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Community involvement isn't an option, it's a necessity. Monday, November, 23, 2009
Ending Homelessness Requires Affordable Housing And Community Support Wednesday, November, 18, 2009
Word Of The Year: "Unfriend" Tuesday, November, 10, 2009
The Dishonoring Of A Nation Monday, November, 2, 2009
Want To End Homelessness? Stop Offering Homeless Support Services. Tuesday, October, 27, 2009
Are "Sleep Out For The Homeless" Events Actually Effective? Friday, October, 23, 2009
Did You Know This Was "National Character Counts Week" ?
Wednesday, November, 18, 2009
Word Of The Year: "Unfriend"
Most media outlets carried the news of the New Oxford American Dictionary word of the year: "unfriend."
An article from CNN Tech news put it this way: Oxford defines "unfriend," a verb, thusly: "To remove someone as a 'friend' on a social networking site such as Facebook."
There are probably numerous reasons which would motivate a person to "unfriend" someone else. But it still comes down to this: they ultimately want to severe contact with the other person.
Oddly enough, even though "unfriend" has just recently become a part of the English language, many communities have been "unfriending" the homeless for years and years.
This is most evident in, what seems to be, an increasing number of municipalities which have adopted local ordinances that penalize the homeless by criminalizing most of the life sustaining activities which the homeless are forced to perform in public.
It is also evident in the way that many folks in any given community view the homeless.
I'm sure there may be instances where personal animus is what motivates some members of a community to "unfriend" the homeless. Nonetheless I'm of the opinion that, the majority of the time, the "unfriending" is more the by-product of a lack of awareness, stereotyping, and misconceptions.
Folks simply do not know or understand the whys and wherefores which cause homelessness. Consequently, the assumption is that most – if not all – of the homeless have brought the condition upon themselves as a direct result of some type of self-destructive behavior such an addiction disorder.
Homelessness is a socio-economic issue without an easy solution. There is no "one-size-fits-all" remedy for it. However, one requirement for effectively addressing it is the need for community involvement and support.
Minus community support, any effort aimed at reducing homelessness becomes a game of tug of war: local governments and homeless support service agencies wanting to offer the homeless services, and members of the community staunchly opposing it due to a NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) mindset. And it is that mindset which is one of the biggest obstacles that prevents us from making great strides toward ending homelessness in our nation.
Call me a simpleton. But it seems to me that the best method of countering NIMBY-ism is to "educate" the general public about homelessness.
Yet, there are very few local governments or homeless support services organizations which engage themselves in an ongoing effort to raise the public's awareness for the many causes (and solutions) for reducing homelessness.
The result: communities continue to "unfriend" the homeless – and all the while being content to hide rather than help them.
Building strong communities requires adding others to our "friends" list.
Empowering the homeless, with the goal of assisting them become housed and as self-sustaining as possible, requires that we cease "unfriending" them; that we begin recognizing them as folks who are a part of our communities; and regarding them with the same type of human dignity that we expect others to have for us.
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A Third Wave Of Addressing Homelesness Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Civil Overestimation Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Body Found In A River Near Long Beach Friday, February 26, 2010
Nationwide Vacant Property Takeovers Throughout May 2010 Friday, April 10, 2009
Vacation Time--But Not For The Blog
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