Five term Hawaii State Rep (D) Tom Brower has had it with the homeless.
…
“I want to do something practical that will really clean up the streets,” he explained to Hawaii News Now as he showed off his property destruction skills while sporting an Armani Exchange hat…
His “something practical” is:
…”If I see shopping carts that I can’t identify, I will destroy them so they can’t be pushed on the streets.” Brower has waged this campaign for two weeks, estimating that he’s smashed about 30 shopping carts in the process. …
“If someone is sleeping at night on the bus stop, I don’t do anything, but if they are sleeping during the day, I’ll walk up and say, `Get your ass moving,'” he said.
(Note: Mr. Brower has put his sledgehammer away. For the moment anyway.)
There is actually an orientation or perspective that would say, “Yes, this does help.” And it’s hardly limited to Mr. Brower nor is it an unconventional view. It begins with defining homelessness as a choice by those that are unwilling to work and be responsible. That any handouts only encourages them. That when their lives become so impoverished, they will “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” The other part of this view is that if a community houses the current homeless, it only opens up slots for other homeless people to move into. As if those that are homeless are fungible. Better to do nothing and let McDonald’s, Starbucks, and libraries continue to provide restrooms and brief respites from the elements. Better not to think.
Does Hawaii have the highest rate of homelessness in the US because it’s a magnet for homeless people? As if a homeless person has the wherewithal to conclude that if I must be homeless, best to head to Hawaii. That’s how middle class people believe they would think if they were homeless. (And also believing that if such a fate befell them, they would have tucked away enough money to get to there.)
Homelessness is very complicated. However, at its core, it’s the failure of communities to provide minimal clean and safe shelter for the less fortunate who live among us. To give a “hand up” to those in need of that and to accept that “lost souls” are our collective responsibility. Our choice is to be either cruel and fiscally irresponsible or charitable and fiscally responsible.
Part of the mission of Housing First is assisting the chronically homeless. Not so much because it’s a kind thing to do, though it is, but because it’s far cheaper than the alternative that we live with.
…This first US controlled assessment of the effectiveness of Housing First specifically targeting chronically homeless alcoholics showed that the program saved taxpayers more than $4 million over the first year of operation. During the first six months, even after considering the cost of administering the housing, 95 residents in a Housing First program in downtown Seattle, the study reported an average cost-savings of 53 percent–nearly US $2,500 per month per person in health and social services, compared to the per month costs of a wait-list control group of 39 homeless people. Further, stable housing also results in reduced drinking among homeless alcoholics.
The dilemma is how to shift the monies from pocket A to B. In the short run, there are no “savings,” only increased costs to house and administer the program. The resources of law enforcement, general social services, and hospitals can’t be reduced be removing a small number from that system. It also hinges on an excess supply low cost housing when that doesn’t actually exist. Must think long-term.
Or in the case of Mr. Brower, just think. It’s not difficult to see very modest things that could make being homeless a bit less horrible for them and also less annoying for those like Mr. Brower. Observe and think.
One good first effort is being made by several local governments.
A number of other cities, including New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Portland (OR), and St. Petersburg currently have free storage space available to homeless people.
If the proposal becomes a reality in Davis, it will be due in large part to the tireless efforts of Lawson Snipes, founder of a local street newspaper called the Spare Changer who is homeless himself. Snipes has been working since 2005 to get lockers installed in the city for homeless people, telling the Sacramento Bee how important it is for homeless people to have a safe space for their possessions.
The City of Portland has installed fifty lockers at an approximate cost of $760/locker. As with most issues related to housing, location is key. A homeless person living out of a cart needs daily access to his/her belongings. (We can pretend not to know where homeless people bed down for the night but that only permits us to be a little more cruel.) And they aren’t about to leave anything in lockers that would be unprotected overnight. These Wooden Storage Lockers are likely helpful to a certain population of homeless, but a terrible idea for the general population of homeless. Wood lockers absorb smells (not a good idea to get too close to a homeless cart) and can’t be cleaned. Metal lockers would cost a bit more but would last many times longer.
A drop in the bucket, but at least it’s a positive drop unlike Mr. Brower’s poisonous droppings.
