Welcome back to EarthLinks at the Roots. Today’s post will continue to discuss courses of action being taken to end homelessness that were not discussed last week. To see last week’s post or any other posts: Click here to see the rest of the At The Roots Blog Series.
Denver’s Road Home has engaged the City and County of Denver to end homelessness by 2015. This program, initiated by Former Mayor Hickenlooper, partners with the Denver City Council, Mile High United Way, the non-profit community, various foundations, the private sector, faith based organizations, and the homeless community, in order to access all of the view points and resources possible in meeting their goal.
Last week’s post involved DRH’s plans with the shelter system, housing, and services. This week’s post will discuss further options.
COMMUNITY AWARENESS AND COORDINATED RESPONSE:
The goal of community awareness is to ensure that the general public has a better understanding of homelessness in order to break stereotypes about homelessness and start creating solutions together. This also involves advocating for homeless individuals in the media as well as encouraging others to show their support on personal, community, and governmental levels.
ZONING/URBAN DESIGN/LAND USE:
The key to zoning accomplishments is involving neighborhoods in comprehensive solutions that would aid in building mixed-income housing with community support. DRH also aims to build this low-income housing in a variety of zones of differing income levels instead of keeping all of the low-income housing in one particular area.
PREVENTION:
The prevention program focuses on helping homeowners and renters who are at risk of being homeless avoid eviction, foreclosure, and utility shut-off. The idea is that one of the best ways to end homelessness is to stop it at its source rather than just focusing on those who are already homeless.
PUBLIC SAFETY AND OUTREACH:
DRH is committed to the safety and welfare of people living on the streets, but laws often are not in favor of people who are homeless. For example, there can be legal repercussions for panhandling and loitering, both of which –perhaps unintentionally- discriminate against those who may have nowhere else to turn.
DRH has been working with law enforcement officers and non-profit organizations to:
1) Prevent individuals from turning to those courses of action
2) Provide an alternative to arrest should police encounter individuals engaging in illegal activities that are a result of their desperate situation
3) Find ways to connect individuals on the streets to resources that will get them out of their situation as opposed to supporting panhandling and loitering
The results:
1) Eighteen months after strong campaigning on the issues through the Give a Better Way and Donation Meter Campaign, a 92% drop in panhandling in downtown Denver was reported by the Downtown Denver Partnership.
2) The number of incarcerations in the County Jail of individuals who are homeless has declined by 22%.
EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT, AND TRAINING:
With the difficulties in the economy, there is more and more emphasis on what your skills and education are during the hiring process. In addition, many people have become unemployed due to companies making extensive budget cuts or going out of business. A loss of job is one of the main causes of homelessness and people who are unable to be competitive in the current market struggle with finding a way out of homelessness. Thankfully, many non-profit organizations from the Women’s Bean Project, Center for Work Education and Employment, Centro Humanitario, Work Options for Women, EarthLinks, and others have found ways to help people receive job training, resume assistance, GED tutoring, and other job readiness skills in order to give people an opportunity to succeed in the job market.
Another aspect of education is providing courses/information to those who serve/employ the homeless community of Denver so that all parties can understand what to expect from each other and how they can best support each other.
Where does EarthLinks fit in?
EarthLinks has a unique position within these various target areas. EarthLinks provides individuals a safe space to be where they can cultivate a supportive community, access healthy food, build confidence, set and work toward achieving goals, earn a paycheck, and –though EarthLinks isn’t strictly a job training program- learn valuable job readiness information (such as being on time for work, sewing/production skills, and collaboration). Those aspects of service and employment/training are also coupled with community awareness and response as more people purchase EarthLinks products and understand the people we serve and what we are doing to help. Those who do purchase our products also help to continue the work we do, as well as often become volunteers themselves. With this blog, our CommunityLinks events, and other outreach materials we produce, we are also aiming to educate the Denver community on the issues of homelessness.
Thank you so much for all of your support and thank you for reading! See you next time!
If you are still interested in researching Denver’s Road Home, please visit: http://www.denversroadhome.org/.
HELLO! Welcome back! Last post we discussed what causes homelessness. Today we are going to be looking into what is being done about homelessness! Click here to see the rest of the At The Roots Blog Series.
Denver’s Road Home has engaged the City and County of Denver to end homelessness by 2015. This program, initiated by Denver’s former Mayor Hickenlooper, partners with the Denver City Council, Mile High United Way, the non-profit community, various foundations, the private sector, faith based organizations, and the homeless community, in order to maximize resources meet their goal in a holistic way.
According to DRH’s plans, the following areas involve the most attention to truly end homelessness:
SERVICES:
Availability and usefulness of services is huge. Many individuals lack access to resources because they don’t know they exist. Others struggle between lottery systems and waiting lists to even receive services because the providers are so overbooked. DRH helps connect individuals with numerous services that will help to transition them out of homelessness- such as getting proper identification paperwork or providing substance abuse rehabilitation- as well as services that every human being deserves but may not be able to afford- such as health care or food.
HOUSING:
DRH has adopted a “housing first” approach to addressing homelessness. The mission is to find or create for these individuals transitional, permanent, and/or affordable housing options. The Denver’s Road Home does not provide individuals with purely free housing, but does work with individuals to find a plan of housing stability. DRH works with housing managers as well to aid individuals in their new accommodations. People who live in DRH sponsored housing also have access to an array of useful resources for getting back on their feet and staying that way.
SHELTER SYSTEM:
Shelters are a vital resource for individuals who have no other option but sleeping on the streets and, especially during severe weather, people would not be able to manage without them. That said there are some challenges with the shelter system.
For one, many shelters often work either at or above capacity, and -especially during inclement weather- individuals may end up sleeping on mats in an overflow section instead of having a bed.
Another consideration is regulations or restrictions that shelters have in place. Many shelters only provide space for a certain gender, some require that the individual stay sober, others have religious affiliations, and quite a few try to avoid pets. Nearly all shelters also require the treatment of contagious medical concerns before allowing individuals to stay the night. Though there are legitimate reasons for many of these regulations, they may act as barriers for some people seeking shelter.
When looking towards providing an end to homelessness, one needs to consider that individuals need more than just a place to sleep, but an actual home. Though shelters provide temporary relief, a more comprehensive approach to providing relief from homelessness is necessary. For that reason, DRH aims to provide some more beds for shelters for the short term, but solve the long term problem through moving people from shelters to actual housing. The goal is to provide more housing solutions as opposed to expanding shelters.
To be continued next week! To further research Denver’s Road Home visit their website: http://www.denversroadhome.org/.
Tags: At The Roots, Denver's Road Home, Homelessness, Solutions
Common Causes of Homelessness:
There are four more common categories of causes of homelessness: economic related, family related, health related, and drug/alcohol related. Last week I discussed the impact economics has on homelessness. This week I will be discussing the family, health, and addiction aspects.
Family Related
Divorce – Divorce leaves families who had two incomes only one income to survive on. That loss of income, divorce fees, the need to have a separate residence, and the sudden loss of money all factor in to major economic distress that can lead to homelessness.
Domestic Violence – Domestic violence often isolates people from their support networks, hampers financial independence, and takes its toll on emotional and/or physical health. Many people are afraid their partner will find them and are also forced to leave their job, and possibly even hometown in order to escape. All of these factors combined can leave someone in a difficult situation when trying to leave an old life and start a new one.
Running away from a negative home life- Individuals in an unsafe/abusive or otherwise negative home life may choose to leave that environment, but may not have the means of supporting themselves on their own. Some individuals even claim that they prefer homelessness over the abuse they would otherwise face at home.
Tragedy – In the event of a death in the family, people may find economic management more difficult. However, in that kind ofevent, the emotional effects afterwards can cause people to feel literally unable to continue.
Health Related
Mental Illness – “Approximately 20-25% of the single adult homeless population suffer from some form of severe and persistent
mental illness.”[i] From severe depression to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (very common amongst homeless veterans), mental health can make having a stable life difficult and can also get in the way of finding/keeping a job.
Physical Disabilities – Persons who are physically disabled often find it difficult to find work that they can reasonably do, especially when the job market becomes more competitive. There is federal aid for disability, but often that is not enough to cover all of the bills.
Illness – Medical care can be extremely expensive, and if someone is seriously injured or gets very sick, the prices of medical bills can sometimes become almost impossible to pay off and still have money for the rent. Illness also often leaves people unable to work, limiting their income and creating an even more difficult task of paying the bills.
Drug/Alcohol Related
Substance abuse: Many individuals who struggle with addictions may find it difficult to finance anything besides their addiction or may be more susceptible to unemployment and/or job loss and family problems, all of which may leave individuals with limited options besides homelessness.
So what does this mean?
Why is this information important?
Honestly, the stereotypes surrounding homelessness generally over represent the alcohol related aspect and don’t ever consider the others. In addition, stereotypes often portray homeless individuals as lazy and unwilling to find a job. However, it never acknowledges that perhaps this individual was extremely successful but had unforeseen health issues that plummeted them into debt and foreclosure, or perhaps the individual was in a situation of domestic violence and is forced to start a new life in a new city with no support. Is it fair to treat all individuals as if they are lazy when we don’t know their story? Would policies be able to “eliminate” homelessness if they really addressed the causes as opposed to the effects?
Keep these thoughts in mind because next week I will discuss what policies are in place to address homelessness. See you then!
[i] Homeless Resource Network: http://homelessresourcenetwork.org/causes.html
Thanks for checking this weeks blog! Last post worked to define homelessness in a more comprehensive way so that we could hopefully better understand the causes rather than the effects. Today we are going to fully explore what causes homelessness! Click here to see the rest of the At The Roots Blog Series.
According to the official report compiled by the National Alliance to End Homelessness and the Homeless Research Institute, The State of Homelessness in America 2012, there are 636,017 homeless persons in the United States. These people range from families to veterans, but they all have one thing in common- they do not have stable housing, whether that means residing in the streets, a shelter, the couch of a family member, or anywhere else that is not a permanent home.
[i] Note: Subpopulation data do not equal the overall homeless population number. This is because people could be counted as part of more than one subpopulation (e.g. a person could be an unsheltered, chronic, veteran individual). Further, family households are a separate measure as a household is comprised of numerous people (e.g. at least one adult and at least one child).
So how does one become homeless? Just as each person is unique, the reasons also vary. There is no one size fits all rationale for homelessness because each story is different and important to understand.
Common Causes of Homelessness:
There are four more common categories of causes of homelessness: economic related, family related, health related, and drug/alcohol related. This blog entry will discuss the first common cause, economic related, and next week’s post will cover the other three.
Economic Related
Job loss/Unemployment – The concept is simple, with no job there is no money to pay for rent. With a National Unemployment Rate of 8.5%[ii] and many businesses closing or laying people off, many people who have never been homeless before are ending up on the streets.
Lack of affordable housing- The U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development has released that in 2010 6.2 million Americans spend more than 50% of their incomes on rent. In that same year, as Americans found their budgets strained by housing expenses, 1 out of every 45 housing units nationwide were forced to foreclose.[iii] People sometimes counter this with having roommates, but that can also become an issue when one roommate cannot pay and everyone is evicted.
Low wages – Though the economy has caused prices to rise, sticky wages are a huge problem. The average paycheck of individuals working with wages below the poverty line increased by less than one percent, leaving no room for individuals to keep up with these rising prices of rent, food, and other necessities. In addition to low wages, many single parents struggle with affording the costs of raising a child and keeping up with the bills when court ordered child support is not paid.
Loss of transportation – If a car breaks down or if there is not enough money for public transportation, a lack of transportation can damage everything. If someone has no way to get to work, they have no money. A lack of transportation can turn into being unreliable- a bad quality for job seekers.
Lack of insurance- If someone is responsible for a car accident and has no car insurance, they may find themselves with overwhelming bills. The same applies for homeowner’s insurance in the case of a fire, or health insurance in the case of a major illness.
Decline in public assistance – “Current TANF benefits and food stamps combined are below the poverty level in every state; in fact, the median TANF benefit for a family of three is approximately one-third of the poverty level. Thus, contrary to popular opinion, welfare does not provide relief from poverty.”[iv]
[i] The State of Homelessness in America 2012: http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Sections/NEWS/z-pdf-archive/homeless.pdf
[ii] Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S Department of Labor: http://www.bls.gov/cps/
[iii] The State of Homelessness in America 2012: http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Sections/NEWS/z-pdf-archive/homeless.pdf
[iv] Homeless Resource Network: http://homelessresourcenetwork.org/causes.html
Tags: At The Roots, Causes of Homelessness, Homelessness, Pt. 1
Last post we discussed how the issue of homelessness is inadequately defined. This post will cover more comprehensive ways of defining homelessness so that the issue may be better addressed. Click here to see the rest of the At The Roots Blog Series.
What can be done to aid and support the people who are homeless?
A simply defined problem demands a simply thought out answer: if the problem is a lack of housing, the obvious solution is housing. However, the complexity of the effects homelessness has on people requires more than just providing a home. In Denver, approximately 86% of homeless individuals attributed the following as the cause(s) to their situation: loss of employment, inability to afford the cost of housing, fragmented family life. Therefore, one must look into solutions to those causes. Perhaps acquiring and keeping housing is the end goal, but the means of getting there varies upon the cause. If loss of employment is an obstacle for an individual, the best means of assistance may be to provide them with tools and resources to obtain a job and stay hired. If the issue is a fragmented family life, the individual may need support and a stable place to be while determining future steps, but may not need any form of employment help at all. Some people may need a lot of help and some people may need very little, but it is important to remember that there is not a one size fits all solution to homelessness. That’s why the simplified answer of “providing a house” isn’t always enough if a person has no means of paying the bills.
How do we redefine homelessness?
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, recognizing the many aspects of homelessness, defined homelessness in a more comprehensive way so as to create a better fit the population who receives assistance from HUD funded programs. The four categories of homelessness are: [iv] Though these definitions are not perfect, their specifications help to pinpoint a fuller understanding of what homelessness is.
What is the role of Earthlinks in the expansive issue of homelessness in Metro-Denver?
At Earthlinks, there is a strong belief that the best approach to a fulfilling life is a holistic approach. Earthlinks strives to create a positive atmosphere in which a community can build and thrive. Participants can plant in and enjoy the foods from the organic garden as well as utilize them to create Earth friendly products for Earth friendly use- feeding both the body and the soul.
EarthLinks provides participants with opportunities to build and enhance their creativity and self confidence as well as create a community. The resources provided for participants as well as the skill building workshops all help participants find the help they need during difficult times.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Footnotes
[iv] End Homelessness.org Federal Policy Brief http://www.endhomelessness.org/content/article/detail/3006
Tags: At The Roots, Defining Homelessness, Homelessness, Pt. 2
