|
|
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.
Please fill in the form below.
Should Communities Force Homeless People Into Shelters? Monday, February 8, 2010
Is marriage the solution to poverty or is it the cause of poverty? Thursday, October 4, 2007
Architecture for the Homeless Monday, October 15, 2007
Fire Used To Kill Homeless Man Thursday, October 1, 2009
Every Homeless Person Should Become A Millionaire and Have A Porn Star Hang On His Arm
Alvidrez, Nelson & Watson As permanent supportive housing providers in Skid Row, we at the Skid Row Housing Trust, SRO Housing Corporation and the Downtown Women’s Center were deeply disheartened by Rev. Andy Bales’ attack on permanent housing linked to support services. When we heard he had concerns, signers of the letter sent to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called to meet with Rev. Bales but, unfortunately, he has not answered our calls. We still hope we can find common ground. We believe that the best outcome for Skid Row will only occur if we join together in respectful dialogue. That said, we feel we must correct some errors in Rev. Bales post. The claim that “housing groups actually dissuade their employees from reporting the crimes or....
Andrew J. Bales, M.A.T. I received the letter sent to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and declined the offer to sign it. I believe it is yet another attempt by some to remove the helpful police presence from Skid Row, which would return this downtown neighborhood to the tragic scenes featured in The Soloist. Statements were made in the letter that stated “crime has been reduced by 33% on Skid Row, therefore it is time to move police away from Skid Row and to more dangerous parts of our city.” The fact is, the police presence is the reason for this crime reduction and an absence of police would be followed by a return to lawlessness. As it is, there is still far too much crime and violence on Skid Row, especially against women. And some of the crime..
Doug Schenkelberg Just over 60 years ago, a document called the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was born. This declaration says that all people, regardless of where they are born, the color of their skin or their station in life, have the same fundamental rights. We are talking about the right to vote, the right to live a life without torture, the right to live without discrimination, the right to work and the right to take a break, among others. Included in this is the right to housing – the simple belief that no one should have to be homeless. Everyone has the right to a home. The United States helped write this list of universal rights. Eleanor Roosevelt was one of its primary authors. Not only that, but the United States was one of the...
Lawrence Mishel Homelessness, long viewed as a condition of urban poverty, is now affecting growing numbers of families in not only urban, but suburban and rural America as well. While homelessness has many contributing factors, the primary symptom of individuals and families who lack permanent shelter is the absence of adequate wages. Through last summer, this recession had already seen an explosion in shelter stays by individuals—and in increasing numbers—families—in urban centers like New York City, wealthy suburbs like Montgomery County in Maryland, and rural areas like Shreveport, Louisiana. As the recession deepened and job losses rapidly accelerated from the fourth quarter of 2008 through the first quarter of 2009, there is every expectation...
Nan Roman In 2000, the National Alliance to End Homelessness unveiled the aptly titled, “A Plan, Not a Dream: How to End Homelessness in Ten Years.” The “Ten Year Plan,” as it came to be called, presented a fresh, comprehensive, and multi-system approach to ending homelessness. It utilized data, leveraged existing support systems, promoted outreach, and focused on housing. It integrated all we knew about the most promising and proven practices to end homelessness. Now, ten years after the launch, we pause to take stock of our progress. There are now 234 completed plans to end homelessness. Of these, 185 are city or county plans, 25 are state plans, 24 are regional plans. Along the way, we’ve encountered some challenges....
Inforum RSS Feed