The Human Face of Homelessness
In December 2022, more than 1300 Rhode Islanders are homeless, with at least 500 sleeping outside in tents, cars, or wherever.
We really ought to be able to deal with this better. We're not Los Angeles. In December 2022, the city has 16,000 houseless people and the county has 69,000. The new LA mayor has declared a state of emergency. For perspective, The entire populations of Newport and Woonsocket are about 69,000 people.
Human beings are not machines with interchangeable parts. I'm sure most government employees mean well, but buraeucracies tend to approach problems like homelessness as though people are machinery — call the repair service, get somebody with some tools to fix the problem, done. But each person is unique and there can be multiple reasons why a particular person is unable to find housing.
US Department of Housing and Urban Development has a definition of homelessness. And through a program, Continuum of Care (CoC), HUD is trying to encourage service providers to focus on the persons without stable housing. The basic idea is that teams of service providers work together to find appropriate permanent housing to individuals in particular populations, such as
- Chronically homeless
- Veterans
- Adults with mental illness
- Adults with substance abuse
- Adults with criminal records
- Families with children
- Youth and young adults (under 25 years)
- Victims of domestic abuse
- People with HIV/AIDS
- Elders
**The US Interagency Council on Homelessness Strategic Plan, ALL IN, released Dec 19, 2022, p. 25 has a table of key populations and geographic areas.
Also see Rhode Island's 2022 Homeless Populations and Subpopulations (2pp.)
Some states and cities appear to be having some success with CoC. See Approaches to Ending Homelessness.
Factors of each person’s situation require particular specialized services. Once these characteristics are identified for each person/couple/family, there is a greater chance to help each person become self-supporting. This is very personal, sensitive work. Coordinating the service providers is key to solving the homelessness crisis.
And very important: each person should be treated with dignity and kindness. At the end of a video I just watched, a veteran says to a volunteer, “I’m a Viet Nam Vet, honorable discharge…. I’m not used to any affection....”
Here are some websites that explain why people become homeless:
- CAUF Society (Cold and Uncared For)
- National Coalition for the Homeless
- Homelessness, Health and Human Needs, National Library of Medicine, 1988 (old, but human need hasn’t changed)
- Why are People Homeless?
- Invisible People
- What Causes Homelessness?
For a glimpse of situations some Rhode Islanders are in, though it is not about homelessness as such, read Michael Morse’s City Life stories from his 23-year experience as an EMT in Providence. An excerpt from Chapter 13 - "No Help Here"
...The man was obviously depressed. He sat on the curb in front of a dilapidated house in South Providence. The house needed to be razed and rebuilt, but there were signs of life there. I asked him if he lived there.
"I wish."
He's been staying in homeless shelters for years, can't keep a job, can't afford the psych meds that could help him, and can't find a reason to go on living....
Morse recently wrote a post about homelessness in RI News Today: The answer to homelessness begins at home.
Summary of Varied Characteristics Unhoused People May Present
Here are characteristics that require particular specialties to actually help individuals, couples, and families (note that any particular situation may involve more than one type of help needed):
Age
School-aged children (.e.g., transportation to/from school for children experiencing homelessness)
Young adults (under 25)
Youth aging out of foster care
Teenage mothers
Runaways
Child abuse victims
Elders (55+)
Addiction
Substance abuse (Alcohol, drugs)
Gambling
Children involved
Families with children
Single women with children (e.g., women experiencing domestic abuse)
Medical
Addiction
Mental Health
Other illness
Physical Disability
Veterans
Other characteristic:s
Chronic homelessness
Just darn bad luck (accidents, huge medical bills, untimely death of breadwinner)
Urban/rural homelessness
Domestic abuse
LGBTQ
Economic
hard to get a job or keep a job when homeless - no address
unable to pay rent even though working full time
high cost of living
low wages
decline in public assistance
foreclosure
eviction
layoffs
money mismanagement
death of a spouse, loss of income
Education
Criminal record
No family or friends
Refugees/immigrants
Refuse temporary shelters previously offered
Bad experiences in shelters (injury, robbery)
Can’t bring pets
Don’t want to/can’t follow rules (there can be valid reasons for this)
Curfews
Work evening/night shifts
Can’t stay during the day
No place for one’s belongings
Hopeless
Prefer to live outside
Lazy/not thinking straight (yes, some people are lazy (including some middle-income and wealthy people, by the way).
