Posted on September 07, 2009 by Nancy Houser

Being homeless can affect everyone anymore—single people, families  with children, pets, and dogs, involving entire communities who are struggling for jobs and to maintain their homes–not only in today’s recessions but with many struggling for a long time. Being homeless is nothing new….only the massive media attention is new.  It is the fashion of the day to bring homelessness up and be concerned with it. But what is being done about it?

HOMELESS  MAYOR OF BERKELEY, TOM BATES

In 2003, the 65-year Berkeley CA Mayor, Tom Bates, voluntarily spent a night out on the streets to fulfill a campaign promise he had made (for a total of 24-hours) with the homeless people to be woken at 2 a.m. by a police officer threatening to force him to move—until the officer was informed who the ‘vagrant was and that the Mayor had official permission to sleep on the bench where he was.  (1)

The mayor ate a free supper with 121 other homeless diners at Berkeley’s Trinity Methodist Church followed by a free breakfast, observing not enough beds, limited medical care, legal assistance, abundant food sources, counseling, haircuts, foot-washing, and many other services. At that time, the city of 103,000 people had 200 beds for approximately 1,000 homeless people with a $1,000 cut on homeless and subsidized housing upcoming because of state reduced revenue. Many homeless people keep pets for company and companionship, but feeding yourself is difficult at best without putting a budget strain on the city for feeding homeless pets also. And not all cities have a budget specifically for feeding dogs or pets for the homeless.

SACRAMENTO MAYOR, KEVIN JOHNSON, SPENDS HALF NIGHT WITH HOMELESS

Meanwhile, the mayor of Sacramento, Kevin Johnson, has recently spent half a night outdoors with the city’s homeless which was taken as a bold move of solidarity with his community’s homeless. “When you think about it, there are a lot of us that don’t want to face the reality that not everyone in Sacramento has a place to lay their head, whether it be a shelter or permanent housing. And as a mayor, I think this is a fight worth having,” remarked Mayor Johnson. (2)

THE HIGH FASHION OF BEING HOMELESSNESS

The online Homeless Tales offers a true-to-life tale of a homeless person being hired by a fashion magazine. But not everyone has a successful tale to tell of being homeless yet being homeless is attracting lots of articles and blogs in the world. In other words, everyone but the homeless are making money off them in addition to lots of political attention.

Also getting attention in the world of fashion is Scott Schumann, also known as the Sartorialist. He featured a photograph of a NYC homeless man on his popular blog. He wrote, “Usually people in this man’s position have given up hope. Maybe this gentleman has too, I don’t know, but he hasn’t given up his sense of self or his sense of expressing something about himself to the world.” Additionally, the cover of the Italian magazine “VOGUE” has two models on the front cover which are dubbed as “homeless chic”—a slap in the fact to those who actually are homeless and struggle to have basic needs met.

Just imagine. You lose your job, and your home. You end up in a shelter or on the streets struggling to figure out how to get back into housing, or when and where your next meal might be. You take hand-me-down clothing from the local church or homeless agency, desperately trying to find something that matches. (3)

The act is to possibly open eyes to the urgency of the homeless situation in Sacramento, even though sleeping outside with the homeless people is absolutely necessary to understand the root causes of homelessness or implement effective solutions to the homeless problems. But maybe…just maybe…it can be used as a unique method to gain a new perspective on the homeless issue and demonstrate ‘solidarity with those who are forced to live that way.

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT BEING HOMELESS (4)

• Homeless is not a recession –induced phenomenon as it has been a consistent U.S. presence since the 1980s when the gap between the rich and poor began to widen.

• To end homelessness, we need more affordable housing. “Today, there is no county in America where a person earning minimum wage can afford the median cost of housing.”

• We need both sandwiches and solutions. “Efforts to provide shelter beds, warm meals, clothing, short-term rental assistance, and other ‘band-aid’ solutions are critical for those who are struggling to survive.”

• Stereotypes are wrong – most homeless people fly under the radar. A reality check by mainstream America shows us that families are the fastest growing segment of the homeless population, most of these families are led by a single mother with 2-3 children. Yes, that’s right — children. One study found that 1 in 50 children in America will face homelessness in the near future.

• You can get involved. To get you started in this new role, take a look at 10 actions you can take to end homelessness. Homelessness is not a stigma or an indication of personal short-comings, but rather the state of not having a home in which to live.

RESOURCES
1.    Homeless for a night – Berkeley mayor keeps promise, sleeps with city’s down and out
2.    Sacramento Mayor Camps With Homeless
3.    How is Homelessness High Fashion
4.    5 Things You Absolutely Must Know About Homelessness

Related posts:

• Question: “Are Homeless Dogs more important then Homeless People?”
• Promoting “Feeding Pets of the Homeless”
• Pets of the Homeless — Help Needed
• Homeless Man and His Dog
• Tragic Plight of U.S. Homeless Animals