Alright, we looked at 10 causes of homelessness. Now, let’s look at what it’s going to take to address them. That’s no easy task since the causes tend to compound, one on top of another, on top of another. It’s estimated that between 500,000 and 600,000 Americans live in what we call “the tunnel.” I suspect that number is well off. Like the crime rate, we can only verify what’s reported, and many just aren’t. Are the estimates off by 100 percent—as many as 1.2 million? I think it’s possible, sure. I mean, who are they relying on for the census, social workers? Outreach groups? Law enforcement? Soup kitchens? Are the estimated numbers already accounting for the possibility of some folks being uncounted? Does it really matter?
What really matters is, there are probably at least half a million people in the tunnel tonight, and from my experience, about ten to fifteen thousand of them are not using drugs on a regular basis. That totals around 485,000 homeless drug addicts. Anyone who looks at that estimate and thinks, “Let’s provide them with homes!” isn’t seeing the big picture. Let’s imagine you’re face to face with seven teenage drug addicts, four of whom are currently high—are you going to buy them a house, hand them the keys, and hope for the best? Of course not. So, why would we expect 485,000 drug addicts to produce a better outcome if they were provided with places to live?
- The obvious starting point is addressing the drug problem. Detox and rehab facilities are already operating at or near capacity across the country. One of the reasons your health care insurance has increased in recent years is state-provided medical care covering addiction-related treatment. To end homelessness, detox and rehab will undoubtedly cost billions. Woo-hoo! More importantly, as a society, we really need to stop romanticizing marijuana use. People who become addicted to opioids after an injury or medical procedure are the exception, but for the most part, if you ask an addict what drug they used first in their life, the answer is pretty much always marijuana. Surely, there must be people whose first drug experience was X or cocaine, but I’d wager we’re talking about a very minute number. The campaign to reduce tobacco use has been wildly successful. It can be done with marijuana as well.
I know jack squat about flying an airplane, so I stay out of the cockpit. Likewise, I know squat about mental illness. I do know that if I were face to face with seven mentally ill teenagers, I would not buy them a house, hand them the keys, and hope for the best. It’s estimated that around 25 percent of homeless people suffer from some form of mental illness. That’s, potentially, 125,000 people and at least 110,000 of them are drug addicts.
- The next step is evaluating people’s mental capacity and stability, then treating those who are in need. This will require a great deal of space and a lot of professional work, sometimes permanently. Here’s a thought: if every city in America with a population greater than 50,000 people had a facility capable of treating 250 residents, we’d have enough space for about 195,000 people in need of treatment. Or—if every city with a population greater than 100,000 had one facility per 100,000 people, each capable of treating 200 patients, that would accommodate 162,600 patients.
These are the two major causes of homelessness. Addiction is rampant. No matter the initial cause of someone living in the tunnel, drug abuse only further complicates the process of getting out. Addiction can also contribute to the mental illness, and mental illness can certainly lead to drug abuse. Any program—any hope—of ending homelessness must include facilities and trained staff to deal with these two factors.
The other causes—let’s just list them all again here:
- ADDICTION
- MENTAL ILLNESS
- VIOLENCE AND DOMESTIC ABUSE
- LACK OF INCOME
- DISABILITY
- VETS RETURNING
- RUNAWAYS AND FOSTER KIDS
- EMOTIONAL STRAIN
- PRISON RELEASE
- IMMIGRATION
The key to ending homelessness, primarily, is education. Isn’t knowledge the best weapon in any situation? Yet we’ve been attacking homelessness for decades without taking the time to gather the necessary knowledge to properly combat the issue. I digress.
Education is essential. When you teach children how to be decent people, it often starts with the child exhibiting undesirable behavior, but you don’t just yell at your kid, “NO!” and walk away. You replace the negative behavior with the knowledge, the education, teaching them the correct behavior. Similarly, we can’t just yell at a bunch of homeless people, “Get a job!” and then walk away. That doesn’t address the issues that landed them in the tunnel to begin with. Much the same, dropping them into temporary shelters or even permanent homes also does not address the issues—all it does is move them out of sight. In a way, it’s even worse. Imagine if your kids were playing Pirates with actual swords or machetes in the living room. Are you just going to tell them to go play in their room, continuing to hack each other up, but where you can’t see them? Of course not.
- Homelessness is not the disease. It is the symptom we all see and despise—the common result of many ailments, each of which can be treated. Rehab, counseling, and coaching will address these causes. Without them, there will be no end to the existing homeless phenomenon. Worse, without a national effort to examine our education system, control the flow of illegal substances across our borders, establish dedicated mental health facilities, and reconnect with a set of values and ethics which not only teaches the difference between right and wrong, but the importance of choosing between them, we are doomed to continuously feed the homeless population with more and more lost and impoverished souls.
Homelessness is not the disease. It is the symptom we all see and despise—the common result of many ailments, each of which can be treated. Rehab, counseling, and coaching will address these causes. Without them, there will be no end to the existing homeless phenomenon. Worse, without a national effort to examine our education system, control the flow of illegal substances across our borders, establish dedicated mental health facilities, and reconnect with a set of values and ethics which not only teaches the difference between right and wrong, but the importance of choosing between them, we are doomed to continuously feed the homeless population with more and more lost and impoverished souls.
Now, let’s say we get that done—our state and federal governments manage to make these tremendously beneficial changes. There’s still a problem. Here’s the thing: everyone needs to have a sense of belonging. We’re not talking about one-size-fits-all, cookie cutter solutions to black and white circumstances. We can’t put the square pegs in the square holes, and the circles in the circles, and then pat ourselves on the backs for solving the puzzle. Once the pegs fall through the proper holes, what happens to them? On the surface, everything seems well-handled. Beneath the surface, though, the pegs are left to fall where they will, piled up and forgotten. These are people, not statistics. They require the same things we all do—housing, employment, transportation, education, medical, dental, legal—all the “stability” bases covered; but, on top of that, they need to have a purpose.
It’s the solitude that kills you. Even at the bottom of the barrel, when nothing is good or healthy or promising, the homeless still gather together. The sober might not sit directly among the intoxicated, but they still gather in the same city parks, under the same bridges, and within the same tunnels. We need togetherness.
The hardest part about taking someone off the street is the fact that we’re removing them from other people. They may not be the highest quality acquaintances, but they’re still the people they know—have known—for years. They’re the people who have not looked down upon them as second or third-class citizens. They’re part of a brotherhood which “the housed” cannot understand.
- As members of our own communities, we can all do a better job of treating each other with respect. We treat men and women equally, with respect. We treat our varying racial counterparts with respect. We treat young and old with respect. No, we’re not perfect, but we’re getting better. Where we really need to improve on is how we treat people with disabilities, people of differing ideologies, and people on different socioeconomic levels. The way we treat homeless people directly affects their will to become part of the community. If your “club” treats outsiders with disdain, looks down on them, insults, or patronizes them, they’re not going to want to join your club. That’s just common sense. Why go through the pain of transitioning into a part of society that you find detestable? What’s the upside for them?
Imagine a child moving away from one school into another, but the new school only has teachers, volunteers, administrators, nurses, security officers, counselors, and maybe a dozen or so kids, none of whom know each other. The adults are caring professionals, but the child isn’t fooled—most of the adults wouldn’t be there if they weren’t paid, and even the volunteers represent fleeting relationships. Homeless people know that entering into “the system” and pursuing the goal of getting out of the tunnel means leaving the world they know (and the people in it), taking on responsibilities, and doing it all alone or with strangers you know aren’t going to be there beyond each “phase” of the rehabilitation. Ex-cons and ex-foster children know it best—the anonymous shuffling. They don’t bother making friends—they won’t be there long.
- Organizations need to do a better job of following up on people—check in on the successes, yes, but definitely follow up on the failures. When someone fall through the cracks, news travels fast. “Don’t go there, they couldn’t help me,” is inevitably going to be stated. However, if someone from the organization physically shows up on the street corner or in the park and offers a different program, recommends a more fitting institution, and suggests a plan to follow, that news will spread fast. People will start to see potential in their own pursuit of aid, and that’s really something they need—hope.
We’ve named the causes of homelessness. Now, we’ve breached how to address them and what needs to be done to keep more people from becoming homeless. Next week, I’ll share what I’ve found regarding success stories in homeless rehabilitation projects, how solutions to the causes have been implemented, what I haven’t found in success stories, and a recurring theme in the many, many—many, many, many—stories of failure.