0 Moral Outrage Turned Off?

Moral crisis requires moral outrage at both the problem and the seeming imperviousness of the problem to viable and permanent solutions. We need to be morally outraged at what poverty and systemic injustice is doing to people. Michael Maher



Moral outrage might be headed for the history books as national and global economies swirl down the drain of greed and destruction. Liberty and justice for all reflect ancient ideals. Now it's survival of the richest, and those ranks dwindle as the 'dog-eat-dog' mentality takes hold.



Moral outrage, which used to motivate some of us to protest war,cruelty or injustice has been replaced by don't piss off 'the man.' Be nice. Go along. Or you might find out that government, aka 'the man,' refuses to help, kicking sand in your face in the process.



In Atlanta, one of the main emergency shelters for this city's unwanted and neglected adults has seen the writing on the Peachtree City's wall. Allegedly tied to frustration with the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless' refusal to go along with the "chronic homelessness initiative," the City, holding an unpaid water bill of about $160,000, shut off water for this shelter that houses about 700 people a night. Nice.



As a former shelter director, the prospect of a waterless night at a shelter sends shivers down my spine. It's the ultimate indignity thrown at a population that feels nothing but scorn all day long. Their nightly humble haven, the human equivalent of a sardine can, has now been violated by the authorities--those with power to do good or evil--who have chosen to do personal harm to each person staying at the shelter.



The disrespect of the cut-off reeks--not allowing people the dignity of flushing a toilet or taking a shower or brushing what's left of their few dentist-deprived teeth. Many people without homes still try to maintain human dignity by practicing at least basic forms of hygiene. Water is crucial for that. Shutting off the tap stinks. It hurts.



Imagine waking up in the morning, not being able to wash up, hesitating to eat or drink anything because of the Third World conditions in the restrooms, and going forth to meet the day, with no hope in sight. It's not like restrooms doors are thrown open to those who look obviously homeless. And for hygiene-impaired individuals, boot-strap-jobs are unattainable.



The Metro Task Force, by refusing to play nice with the City on the 10-year-plan, apparently has taken a moral, though risky, stand. I admire their courage. And I agree with their refusal to shape their program to comply with the morally reprehensible approach to homelessness of Bush's anti-homelessness initiative.



Case in point: if the federal 'homeless czar' really cared about the well-being of homeless people, he'd have been on the phone to Atlanta's Mayor Shirley Franklin, demanding that she restore water to the shelter that takes 700+ people off the street each night.



In a few weeks, a long-awaited change in presidential leadership will take place. Changes in presidents bring changes in policy. The absurd failure of HUD's "chronic homelessness initiative" will hopefully be halted and reversed.



It seems to me that Mayor Franklin should read the writing on the wall. Knowing that HUD policies will certainly change for the better, why not do the right thing and let the tap flow at the Peachtree and Pine Street Shelter? The way the economy is going she might be showing up there for a stay....

Detail: Moral Outrage Turned Off?

0 Travels Tell the Story...If Only HUD Would Listen

The map gives an idea of where I've traveled over the past 3 years in my quest to give voice and visibility to homeless kids. Although metro areas were unavoidable, most of my driving and stops centered on non-urban areas. I never lacked for homeless kids to talk to....

Trying to update the HEAR US website is one of those one-thing-leads-to-another projects. I realized how out-of-date my travel map was, so I took the time on this refreshingly cool Sunday afternoon to do a new one. It was a trip down memory lane....but I got distracted.

As much as I could wax on about the sights and events of these 64k miles, I found myself thinking of the current infuriating battle being waged in DC over who "deserves" to be defined homeless.

The primary focus of my journeys has been to learn about homelessness from homeless and formerly homeless children, teens and parents. I've talked to hundreds of homelessness experts from places that most people wouldn't be able to find with an atlas. These experts know because they have lived this uprooted lifestyle. They fuel my fire. Their stories, available on our HEAR US documentary, My Own Four Walls, will convince you that they are truly HOMELESS.

I've also had frank talks (because I'm not connected with government) with workers in the trenches--educators and service providers--who painted a frightening picture of how un/under-addressed homelessness is exploding in their communities. I'll stack what I've seen and heard, topped onto my 15 years of running shelters, against a Beltway bureaucrat or politician any day.

BACKGROUND
Some of us have been trying to get HUD to expand their homeless definition--and focus--to include families doubled-up and staying in motels because of hardship. A strong contingent--let's face it, they have the money and clout--have thrown everything they could at our little band of advocates. Barbara Duffield, NAEHCY's policy director, has been at the table, a brutal and draining task, deserving kudos and a huge raise!

But the battle (I'd like another word that doesn't sound like war, but I'm Thesaurus-challenged--nothing does this justice) continues. Sympathizers PLEASE let your thoughts be known! HEAR US has the PIGGIES' Project for this purpose. DO IT NOW!!

Here's the gist of the arguments of those who are opposed to changing the HUD definition of homelessness...

IT WILL INCREASE the NUMBER
HUD already uses an absurd under-count to assure Congress they're on top of homelessness. It's a point-in-time street count that providers will privately tell you is a well-intentioned sham. HUD says 750,000 people are homeless. They don't count families doubled-up, in motels, or otherwise not visible to the counters. Families don't want to be on the street --it puts them in jeopardy of getting involved with the foster care system. Ditto for homeless teens. Don't count them--and they won't count.

IT WILL OVERWHELM the SYSTEM
That's the point--the system is already overwhelmed. It has been--since the '80s. Since HUD has somehow reasoned that it's OK to ignore the existence of families and teens outside their "system" they shouldn't be surprised that we haven't gotten ahead of the problem.

Congress--under both parties--has been negligent in addressing homelessness, diverting resources to...well, that's too much to cover in this tiny blog. Congress, and the President, gives HUD marching orders.

Worth noting: The ignored homeless kid from 20 years ago--the beginning of the fed's "coordinated" approach to homelessness--is now in his/her 20s or 30s. Chances are that homeless child of the 80s is now a homeless adult of the 21st Century. That makes HUD's non-response a virtual feeder system for homeless shelters down the road.

IT WILL CHANGE the 'DEAL'
Take a faulty premise and build on it--where do we see that happening? "Mission Accomplished" comes to mind. Another argument that I can't believe someone would put in writing, "Changing the deal by considering a different group of people homeless could lead to some communities giving up.”

OK, this is where my travels have come in real handy. This "10-Year-Plan," a.k.a. the "DEAL," is a farce. I've seen scads of homeless adults--the ones HUD proclaims to prioritize--who have no place to stay because the shelters are over-capacity. They stand on street corners in cities and towns across the land. They get shoved out of one town by police and they go to the next. Ask around—does anyone think the 10YP is working (besides HUD)?

HUD's 10YP is like saying you're losing weight by not eating cupcakes. It ignores the reality that you're eating cake...and ice cream, etc. It's delusional. It's OK to be delusional about weight loss/gain, but not about children and teens living in highly-mobile, inadequate, insecure, and often dangerous environments.

ARBITRARY DEFINITION
Argh! I don't know how BD can sit in her chair when they say that our proposed definition is “arbitrary.” HUD decides they’re the expert in homelessness (OK, I'll grant them one thing--they've been a part of homelessness creation for long enough) and THEY can define it:
“A ‘chronically homeless’ person is defined as ‘an unaccompanied homeless individual with a disabling condition who has either been continuously homeless for a year or more, or has had at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years.”
A ROOM IN THIS SEEDY MOTEL ABOVE WAS THE HOME FOR A MOM, DAD AND 5 SCHOOL-AGE KIDS. IT'S LOCATED IN DUPAGE COUNTY, IL, ONE OF THE MOST AFFLUENT COUNTIES IN THE COUNTRY. THEY WOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED HOMELESS UNDER HUD'S DEFINITION. WHAT WERE THEY, VACATIONING??

Missing from their "enlightened" definition are kids and families (and non-disabled adults). Because many communities have NO FAMILY SHELTERS--Reno, Las Vegas, Las Cruces— come to my mind, but lots more would be on the list if I had time and space to compile it--families and teens turn to whatever place they can find: Sometimes motels. Sometimes a patchwork of friends' and family's houses. Sometimes a horrible combination that includes physical, sexual and/or emotional abuse. Typically their choices are places that are overcrowded, unstable, unsafe, unpredictable...but I guess it's OK for families according to HUD.

'REAL' HOMELESS FAMILIES are WORSE OFF
Anyone who would use this argument would be giving away their naïveté in the world of homelessness. Most families who bounce in and out of homelessness get the experience of all forms of homelessness--doubling up, turning to shelters, being turned away from shelters and going to motels, living in vehicles, and then recycling through this devastating circuit.

Seems to me that the millions of our nation’s homeless families would validate my premise given a chance to be heard. But the people responsible for prolonging homelessness will have the comforts of home to insulate their ignorance as homeless families look for a place to call home.

Detail: Travels Tell the Story...If Only HUD Would Listen