WYPR Commentary on Homelessness
The following is a transcript of a two-minute commentary by Kevin Lindamood about the false distinctions made around homelessness, which aired on WYPR.
There’s no place like home…
“‘Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.’ The wide-eyed woman did a perfect Judy Garland to explain her very first experience of life without a home, trying to navigate an overburdened shelter system as unfamiliar as the Land of Oz.
She’s hardly alone in her bewilderment. Recent years have given us two striking examples of how homelessness happens: First, the economic downturn hit the poor and middle class hard. And then, just last month, a Hurricane named Sandy – like Katrina before her – blew the roof off deeply rooted class divisions existing well before the storm. Mayor Michael Bloomberg commented that the number of New Yorkers seeking shelter doubled overnight.
Unfortunately, the sorting has already begun. Many in media and human services are quick to toss folks into buckets: ‘The newly homeless’ vs. the ‘already homeless.’ ‘The economically homeless’ vs. the ‘chronically homeless.’
Such categories are imbued with morally-tinged Elizabethan-era labels of ‘worthy’ and ‘unworthy’ poor – much like our own public policies. Families with children: worthy. The 40-year old with a cardboard sign on the median: not so much. Now enter the newest divisions: The ‘economically homeless:’ worthy. The so-called ‘chronically homeless?’ – decidedly less so. What about the guy forced from his home by the hurricane? Worthy, right? Fast forward two years when depression leaves him unemployed and socially isolated under a bridge… well, you get the idea.
Let’s resist this foul bait as distinctions without meaningful differences. Yes, certain populations might require different interventions. The woman with HIV and mental illness on the park bench might need more intensive services than the one a few months behind on her rent facing eviction. But without sufficient support, the main difference between them is time.
Fundamentally, all homelessness is economic – the newly homeless and the chronically so need the exact same things: Housing and the services necessary to stay there. But let’s face it: it’s gonna take more than a wizard to restore a necessary national investment in affordable housing. This Thanksgiving week and beyond, let’s tell Congress that there’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.
This is Kevin Lindamood, President & CEO of Health Care for the Homeless for WYPR – your NPR news station. “
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