(Article published in Street Speech by the Columbus Coalition for the Homeless)
I grew up in New York City where my father was a fireman. My first exposure to the homeless was at around the age of twelve when my father took me with him to the Bowery Mission. He, along with other firemen and policemen, belonged to the Christian Alliance of Policemen and Firemen. They served meals and presented the gospel to the homeless alcoholics who came into the mission for sustenance, and perhaps a bit of human compassion.
The Bowery area of lower Manhattan reminded me of a wasteland buried in a corner of an otherwise vibrant, thriving city. As I think of it now, the images it evokes are of broad streets, empty of traffic on a quiet Sunday afternoon. Only when you looked for them, or when pointed out to you, did you notice the bodies slouched in doorways, most clutching bottles wrapped in brown paper bags. They were so still; as if props placed there for a movie set depicting the morning after some invisible plague had struck. This was the face of homelessness I saw back in the sixties and it had a strong impact on me.
Has this image changed over the past decades? I think we would all agree that it has. Today the face of homelessness has expanded to include men and women of all ages who have been released from psychiatric hospitals and have “fallen between the cracks” of our current community mental health system. It also includes young Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans- men and women, who are now joining the Vietnam-era veterans who are still homeless. Families have increasingly become homeless due to the current economic recession. Children who have run away from home for various reasons and sometimes women escaping from abusive situations also contribute to the new face of homelessness. In other words, there are as many reasons for homelessness as there are homeless people.
What hasn’t changed, however, is the fact that substance abuse continues to be the most significant problem connected to modern homelessness. Drug and alcohol abuse can cause people to fall into homelessness but the struggle to stay alive on the street often drives homeless people to drugs and alcohol. It’s a chicken and egg scenario.
A 2008 survey by the United States Conference of Mayors asked 25 cities for their top three causes of homelessness. Substance abuse was the single largest cause of homelessness for single adults (reported by 68% of cities). Substance abuse was also mentioned by 12% of cities as one of the top three causes of homelessness for families.
Emergency shelters, soup kitchens and job training help the homeless to regain their independence. But it is critical to develop resources with the focus of resolving not just homelessness, but addiction as well.
Public perception concerning homelessness and addiction is also a problem. Both are issues that do not elicit much public sympathy. For many people, providing support to homeless individuals who use drugs is counter-intuitive. This negative bias coupled with the economic disadvantages of people suffering through both homelessness and addiction can make it difficult or impossible to seek and obtain proper help. With resources already stretched thin in most communities, homeless people with addiction problems are generally not a priority.
Street Speech helps change that negative bias by providing public education about the complex issues of homelessness. It also puts a human face to an otherwise impersonal societal issue. Vendors connect with their customers and share a bit of themselves over time so that they both come away with an appreciation and respect for each other. I felt the same way about the exchanges at the soup kitchen in the Bowery with my father and the homeless he was there to serve.
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