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Feedback ForumWhat’s the best solution to the problem of homelessness in the United States?Submissions for this question are no longer being accepted. Previously submitted comments appear below. Comments may have been edited for content or space. Poster: michael payne Comment: I direct a mental health program that works with mentally in homeless in Marin County, California...If you really want to understand what it means to mentally ill and homeless in america and how to try and save lives (believe me, there are no easy answers and one size does not fit all) then bring your cameras and follow us around for a week or two - you will come away with more questions than answers. Poster: Sanford Comment: As social safety nets become increasingly frayed, homelessness will trend higher. Mental health funding is a move in the right direction. But there are wider and more pervasive societal shifts at play contributing to this phenomenon. Working parents who live paycheck to paycheck to make ends meet. Credit card interest amounting to legal usury. Suburban sprawl. All of these factors contribute, and make many in our land de facto displaced persons if not outright homeless. As we become more dispersed, indebted, and fearful of our economic and political future, building group identity in societies becomes a more challenging task. Ultimately, our national and local group priorities have to change. With corporate and political special interests setting the agenda in media, there are structural impediments to this coming about, but there is ultimately cause for hope. Poster: rita palmer Comment: I was homeless for 2 yrs. I went from shelter to shelter, until they all made me leave. No one asked about my family, or if I had an ID or social security. I slept with women who were mentally ill and were dangerous. I felt like I was tossed around by some demon. I was beaten, raped, and so on. I had no dignity or home to go to. The police arrest you for trespassing. Of course you're trespassing....you have no home to go to. Common ground is something I have dreamed of for years - my own place, storage, and a job to go to. If you could get this message to someone who cares, or who could start chapters in cities 30,000 or more, I would have done my job to help the homeless. My heart bleeds for these people. All the millionaires in the world don't seem to care what happens here in America, because they are not poor......their eyes are blinded to the despair. I lost my home, my car, and $90,000 in divorce money to identity theft, and bank fraud. I know what it's like to bleed. www.commonground.org moves homeless people from shelters and the streets to homes. they get funds from hosting fund raisers, auctions, galas, just like a person would who was running for an office. They house the homeless and people in transit in old historic hotels, and buildings revamped with disposable furniture and storage like the flophouses of the 30's, 40's. Why is the rest of the country not doing this? We have shelter after shelter doing their own thing. If we pooled all this money from these shelters, and bought historic buildings, or hotels, we could give people a sense of security. Most shelters only keep people for a couple of weeks, and kick people out on the street. People need to have hope and care to survive. We can feed Africa, but we can't help Americans living in disaster areas, and on the street. We need a central building where these people can go to get their ID's, their benefits, their family telephone numbers, and find jobs available for them. This way we could cut down on crime, rape and other forms of degeneration. Poster: Bern Comment: Reduce U.S. military expenditures to 25 percent of the present funding. Use the remaining 75 percent to house the homeless here and build schools, hospitals and libraries in countries where we now have only military bases. Poster: Penny McClellan Comment: In San Diego, California there are a number of problems that create homelessness. The City of San Diego allowed a large numbers of affordable apartments to be converted to condominiums. Also, downtown redevelopment destroyed many buildings that provided house for people with limited incomes. We do not have low income housing to replace these losses. With fewer low income apartments, the price for rental units dramatically increased. We have people on the streets who work, but who cannot afford an apartment. Some people were working and became ill or injured, and could no longer work, so lost their apartment. We are seeing more seniors and people with disability on the streets( some estimates as high as 50%), who were edged out of the housing market. Some people with mental health problems or substance abuse problems never got the help they needed. First, we must have temporary housing for all homeless people. Next we need the support, social services, and/or treatment programs that help people with their special needs. Long-term solutions include 1) affordable apartments for people with limited incomes, 2) accessible housing for individuals with special needs, 3) jobs that pay a living wage. 3) sufficient treatment programs for everyone, 4) a full staffed homeless team that can respond to a person who is homeless and help him/her obtain temporary housing and needed services. Poster: Sandeep Dawrjabi Comment: The dream of a homeless child in New Delhi is to be a homeless child in America. Poster: Mike O Comment: ...having dealt with a lot of homeless folks over the years I find a large percentage of them are homeless because they want to be homeless. It is a choice they made. No responsibilities like maintaining a home, paying taxes, ect. Granted there are some that are homeless because of circumstances like mental illness or disability. I am against blanket programs that simply throw money at the probelm. We will then make being homeless institutionalized and folks will never get their situations improved. Social welfare in this country has become a runaway train and it has not decreased the number of the poor and homeless. Government can't fix everything, at some point in ones life you have to do for yourself. Base your opinion on some experience dealing with the homeless. Visit a soup kitchen, or a shelter and talk with these people. You might come away with a different opinion. I'm a Republican, and my compassion only goes so far. If someone isn't willing to at least try to improve his situation without having to continually reach into my pocket for support then I lose respect for that person because it becomes obvious he or she does not care about themselves. Poster: Kate Baum Comment: I live in Portland, OR, a city with many homeless people. I would ask those who are homeless what they think would work. We have many citizens living in cars, in shelters, or sleeping rough in doorways. We have many homeless families in Portland. Many homless people are reluctant to stay in shelters. They are unsafe, crowded, and uncomfortable. It is surprising to many people with good jobs, living in comfortable homes, how close many of their fellow citizens are to be being homeless. The working poor are often a paycheck away from being evicted from their apartments. Serious illness, catastrophic health costs, high heating costs, an ailing parent. The rent doesn't get paid, the electricity is turned off, etc. Higher wages for the working poor, universal health care for all, equal access to education for all. This will help the working poor. But for those without jobs or for those who are unable to work, surely this country could find solutions. Sociologists and economists have been studying this problem for decades. We can put a man on the moon but we can't provide a decent life for so many of our citizens. Shame on us! Poster: Steve Fesenmaier Comment: Sandy Berman and John Gehner, librarians, have been leading the fight to convince American public libraries that they need to help the homeless - not put up roadblocks. Visit the ALA - SRRT Taskforce website at -http://www.hhptf.org/ Poster: Diane McCarthy Comment: First, it is my belief that most of the homeless are homeless because of reasons beyond their control. There are homeless who are mentally ill and have been dumped on the streets because society has decided that they are a burden. these folk should be housed in half way houses which will provide medication and safe housing. Then there are men, women and families who have lost their jobs and with it their rights as citizens. Housing should be provided to them that is safe and supportive with meals. Job service should also be provided. For thousands of years there have been people in the underclass. LBJ recognized that these people and their children should be taken care of. The relatively few years that help was provided is nothing to the thousands of years underclass has existed. It will take quite awhile for slolutions to be found. Our country has been in a very selfish state since Ronald Reagan was president. The rich have gottten richer and the rest of the folk poorer. The rich seem to think it is their right to control government and gather even more riches unto themselves. It is time that democracy included all the people and took of those who need it. Education is very important in solving these problems. But this is not an easy fix. As a retired teacher I can tell you that students are not blank slates coming in to be written upon by school. They carry with them all sorts of problems that can not be solved by a wave of chalk or even a computer. I think these problems can be overcome gradually, by methods we have yet to provide. Poster: Sharon Becker Comment: Throw the Conservatives with their selfish and mean-spirited ways out of running the country. Let's get back to showing some real compassion for people in need. Start by instituting a LIVING WAGE, instead of a minimum wage. Make redevelopment of blighted city areas a priority, so that there is affordable housing available. Poster: Susan Rhea Comment: Public assistance, obviously. Most homeless have mental health issues that can only be addressed by public assitance. Look to solutions through compassion as the city of Boulder, CO, has. A public/private agency is serving to help disabled transition to greater independence, public housing supports dignity, county mental health programs administer to those in need, college counseling programs take in patients for free, temporary housing and transportation are provided adjacent to employment centers and training. Overall there is an attitude of compassion, respect, and dignity. ps, I don't live in Boulder, but admire it from afar. Poster: Rod Muniz Comment: More mental health funding. Poster: judyth Comment: Jesus said the poor will always be with us, and I believe that. However, that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to help. Take some of the huge ceo money, tax these people heavely and also the 1% that make way too much money that they really need to live a good life and ask them to give to the poor. Build houses. give cloths and food without a religious bent in payment. We all come from the same branch as dna has proven. The people with the most need to help the people with the least. Poster: Kris Debye Comment: We need to individualize our approach to the problem of homelessness. Some families in crisis can make use of a number of public and/or private short term shelters that also provide food, clothing, and job training. Other homeless people with chronic substance abuse issues or chronic and severe mental health issues need an individualized plan which incorporates outreach, monitoring for medication, and an assortment of housing options. Studies have shown that the severely impaired psychiatric individual may do best in a rooming house situation with their own individual room/apartment. There have been articles about the cost/value of this approach, and I believe there have been studies documenting the value of this approach. Poster: Tom Comment: Raise the minimum wage immediately without any tax riders. It has been ten years since a raise and during that time there have been $300 billion tax breaks given to business. Poster: Morayma Aitken Comment: Homelesness starts in the home. When both father and mother work, they don't have enough quantity nor quality time to nurture their children's talents and dreams. Instead of taxing families with children to their eyes, our government should give tax brakes and incentives for one of the parents to stay home full time with their children until they are age five. Thereafter a mother or father can work a few hours in between when the children are in school. Many homeless people are homeless because they have lost that family touch and lack the foundation to rebuild what they have lost if they ever had it. We need to restore the extended family network where we can call for support in time of crisis. Thank you, Morayma Aitken Poster: Judith Nappe Comment: When the Reagan administration closed the doors of most mental health hospitals, the homelessness began. We need to have ways the homeless people can want to not be homeless. Good rehab programs, good counseling clinics, good group homes, good job monitors. That's how you do it. Poster: Camilla Schneider Comment: Homelessness is just one face of a system that considers some people 'disposible.' We need to be a people who engage in deep discussion of how our society and our economic systems are organized and who benefits and who doesn't. This discussion should be done with compassion and a willingness to hear all viewpoints and to the extent possible, walk in another's shoes. As our forefathers (and mothers) created not only a new nation but a new way of organizing relationships between people, it's time to revisit our founding debate and make changes, as needed, to make our constitution a 'living constitution' not just a piece of paper. We need to put people first, not power and economic gain. Poster: JAY Thompson Comment: America needs to find ways to create jobs for its people. All of the jobs once designated to America are now designated to other countries in the world. Job creation would improve the poverty in America, and stabilize neighborhoods. Poster: Linnea Sommer Comment: It's a complex problem, but here are some ideas. Start would be with affordable (preferably free) universal single-payer health care, including mental health care. I forget the exact stats, but something like at least 1/3 of the homeless are mentally ill, and a good portion of those who declare bankruptcy do so because of health care costs. Also, keep raising the minimum wage until it is at a level that can sustain a family. Some of the homeless do work, but simply don't make enough to keep a roof over the heads. Get real estate and rental prices under control, already. Where I live, in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area, you can't get decent, safe housing for less than about $700 a month, and that's for a one-bedroom apartment! What about a single mom or couple with two or three kids? And speaking of kids, find a way to provide quality child care and before- and after-school care, so parents don't have to worry about where their kids are, and whether they're safe. I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. In a society as wealthy as ours, it is simply immoral that ANYONE should be homeless, and/or not making enough to live on. The solutions are not rocket science. It just takes a willingness on behalf of our government and our entire society to end this problem. Poster: Andy Galligan Comment: I should think that a solution is possible only when the homeless person can continuously work at a job that pays a living wage and can afford (rent or buy) decent housing. The solution will also have to include any job training and health (mental and physical) care that may be necessary (adequate health insurance for all). As with curtailing global warming, you can see that such prerequisites will be impossible to obtain unless and until we have the political will and wise and dedicated leadership. If a homeless person is simply incapeable of holding a decent job, then the community would have to provide a shelter. Otherwise, I see no solution to homelessness. |
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