atmosphere where they trade, sell, or make deals in material goods, and the meal lines fill up again. As much as they have a general attitude of distrust, in many ways these people are also protective of eachother, especially of the one’s who have mental disorders. They will give eachother a heads up on who the local perpetrator is, and who to stay away from. They can be very charitable with eachother by sharing what little clothes or food they have with those who are less fortunate, but they will not be manipulated or taken for granted either.
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For various reasons, the missing link in these people’s lives, is the lack of family support and a stable roof over their heads. A few described this process as their fall from grace. Since the cost of living in California is so high, many of their family members are unable to help. Others are too proud to ask. The majority of these people are willing to put in a hard days work for a days pay, but are unable to get past the attitude of discrimination towards them to even get a fair chance. Even when they do find employment they still have to save enough money for rent and deposit. And in the meantime while they are still homeless, they must still find a way to shower, keep clean clothes, be presentable for work, and find a way to show up for the job. Because of these circumstances they cannot keep a job long enough to get above water. Imagine working daily and not knowing where you will sleep each night for months. One person who works at labor ready related that he can make $40 dollars a day and makes that last one week by spending just $10 dollars a day to survive, but cannot save enough money to pull himself out of the never ending spiral of being homeless because Labor Ready is temporary intermittent work.
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Despite all of the obstacles these people face, I was amazed at the quiet determined pride these people have and how strong and durable their human spirit is. When most people see a homeless person they assume that the person is weak or to blame somehow. They never consider that the social system we all belong to could easily cast us aside too if we were to loose our identity that is so closely related to our jobs or careers. A sudden illness, job related injury, family crises, or being laid off could easily send us into this community of lost souls. A homeless shelter employee relates, that the average California resident who works at a low paying job, who has no assets, investments, or insurance to speak of, is exactly 3 months away from being homeless, if they do not regain employment in a timely manner. These people who have slipped through the cracks of social acceptance were at one time our neighbor or just like us. The only problem is other than governmental assistance, rarely is anyone personally willing to give them a helping hand back up into regaining their lives. However, in spite of this lack of support, they do keep trying to live as best they can with what resources they have to work with. In the meantime, even though they have lost faith in the system, they all use the best weapon they have - hope and their own determined effort to live. Most of them say that too many of society’s individuals depersonalize this topic and that is what needs to change. Homelessness can unexpectedly happen to anyone. If a person cannot rely on their family who can they rely on? The assumed belief that the system will help has become an illusion and a myth. The government would like us to believe that our tax dollars are going to support these community resources, but it is really the non-profit charity organizations that take up the slack. Grace resources estimates that only 5% of these individuals will regain some simulation of a normal life one year from now. It makes me wonder what we can do as individuals to ensure a better percentage than that.

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thanks for reading and replying with your thoughts. <hr>
<b>Prescott</b> - Thu 16 Feb, 2006 9:33 am<br>
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Hi Gail, Good work! As I read this I was taken back to when I was homeless and the paper rang true all the way though. Having worked with the homeless veterans many of which fall into the dual diagnosis and having been one myslef I think they have a better chance at renewal. There are programs in place for this population to get a second or thrid chance. As for the rest of the population the chances are very slim. This is a real problem that must be addressed. Thank you for you insightful work on this. Hope was all I had left when I admitted myslef into the psych ward at the VA. I don't have the answers but realize the problem and it's only going to get worse until it's taken seriously by the society as a whole. <hr>
<b>Doraine</b> - Thu 16 Feb, 2006 2:09 pm<br>
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Gail
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I did a research paper on Homeless Women &amp; Children when I was in college. Little did I know I would be homeless a few years from then. I was homeless for about 90 days when I got HUD housing. That was in sobriety. I lost my alimony and couldn't find a job fast enough to pay the rent. Even if I had found a job an entry level salary wouldn't have been enough to pay rent in NYC. The general public doesn't realize how pervasive the problem of homelessness is.