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Technorati'Everyone Deserves a Place to Sleep at Night'
In the beginning, city officials asked these homeless activists if they could avoid calling attention to themselves: no high-visibility signs or big lettering at the front door of the old bank building they had rented. This was back in the day when critics of help for the homeless had a kind of reverse Field of Dreams view of things: If you don't build a refuge, they said, maybe they won't come.
If you don't address the problem, in other words, maybe it'll go away.
The lettering on the window outside the old Equitable Bank Building at 111 Park Ave. still doesn't demand attention. But the problem didn't go away. Street people had their ways of communicating. They got to know where they could go for help.
Nor did Jeff Singer and the handful of men and women who work with him go away. They have shown several generations of Baltimore leaders how the city might demonstrate care and compassion for men, women and children who sleep under expressway ramps and in churchyards.
They have done their work with such relentless avidity that official Baltimore, once anxious for them to disappear, has become a champion. The state has become a partner as well, allotting $3.7 million for the program over the years. Private citizens and various charitable organizations are raising $15.5 million for a new facility. Of this about $14 million is in hand, so the fundraising continues.
Thus on Thursday, city and state officials will be on hand to inaugurate a new Health Care for the Homeless center at the corner of Hillen Street and the Fallsway.
"It's kind of amazing to us," says Mr. Singer, a social worker and social change agent. "People told us we'd never be able to raise the money. We weren't big enough. We didn't have enough of a base. But we persisted."
Mr. Singer's persistence and profile have become legend. He's been as quiet a champion as any member of the establishment could want. With his navy blue tam, his head and face haloed in white hair, he smiles as if the world will always come around to his way of thinking.
And so it has. Mayor Sheila Dixon recently announced a 10-year plan to end homelessness. She stood her ground against the naysayers with this observation: "Everyone deserves a place to sleep at night."
Former Baltimore mayor, governor and comptroller William Donald Schaefer became an advocate. Never one to offer government help until people demonstrated their own commitment to an idea or a project, he saw Mr. Singer's quiet passion. At one point, he came and sat in the program's waiting room, just observing the system. As governor, he put the program in his budget, thereby conferring important financial stability.
Health Care for the Homeless now lives in the same warren of offices it moved to 17 years ago on Park Avenue. Its original three-member staff has grown to 127. It has three psychiatrists and eight therapists. The old bank building is so crowded that three outreach workers have desks in an old vault bristling with wheels and bars. It's an airless warren that succeeds in pushing these workers onto the street in search of clients.
Health Care for the Homeless last year had 54,000 visits from the estimated 8,000 homeless people in Baltimore. The clinic addresses myriad medical needs. It did 1,000 tests for HIV last year, finding more than 100 people who were HIV-positive and in need of treatment.
Not wishing to leave the matter in the hands of individuals with such transient and erratic lifestyles, the center includes a place where patients can come to take their medications.
Homelessness, Mr. Singer says, is simply a symptom of poverty, with the lack of low-cost housing and jobs at the root of it. Most of the people who seek help at the clinic have no health insurance. Some have lost their jobs as a result of the economic downturn - and, earlier, more homeless were produced by the cutback in benefits that occurred with welfare reform.
Given the nation's economic distress, these issues are not likely to be addressed in the near future. The need for Mr. Singer's program will undoubtedly grow even as he joins those who wish there was no need. Mr. Singer and his team observe that even with a conservative national administration, new initiatives - triggered in part by the economic slowdown - will address some of the underlying problems.
So, this Thursday, ground will be broken for the new building near the feeding program Our Daily Bread and near Mercy Hospital, which deals with Jeff Singer's sicker clients.
A sign on the front of the new health center will proudly say, in letters large enough to be seen from the nearby expressway, Health Care for the Homeless.
C. Fraser Smith is senior news analyst for WYPR-FM. His column appears Sunday in The Sun. His e-mail is fsmith@wypr.org.
Copyright © 2008, The Baltimore Sun
31 Comments so far
Show AllChurches helping people - Gdamn religious freaks always getting in the way. I bet they are all a bunch of evengelicals. What about the seperation between church and homeless?
Here's how progressive they are in West Palm Beach in treating the homeless.
The local church group called the Westgate Tabernacle has been caring and feeding the homeless for years. The city is doing everything in their power to push them out of their spot.
The last few weeks because of the lack of jobs here and the amount of people losing what jobs they had the amount of homeless has grown so they ahve put up a tent.
In their graciousness the city commissioners now are fining them 1000a day because they say the tent is illegal.
I'm heading over one of the days this week and see if there is something I can do. I am finally pushed to another point wher I can no longer abide governments brutality.
I say something serious and you think its funny. I say sometnig funny and you take me serious. World turned upside down
marc melchiori 8;08 am-
Gotta admit-that's funny.There's hope for us all.
I tend to agree with ACC. I've noticed in my own nomadic-style travels that many homeless people use public libraries. I met one guy who told me his tragic tale. His parents went through a brutal divorce and pretty much threw him out when he was 14. He tried to sleep on the beach in Ventura, Cal and told me that SURFERS beat him up, so badly he almost died! He said surfers are mean. (I had a more romantic view of them.)
I have a male friend who does work fixing up homes and the boss of the operation is a really cool guy. (He takes derelict homes and gives them top of the line remakes and rents for nominal prices!) Anyway, my friend CAMPS on each housing site. He likes showering outside, and he like to build a campfire. Lots of people show up at his campfires and I think these ad hoc get togethers do more for sharing progressive views than many more orthodox channels. In his case he CHOOSES "homelessness" because he is not being harassed by any authorities.
Kudos for comments that link Reagan with closing the caring institution doors; and for pointing out how facile this idea of "choice" is when the general leit motif of our market-friendly "culture" relies upon this deception.
physicscitizen August 4th, 2008 3:51 am
Thanks for saying that, now I don't have to.
There are always going to be a number of poor that simply cannot make it. Mental health, etc. These we need to care for.
Protecting the jobs and wage levels of the working poor should be everyone's first concern. If for no other reason, to protect your own income. If they can push the janitor's wage down, why should your's stay up? There are so many reasons to help the working poor I don't see how anyone other than the most fanatical right and left wing extremists could oppose it.
Do the homeless in Baltimore (and other places) know about the increased danger they face with police forces being staffed with PSTD-former-Iraq-military types, former Blackwater mercenaries, and oh yes, if the cops are not former vets, then they are Blackwater trained ...
And carrying Tasers.
But wait! They are 'kinder and gentler' Tasers.
klever - shame on you! You did't mention my sexist jokes.
You are my kinda people, Klever.
I think a big part of the problem is the classification "homeless" itself.
A very telling label to throw onto a very disparate "group" of the People.
Example: I backpacked around Europe when I was younger. Spent much of my waking hours drunk, had no fixed address, and often slept outdoors. Was I "homeless"? No, of course not. The money in my bank account made sure of that. Was I homeless? Of course, I lived without a "home" -other than my pack- for nearly six months.
Stupid, Inaccurate terminology begets Stupid, Ineffectual actions.
Not that complex really.
Have Fun,
-matti.
There is the same theme running through this thread that also exists in the MSM regarding all those who are poor.
Demonization.
I'm not sure how exactly, but from Regan onward there has been a concerted effort to put a face to the homeless and the poor. And that face is of the lazy, fraudulent, criminal and stupid. In short, making it clear to everyone else that these people are undeserving of the fruits of your labours.
It's why we now have tax cuts for the highest 2% of earners and why people who work 2 jobs and have no health care STILL vote republican.....they work so hard they do not want to give one single dime to people who do not work.
We all know that this is a huge lie. That taxes for the people working 2-3 jobs have, at best, held steady while the rich reap the tax cuts. (How many people do you know actually earn substantial capitol gains income? We should all request our salaries in stock options so that we can all benefit from a 15% tax rate.) But somehow, and you have to admire the effectiveness of the propaganda full-court press, These working poor vote Republican anyway.
This election might be unique though. Most of these working poor are going to be losing their jobs and joining the ranks of the homeless right at the time when they are still registered to vote....just before their voting rights are stripped for being homeless and poor. Usually these two events do not coincide so by the time the election comes around the new class of the destitute are no longer voting.
marc melchiori;
"homelessness is a fad?".To add to your racist jokes on other threads you add this bit of stupidity? Have some decency-go to some right wing sites where you're among your own kind.
Do you want to be shot or hung? If you choose one, then you have a preference and others will claim that you chose your fate, and therefore, a real choice was made.
It was very clear to me, living in San Francisco when Reagan became president, what caused homelessness. High rents and low wages. Nothing else..
The mentally ill or alcoholic or drug abusing folks in our land don't deserve to live on the streets because "they made their choices".
It's outrageous that the police are allowed to sweep into homeless enclaves, destroy people's "homes", confiscate and destroy their property. It's true that humans are nomads, but now that every damned piece of Earth is claimed as private property, how can you be a nomad?
Roger Miller sang a song that should still describe our society,''Rooms for let, 50 cents. No phone, no pool, no pets..... 2 hours of pushing broom, buys an 8x12 4 bit room"
In other words, a person with no job skills, no social skills, no shot at making it, ought to be able to work for a couple of hours and afford a place to stay!
dablackanarch wrote: "Hell, I met more progressives on the street than I ever have here on CD."
Same here. Same here.
BTW, I was not trying to romanticize homelessness, as it currently is. Trust me, I've eaten out of dumpsters, slept under freeway overpasses and kept one step ahead of the pigs while just trying to stay safe. What I'm saying is that, homelessness, voluntary or not, should not be criminalized nor should the pigs and other citizens get to hurt those without permanent shelter with impunity.
I say that I was a nomad because, while becoming homeless wasn't voluntary, staying homeless became so. I had such horrifying and beautiful experiences when I was homeless. I remember a man who drank Listerine and on a 92 degree day, that stuff oozed out of his pores. Meanwhile, he was so drunk, he couldn't even stand up straight. I also remember sleeping on the Rio Grande and sharing a can of pork -n- beans with this old Navy vet.
Personally, a lot of the problem with homelessness is when there are folks who, never having been homeless, dictate to homeless folk what they need. Instead of asking and being willing to GIVE to the homeless what they need, they are told that they either do X or they get nothing. Everyone with a plan should try listening to what homeless people say. Pick up a copy of Real Change (preferably from a homeless person) and see what homeless people want and hope for. Hell, I met more progressives on the street than I ever have here on CD.
Annabelle: " It is the same with our Government that has the best health care money can provide (forever) while battling any progress of providing even basic health care for others. Maybe is the homeless ran the Government for a few days we would see a few major changes in equalizing the haves and have nots."
Annabelle, actually, you are on to a solution for the healthcare "crisis." All we need to do to solve this problem and solve it quickly is to take away all of the health insurance benefits from the preznit and legisators immediately, and let them go without until they come up with a plan for health insurance for everyone. The health insurance plan that they come up with for everyone else is the exact same healthcare benefits that they, as our representitives, will have to live with themselves, ie. the preznit, congressmen and women and senators have exactly the same health insurance as everybody else has. I'll bet that not only would the problem of the uninsured be quickly solved, it woud be solved in a way that nobody had ever envisioned before!
The proper policy for the city of Baltimore was known ten years ago, twenty, fifty, five hundred, two thousand years ago. Humans understood human nature then, and now. But the Baltimore Sun failed to highlight the city leadership clinging to capitalist propaganda dumped on this country over the past thirty years by Friedmanite extremists. Until you drag the capitalist beast onto the table and finally jam the stake through its black heart, it's going to be back to stalk you another day.
marcm: you are right that we choose our paths-some are locked into homelessness because of mental health problems or circumstance.
The former need help, the latter will not be homeless for too long.
Many though choose ugly drugs usually alcohol in favor of seeking shelter from the wind.
We're still waiting for the Demoks to solve the homeless crisis with all the power they have secured in Washington. Until they solve the crisis we see them as "only slightly lesser evil", and we will vote third party progressive candidates. And if Repuks win, let the Demoks "eat cake".
A man in our community pitched his tent in the dense woods on the outskirts of the town one very cold winter. he was an alchaholic and as he slowly drank himself to death his blood thinned to such a degree that one night he froze to death. I have slept many a night under the stars in the dead of winter, and have survived with little more than a blnket and warm clothes. When one abuses his body, like this man did, they are in for rough nights. iys a shame, but he chose his path as you and I must choose ours. We might not be able to live in a palace or a cave, but we have control over our persoal behavour. Homelessness is also a fad, some choose to be when options are available.
The problem starts with criminalizing camping. Camping out is what peole w/o a home do. They pitch tents but that is against the law within almost all city limits. Or County limits. And it's not feasable for homeless people to disappear and live off the land. Drag.
But don't get cited for lying down and sleeping. That is a crime. FTA on the ticket? Jail. No $ for the ticket. Jail.
We're welcome to be homeless; as long as we keep walking.
The Republican's tax-cut's ruin of the economy and updraft of wealth are exponentially exascerbating the problem.
Obama '08. Or McCain.
Is a roof over ones head a RIGHT like health care? If so prepare to include it in the bill of rights the way all other tights have been included, If you are not prepared to go to that length then its not a right its something else.
I have also been homeless by choise, even though there were several social workers who tried to convince me otherwise. I choose to avoid them. But it was a hard life and God gave me a opportunity to explore other kinds of living. Now I am a farmer and I love it.
Still - I am very grateful to have experienced the street life - I learned a lot from it (much more than I ever did at school).
Nomad. Right. Sounds nice and romantic. There is nothing romantic about being homeless. Being a nomad out in the wild, when you know how to support yourself in that environment, is a far cry from sleeping on pavement or a park bench, begging for money, going hungry or dumpster diving, going without warm clothes when the nights are cold, not knowing from day to day if you will be beaten, or raped, or arrested and put in a filthy jail without the means to get out. And if you're mentally impaired, say schizophrenic or bipolar, you don't have the mental judgment to stay out of trouble; you can't think clearly, judge accurately. You are at a grave disadvantage in a situation that is already disadvantageous to say the least.
If you are, as "dablackanarch" claimed, "homeless by choice," then you aren't homeless. Homelessness isn't a choice, it's a fate, and a damned terrible one.
ezeflyer, I don't normally agree with you on any posts (your pro-Obama stance just kills me) but, I totally agree with you. Modern day Nomads need protection, not programs. Why should I essentially be forced to live in a certain place or in a certain way? I understand that if homeless people commit crimes, they should be addressed as criminals. It is not right to criminalize not having a permanent home.
blackanarch:
Wow! Nomads. That's a refreshing thought considering that we were hunter-gatherers for much more time than we've been "civilized".
The bankers and the filthy rich learned a major lesson with the Great Depression. Too bad our tax dollars now go to keep them safe from learning that lesson again.
I was living in Sacramento when Governor Reagan shut down the mental hospitals and turned all the mentally ill into the streets, sans bed or needed medication. Most gravitated to the downtown area where they lived under bridges, in alleyways, and anywhere they could find hidey holes to curl up in. During the day they'd sit along the streets hoping for handouts, or just simply sitting against the buildings.
When I heard Reagan, as President, say that the homeless lived that way by choice, it made my blood boil.
The conservatives put us all in the same mold, believing we are capable of making something decent out of our lives. They just don't get that as we all look different, and we all think differntly, that we aren't all cut from the same cloth.
I suggest that a plan be hatched to house all of the mad moneychangers from Wall Street, from the banks and mortgage houses for about a month in the homeless shelters around the country. Then bring in Congress and all of those who refuse to regulate the activities on Wall Street that create homelessness in the first place. Next bring in all of the lobbyists who influence Congress to make decisions that eventually dribble down to creating homelessness and hopelessness. While the Moneychangers, congress and the lobbyists are doing their stint in the shelters let the homelesspersons take a stab at Wall Street, at Congress and at Lobbying. After all isn't turn about fair play?
The down and out could do no worse than the up and up and who knows, maybe they could provide a few valuable insights for those who think Homelessness is a choice made by undesirables. The crime is in decisions made by persons who know darn well how those decisions are going to affect a lot of people, whether it is loss of retirement, loss of jobs, loss of homes or cars and consequently, loss of self esteem and respect. While most of these schemes are great for feathering the elite nests, others have no nests to feather. Meanwhile, Congress helps bail out the moneychangers with dollars paid by the worker bees, if they have or can find a job. It is the same with our Government that has the best health care money can provide (forever) while battling any progress of providing even basic health care for others. Maybe is the homeless ran the Government for a few days we would see a few major changes in equalizing the haves and have nots.
Here's the rub. There are many people who are homeless who were thrust into it. However, there are some who choose not to have a permanent home base. Why should they be forced, essentially, into a solution that doesn't work for them? As a matter of fact, a 'war on homelessness' makes about as much since as the war on drugs.
What is this fascination with having a permanent home? I have an apartment and because I have two children, I want someplace permanent as a base. However, are we so far gone into our civilization delusion that we cannot allow nomadic members of our society to sleep in peace wherever they like?
I was 'voluntarily' homeless back in '99. For six months, I had no home. It was one of the best times of my life. However, society did it's best to ensure that if I was there, I'd have to stay there. People won't give jobs (excepting horrifying, low-paying, extremely laborious work) to the homeless. It's hard to get food without money.
When my children become a bit older and stronger, I'd like to take them to the streets for a bit of voluntary homelessness. Perhaps they'd have a bit more sympathy for some of the hardships, those of us without a permanent base go through. Maybe Daniel Quinn was right about his "Tribe of Crow" idea.
The problem is more difficult than most people realize. I work for a city that does make an effort to house as many of the homeless as it can, for one of the agencies that struggles to do this. We put a lot of them in SRO (single room occupancy) hotels all of which are in the poor skid-row parts of town, and even then it's difficult to get some of the long-time homeless to go in. Some of them get used to being outdoors and feel confined in hotel rooms, many are mentally ill and are too disorganized to manage rooms unless intensive case management therapists work with them. The city I live in has a pretty good lobby for the homeless, a lot of organizations trying to help them. But there are many more than the agencies can deal with. City government would love to have them be gone because they interfere with the primary industry here (tourism), but there isn't enough money in the budget (so we're told) to have enough staff and resources to do it right.
Many of the homeless are behaviorally difficult and not very presentable, and middle class folks have a tough time having sympathy for them, believing the homeless could, if they wanted to, clean up their act and stop bothering people -- remember Ronald Reagan saying that most of them were "homeless by choice"?
As the economy continues to deteriorate, their numbers will surely increase, perhaps even including me. Remember that old song that Phil Ochs wrote and Joan Baez used to sing "there but for fortune go you or I"?
This is a total outrage. Prisons and psychiatric druggings aren't a cure for poverty, but then it's too unsettling for the "better off" to look down into the dumpster. The majority equally ignored the violent killings during the continuing US assault on the middle east, so it's no surprise they can't be annoyed with the details of so-called mental patients and drug addicts journey through hell.
So there you have it, violent indifference from a majority and a few good helping hands. How's this - Give the homeless cubicles at a Raytheon Project, say, in the DOD. Baltimore is good for about 65K a head. Problem solved. The poor don't need the humility and punishment of "handouts" they need welfare like the rest of us: Good job, health benefits, and of course, a place to live.