This is actually related to real world ephenssta, so if it’s okay with everyone I’ll be breaking character for a bit. During undergrad, I interned at a homeless shelter for a year. I did between 16 and 24 hours a week of case management, some basic job skills classes, and worked with people to get disability, unemployment, SNAP (food stamps), or other benefits as needed. After a year off during grad school in which I interned at a school, I have spent the last 8 months working at an agency that provides rental assistance to homeless individuals in Colorado. There are a lot of misconceptions about homelessness. Some are partially based in reality, but like most misconceptions are over-generalized and don’t begin to cover the full story. Yes, there are people who are homeless because they have been negligent, are struggling with some sort of substance abuse, or have otherwise made mistakes that put them in the situation they are currently living in. I challenge you, though, to think first of that person as a person. The worth of a person should not be in the job they work or the home they own (or rent) or where they find themselves currently. I ask that we not be so quick to judge when we see another human in that situation.
Homelessness frequently has a simple solution: housing. Our program has found that roughly 80% of our clients who we help get into suitable housing are able to maintain their housing self-sufficiently once our financial assistance ends. This is regardless of whether they are actively using drugs, have high healthcare and/or mental healthcare needs, or have a history of being in the criminal “justice” system.
Imagine that you have a problem you are desperately trying to fix, except instead of getting to go home to your bed every night you are sleeping on the streets. Sometimes the weather isn’t great, people are constantly bothering you, the noise and discomfort makes it hard to sleep, you are scared of being robbed or assaulted, and the police officers chase you around town telling you to move all night, pushing you farther and farther out of the public eye. How much energy do you think you can devote to solving that problem?
Further, imagine you work at a minimum wage job making the federal minimum in the USA (7.25/hr). Working 40 hours a week, you make $1,160 per month BEFORE tax. Now imagine you’re looking at an apartment that is unreasonably cheap, only $600 per month. That apartment is most likely going to want you to make three times the rent and be able to pay at least a month of rent up front. On top of that, you have to eat, pay other bills, and get to work. It’s not so easy when you don’t already have the money. But housing should not be a luxury. We have the resources to provide it. We have the resources to do the maintenance and the upkeep, even when someone is irresponsible with the place and leaves a mess. We owe it to our fellow humans.
That is why RedBeard spends his free time working to ensure that people currently living in homelessness are not only properly clothed and fed, but are able to get past the high barriers of entry and get into a stable living environment where they can actually work on being their best selves instead of merely surviving.
Homelessness frequently has a simple solution: housing. Our program has found that roughly 80% of our clients who we help get into suitable housing are able to maintain their housing self-sufficiently once our financial assistance ends. This is regardless of whether they are actively using drugs, have high healthcare and/or mental healthcare needs, or have a history of being in the criminal “justice” system.
Imagine that you have a problem you are desperately trying to fix, except instead of getting to go home to your bed every night you are sleeping on the streets. Sometimes the weather isn’t great, people are constantly bothering you, the noise and discomfort makes it hard to sleep, you are scared of being robbed or assaulted, and the police officers chase you around town telling you to move all night, pushing you farther and farther out of the public eye. How much energy do you think you can devote to solving that problem?
Further, imagine you work at a minimum wage job making the federal minimum in the USA (7.25/hr). Working 40 hours a week, you make $1,160 per month BEFORE tax. Now imagine you’re looking at an apartment that is unreasonably cheap, only $600 per month. That apartment is most likely going to want you to make three times the rent and be able to pay at least a month of rent up front. On top of that, you have to eat, pay other bills, and get to work. It’s not so easy when you don’t already have the money. But housing should not be a luxury. We have the resources to provide it. We have the resources to do the maintenance and the upkeep, even when someone is irresponsible with the place and leaves a mess. We owe it to our fellow humans.
That is why RedBeard spends his free time working to ensure that people currently living in homelessness are not only properly clothed and fed, but are able to get past the high barriers of entry and get into a stable living environment where they can actually work on being their best selves instead of merely surviving.