Donald Whitehead and Joel Segal for BuzzFlash: Time to End Homelessness in America
April 13, 2021
Why is the richest nation on Earth indifferent to homelessness, except for neighbors with homes and condos wanting homeless encampments to be removed? (Thomas Hawk)
By Donald Whitehead and Joel Segal
Homelessness in America is a national tragedy. In 2020, there were approximately 580,466 people experiencing homelessness in Americans on any given night. Many homeless advocates believe this number is significantly higher, closer to 7 million, given the HUD homelessness statistics do not count the "hidden homeless," the untold numbers of un-housed Americans who are living hand to mouth in hotels, or doubled up with family members, colleagues, or strangers, often living in soul killing and highly stressful temporary housing situations. And a recent study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates a shortage of over 68 million affordable housing units for low-income Americans, a morally unacceptable crisis that must end with all deliberate speed. Behind every statistic are tears, and there are too many people with tears who are homeless. We must do better.
A little history regarding how the homeless crisis was created in America: there was no homeless crisis until President Ronald Reagan acted in a sheer act of cruelty and slashed the Housing and Urban Development affordable housing budget by 80 billion dollars between 1981 and 1985 tax cuts to the super-wealthy. Then, he implemented another ill-fated policy called "DE-institutionalization," where scores of the mentally ill, including those with severe psychiatric illnesses, were let out into the streets without any community-based housing and services.
With a stroke of a pen, President Reagan single-handedly was responsible for one of the worst policy blunders in our nation's history: he starved cities and towns across American of much-needed affordable funding for those who could not afford private market apartments. Cuts in public housing, the War on Drugs, and mandatory minimum sentences also created a "perfect storm," where tens of thousands of returning citizens have no access to affordable housing upon release from incarceration.
Congress and President Biden now have a historic opportunity to end the homeless crisis in our nation, which adversely impacts veterans, families, women, children, working people, and those from all walks of life. This is why the National Coalition For the Homeless, the National Organization of Women, and the Justice Action Mobilization Network are launching an unprecedented national grassroots campaign to end homelessness, long term unemployment and poverty, so the people will compel congress and President Biden to end our homeless crisis, through the introduction of innovative federal legislation that will dramatically expand federal funding for affordable housing, create jobs at a livable wage for the homeless and comprehensive rap around social services.
Many Americans see homeless people in the streets and have developed dangerous stereotypes of homeless people based on intellectual confusion, racism, and not understanding the homeless crisis's complexity. There are untold numbers of homeless Americans who have jobs, are children and teenagers, youth aging out of foster care, are learning and physically challenged, have been released from hospitals or mental health facilities, and are the newly unemployed from the Covid-19 Pandemic; many now living in tent cities across America.
One of the most striking facts about homeless people is that most are African American or of color. So yes, black homeless lives matter too! Undoubtedly, structural and institutional racism plays a prominent role in why America has not tried to end homelessness.
This is an "inconvenient truth" that Americans must wrestle with if we are ever to become a moral nation that takes measurable action steps to end structural racism in America. Why not start by passing federal legislation that will end homelessness and long-term unemployment once and for all?
We, in good conscience, can not allow America to be a nation with "housing apartheid," where African Americans and people of color live in tents, homeless shelters, or the streets, while the majority culture lives in nice houses and apartments. Thousands of Americans, many of whom are employed, are now living in deplorable tent cities where the conditions are much worse than Syrian refugee camps that are rat-infested, have no social services or social workers, and are hungry and without medical care--- diseases rising to the level of serious human rights violations. Homelessness in America is the most visible sign that we have prioritized giving tax breaks to the rich and have accepted gross income inequality between the rich and poor. It is time to re-imagine America where homelessness does not exist; people who want to work can do so at a livable wage. It's called justice.
To add insult to injury, local elected officials often fail in their duty to try to find permanent housing and social services for those living in tent cities, but instead bulldoze them or have police remove tent city residents with the use of force or arrests. They often provide harsh dead-lines for tent city residents who must move back to homeless shelters or hotels that are often dehumanizing and traumatizing because they live in communities with a severe affordable housing shortage.
The public often views homeless shelters as cozy places--- like a girl scout summer camp with nice bunk beds and social services. This is far from the truth. In many homeless shelters, residents often complain about being abused by untrained staff, lack of personal privacy, loss of dignity, unsanitary living conditions, and the fear of being physically or sexually abused. Question: Would you like to live in a homeless shelter if you lost your job or became too sick to work and pay your rent? The answer speaks for itself—no!
America is one of the wealthiest nations in the world's history, so there is no reason why we can not provide affordable, decent, high-quality housing to all Americans who want, need, and deserve housing as a basic fundamental human and civil right. When we talk about homelessness, we should use the language "houseless" or "unhoused," because it's a more accurate depiction of the reality facing millions of Americans who experience homelessness. The majority of Americans believe that all Americans deserve affordable housing and jobs at a livable wage if we have true fairness, equity, and justice in America. We encourage you to join the Bring America Home Now Campaign, being spearhead by the National Coalition For The Homeless, the National Organization of Women, and the Justice Action Mobilization Network. Please donate to the Campaign, or participate in upcoming town hall meetings and symposiums in your respective communities.
Donald Whitehead is the Executive Director of the National Coalition For The Homeless, a former homeless shelter director, and a long-time national leader in the movement to end homelessness in America.
Joel Segal is the former Senior Legislative Assistant to Rep. John Conyers from 2000-2013, Executive Director of the Justice Action Mobilization Network, and ran homeless shelters and transitional housing/jobs programs for many year
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