Home Truths

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http://www.motherjones.com/news/dailymojo/2003/11/11_508.html

 

November 27, 2003 Home Truths

America doesn't like to think, much less talk, about homelessness. Case in

point: who knew that last week was National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness

Week? Promoted by the National Coalition for the Homeless, the week brought

together a number of schools, communities and cities take part in a nationwide

effort to bring greater awareness to the fate of America's 3.5 million homeless,

at least 750,000 of whom will spend the night of Thanksgiving on the street.

 

When people do think about the homeless, it's usually to figure out how to

" punish " them or at least get them out of the way. Most cities tackle the

problem of homelessness by effectively criminalizing it. The National Coalition

for the Homeless recently published a report titled " Illegal to be Homeless: the

Criminalization of Homelessness in United the States. " It found a nationwide

pattern of draconian measures against the homeless.

 

" In Milwaukee, a church has been declared a public nuisance for feeding homeless

people and allowing them to sleep there. In Gainesville, police threatened

University of Florida students with arrest if they did not stop serving meals to

homeless people in a public park. In Santa Barbara, it is illegal to lean

against the front of a building or store, and no one can park a motor home on

the street in one place for more than two hours.

 

… Almost 70% of the cities surveyed in the first report have passed at least one

or more new laws specifically targeting homeless people since January 2002,

making it increasingly difficult to survive on the streets. Cities are

attempting to make it illegal to perform life-sustaining activities in public,

while at the same time refusing to allocate sufficient funds to address the

causes of homelessness.

 

… 'Instead of the compassionate responses that communities have used to save

lives in the past two decades, the common response to homelessness is to

criminalize the victims through laws and ordinances that make illegal

life-sustaining activities that people experiencing homelessness are forced to

do in public,' said Donald Whitehead, Executive Director of the National

Coalition for the Homeless, who is himself formerly homeless. "

 

A separate report, " Punishing Poverty: The Criminalization of Homelessness,

Litigation and Recommendations for Solutions " published by the National Law

Center on Homelessness & Poverty, found more of the same.

 

" Recent years have seen a steep rise in the incidence of homelessness: record

increases were documented over the past two years. At the same time, shelters

and other emergency resources are insufficient to meet the growing need.

Consequently, a growing number of people, many ill, live on the streets, in

parks or other public places. In response, some cities have adopted laws that

'criminalize' activities associated with homelessness, such as sleeping, sitting

or eating in public.

 

Five cities stand out as being particularly harsh:

 

--New York, NY. Homeless people are legally allowed to sleep on church stairs by

the churches but are still ordered to move on by police officers even after

court order 5th Avenue Presbyterian Church v. City of New York.

 

--Palm Beach County, FL. A church that was housing homeless people was fined

over $27,000 for alleged zoning violations even after the Church agreed to stop

housing people in exchange for elimination of the fine.

 

--Albuquerque, NM. Local advocates report an ongoing campaign against homeless

people, citing: police arrests and beating of a group of homeless teenagers

standing in a parking lot in the morning while waiting for a program for

homeless teens to open. In addition, advocates report that police confiscate

homeless persons’ property routinely, even if no arrest is made or citation is

given.

 

--New Orleans, LA. Local advocates cite ongoing harassment in the French

Quarter: Homeless persons are repeatedly arrested for 'obstructing a public

passage' while standing on public sidewalks and waiting for paychecks. They

often receive 30-day sentences. Additionally, advocates report that police

discretion is regularly misused to arrest homeless people for 'public

drunkenness' without basis.

 

--Orlando, FL. The City has passed laws prohibiting sitting or lying on

sidewalks in the downtown core district- but the law provides an affirmative

defense to virtually all but homeless people.

 

Some city ordinances raise constitutional concerns: under the first, fourth,

eighth and fourteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Some have been struck

down by courts in response to challenges. City attempts to criminalize

homelessness not only raise legal concerns, they also raise policy concerns:

they worsen homeless people’s circumstances, making exiting homelessness harder;

they waste resources and make little fiscal sense, and because they simply move

people from place to place, they do not work. "

 

Although stereotypes of " lazy and addicted bums " dominate the discussion about

homelessness, the truth is a lot more nuanced. According to a U.S. Conference of

Mayors report from last year, the homeless population is diverse: 41 percent are

families with children, 22 percent work, 22 percent are mentally disabled, 10

percent are veterans.

 

Anna Quindlen, writing in Newsweek, notes that today's homeless, at least in New

York City, defy the old stereotypes, as more and more people are sucked into the

underclass.

 

There's a new kind of homelessness in the city, and a new kind of hunger, and a

new kind of need and humiliation, but it has managed to stay as invisible as

those sleepers were by sunup. “What we’re seeing are many more working families

on the brink of eviction,” says Mary Brosnahan, who runs the Coalition for the

Homeless. “They fall behind on the rent, and that’s it, they’re on the street.”

Adds Julia Erickson, the executive director of City Harvest, which distributes

food to soup kitchens and food pantries, “Look at the Rescue Mission on

Lafayette Street. They used to feed single men, often substance abusers,

homeless. Now you go in and there are bike messengers, clerks, deli workers,

dishwashers, people who work on cleaning crews. Soup kitchens have been buying

booster seats and highchairs. You never used to see young kids at soup

kitchens.”

 

 

The homeless are poorly represented by the mainstream media, which, when it

doesn't ignore them entirely, treats them either as outlaws. The homeless have

long worked to counter their stereotypical portrayal by publishing their own

news. See here for a directory of homeless papers. AlterNet also publishes a

monthly round up of the best writing from homeless papers, and, aided by library

internet access, at least one homeless guy has started his own blog.

 

 

 

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