I met Sue and Chris last summer at a campground in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. They appeared to be just two ordinary campers. It was after some casual conversation that I learned they had been living in the campground for the past two weeks. Park authorities had informed them their time was up and they would have to move somewhere else. Sue, a young lady in her late twenties, told me they had no place else to go. Chris, a young man in his early thirties, had lost his job, had no money to pay rent, and no family or friends in the area. Everything they owned was in boxes.
Some in their tent, others outside on the ground covered as best they could from the elements. They had little food and no way to keep any perishables cold. They carried water from a nearby spring. They were fortunate in that they had an old vehicle that did provide them with transportation, but it was unreliable for the long trip to Fairmont, West Virginia where Sue had family that could provide them shelter until they could get back on their feet. Chris said he had tried to find employment, but he was unable to afford a haircut and potential employers would not even talk to him because of his looks.
Reality set in. I had heard and read about homeless people, but nothing had prepared me for the hopelessness and despair of people with no place to live. I have always been an avid camper and enjoy living in the elements for a week or so. But I can pack up my things and go home to a nice warm, dry bed, a hot shower, a refrigerator of food, and a place to wash my dirty clothes. I could not turn my back on these people. I could not return to my safe haven knowing these two people were in such a plight. I was with a group of campers and had no personal transportation, so, I told them I would return in wo days and help them get to Fairmont. Arrangements had to be made to go home and get my own car so that I could return. Knowing time was short I left them what food I had with me and drove all night to get home. After a few hours sleep my girlfriend and I drove back to the campground. No words can express the looks on the faces of Sue and Chris when we arrived.
However hopeful they were, they still had great doubts that a stranger would come back and help them. I spent the night at the campground and we rose early the next day to get their few belongings packed in their truck and my car. It was then I ealized that even had they been able to rely on their truck, there was no way they could have packed everything they had into one vehicle. It was heartbreaking to see that many of their personal belongings had been damaged by mildew and dampness. This was early summer, what would they have done in winter? Finally, we were ready to head back. We bought them breakfast and set out on the long trip. It was a slow journey with many stops for gas and to ensure that their vehicle did not overheat or break down. Almost six hours later we arrived at Sue’s parents house. Finally they had a roof over their heads.
I could sleep that night. There were two less homeless people in the world. Homeless is a very small word for a very big problem. Foremost, the homeless are people. People who no longer have a place to live. Homelessness has its own unique causes, problems, and corrections. Experts disagree on the number of homeless in our society. Beth Springs estimated in Christianity Today that there are between 350,000 to three million people living on America’s streets (15). However, David Whiteman reported in U. S. News and World Report that a 1988 study by Urban Institute estimates the otal to be closer to six hundred thousand (“Myths” 27). The 1990 Census failed to document the actual number of homeless people in our society which means actual numbers of homeless will probably never be known. In Christianity Today Katie Smith predicted that by the year 2000 the total number of homeless could reach nineteen million if nothing is done to intervene (8). Experts also dispute on who makes up the homeless population. The first person that comes to mind when we say homeless is the stereotyped old skid-row bum. However, today’s homeless society seems to be made up of many types of people.
Beth Spring stated in Christianity Today that “today’s homeless bear little resemblance to the stereotypical skid-row bum. Instead they are beginning to look a lot like our next door neighbors” (15). However, David Whiteman disagreed in his article “Shattering Myths About the Homeless” by saying that one of the myths about the homeless is that they are “people just like us” (27). The authors of Health Care of Homeless People state that homeless people include skid-row people, discharged mental patients, victims of economic casualties, youth, and women (Brickner et al 4).
The fact that the homeless person is getting younger and that women and children are joining the ranks seems to have caught society’s attention. Margaret Daly quoted Dr. Ellen Bassuk, President of the “Better Homes Foundation” in Better Homes and Gardens in estimating that at least 750,000 homeless people were under the age of five. Daly also stated that most experts agree that one third of total homeless are families (22). AIDS patients have also joined the ranks of the homeless. Homelessness shows no discrimination. There is little dispute as to where the homeless are. They re found on the streets, in shelters, and in campgrounds and parks. In the September/October 1989 issue of Country Journal Richard Matthews estimates that twenty percent of the homeless are now in rural areas (10). The reasons for being homeless are many.
Loss of employment can be caused by loss of healty, strikes, plant closings, or automation. The displaced worker may lack education or training to reenter the job market. Many low paid workers migrate to other states and areas when they hear of high paying jobs. However, they soon find that the cost of living is also high and re unable to afford housing (Scott 132). Margaret Daly in “Homeless Families” quoted Venetia Magnuson of St. John’s YWCA in Portland, Oregon that the “simple fact is you cannot house and feed a family today adequately on minimum wages or welfare” (22). Other causes of homelessness can be loss of low income housing, family violence, loss of home due to fire, or substance abuse (Daly 21-22).
AIDS victims, also victims of an uneducated society, lose their jobs, their incomes, and their homes (Schulman 480). They have nowhere else to go but the streets. Each homeless person is homeless because of a personal set of ircumstances, but is homeless all the same. The government has been blamed for a lot of the homeless problem. Katie Smith explained in Christianity Today how the government deinstitutionalized mentally ill persons during the 1970’s who represented no danger to themselves and others. The original plan was that the local government and private sector would provide for their care. This didn’t happen as planned and they joined the ranks of the homeless (8).
The Reagan Administration was pointed at for causing an increase in homelessness. An editorial in America quoted Representative Charles E. Schumer, a New York Democrat: “There is an undeniable link between the Reagan Administration’s budget policy and the dramatic increase in homelessness. ” This same editorial reiterated that Mr. Reagan suggested in a December 1988 interview with David Brinkley that some of the homeless like living on the streets and that many homeless are mentally impaired who choose to avoid the shelters and live on the streets. “Rays of Hope” also stated that “homelessness is largely the result of lack of affordable housing. Although the Federal Government cannot build units needed, it can help. The article further stated that the Federal Housing Program spending declined from twenty-eight billion to less than ten billion during the Reagan Administration (3). Katie Smith, writing in Christianity Today, also blamed cuts in federal housing, subsidies and insufficient checks on private development as adding to the number of homeless (8).
David Whiteman defended the federal government in the October 16, 1989 issue of U. S. News and World Report. He states that the private sector has had a hand in the problem as well. He cites as examples as the neighborhood organization who blocks he group home for the mentally ill, the zoning board who frustrates construction of inexpensive rental housing, the “yuppie who renovates the apartment that once housed a poor family,” and the landlord who raises the rent to force out tenants (Crisis” 28). Homeless people have numerous problems. Youth get into prostitution and drug abuse (Spring 16). Families in campgrounds and motels find that even they get work, the expense of surviving keeps them from having enough money to get adequate housing. Their children are unable to attend school as they have no permanent address (Scott 132).
Women face special problems. Stacy Rowe, graduate student at University of Southern California’s Visual Anthropology Program was quoted in USA Today: “A woman alone on the street at night is more vulnerable to attack than a man. It is likely she will be attacked sooner or later, unless she adopts a street strategy of self defense” (8). Children also have their own set of problems. Margaret Daly cited Dr. Bassuk, Associated Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School: These children don’t receive basic nurturing. Their mothers are depressed, preoccupied with survival.
Also, there is no affordable child care. It’s difficult to look for housing, or a job, or to get job training, or just to get away from the demands of small children for a little while (22). The children on an average suffer more health problems and increased learning difficulties (23). Daly also quoted a homeless mother of two in Portland, Oregon, “The worst feeling is that nobody gives a damn” (21). The homeless suffer psychological problems. Deprived of social relationships and alienated, they lose their sense of identity and self-esteem (“Homeless Need” 8). The mentally ill ack treatment or assistance to be functioning members of society. Health problems also plague the homeless. According to Science News the homeless suffer from physical and mental health problems. They are underweight, malnourished, have high blood pressure, foot problems, skin injuries and are very poor judges of their own health(302). The homeless suffer from infestations of lice and scabies, exposure from heat and cold, respiratory problems, skin infections, substance abuse, tuberculosis, and numerous communicable diseases and infections (Brickner et al 61-103).
AIDS victims have their own set of problems as there re few provisions made for homeless AIDS patients (Schulmer 480). Health Care of Homeless People states that: “Trauma (falls, accidents, poisoning, drowning, murder) is the leading cause of death and disability in homeless people” (77). Shelters are many times inadequate for homeless people (Adler 38). Many feel safer in the streets than in a shelter. Homeless people themselves are a problem to society. John Leo’s article “Homeless Rights, Community Wrongs” published in the July 24, 1989 issue of U. S. News and World Report feels that the homeless people in the streets may be leading the decay of ome of our communities. Leo feels that allowing homeless people to fill the streets paves the way for criminals and muggers. Leo quotes James Q. Wilson in his book Thinking About Crime: “Muggers and robbers flourish on streets, where potential victims are already intimidated by prevailing conditions. ” Leo also feels homeless people living on the streets cause “demoralization of neighbors, loss of social controls, and destabilization of the entire community. ” Leo adds that criminals and druggies take over because communities fail to act because they want to be compassionate to homeless people (56).