HOMELESSNESS
A great concern of residents in our district is homelessness—so many more people so destitute. How did this happen? What caused it? Why is it getting worse? What can be done to alleviate the pain of homelessness? Who’s going to "solve the problem of homelessness"? Who's responsible to do it? Do we look to the entity with the most money and power to effect change? That would be our government, right? But so far, our local and state governments have not provided an effective solution, despite the hundreds of millions of taxpayer money collected.
Have you had a chance to see the hard-hitting, truth-telling video "How San Francisco Creates More Homeless While Championing Equality | Michael Shellenberger"? Just substitute the word Portland for San Francisco, and you will hear a description of Portland.
According to Eric Fruits of the Cascade Policy Institute, Shellenberger concludes there and in his book San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities that "progressive policymakers and advocates have adopted an ideology that sees lawbreakers as victims. Under this way of thinking, any attempts to rein in lawbreaking will further victimize the lawbreakers. The result is paralysis and an urge to spend money to give the impression of solving a problem without doing anything to actually solve the problem.
"On homelessness, San Francisco's leaders have decided that expensive publicly funded permanent supportive housing—rather than emergency shelter—is the best way to address the problem. This is the same thinking that dominates Metro, Multnomah County, and the City of Portland's policies. Under what is known as a ‘housing first' approach, residents are under no obligation to seek treatment for substance abuse or mental illness. The hope is after they are housed, someday eventually they'll come around to getting help, but only when they're ready.
"It's a policy that's doomed to fail. It's well known in the recovery field that the people who are most in need of treatment are also those who are most resistant to treatment. Handing addicts the keys to an apartment that cost more than $300,000 to build and saying, "Let us know when you're ready for rehab", is a recipe for failure. Most of them will never be ready. For more information, see 'Homelessness: Outdated Theories Lead to Doomed Policies'".
Unless we have a change in politicians, the only people who can solve this issue are people who have the will and the common sense to solve it, ordinary people like you and me—and maybe the homeless themselves.
Here's just one example. Perhaps you have heard of Alan Evans, the CEO of the very successful, non-profit Helping Hands Re-entry Outreach Center, who works with homeless people. For twenty-seven years he himself was homeless—until a police officer took a personal interest in him. It changed Mr. Evans' life: today he helps other homeless people become welcomed members in our communities—with eleven shelters around Oregon, his latest being the Bybee Lakes Hope Center, utilizing the Wapato Jail space. For more information about the story about Alan Evans, see the article Has This Man Found The Answer To Wapato Jail With A Homelessness Service Center?
Until very recently, Helping Hands has so far refused to take any government funds--because government attaches strings to its funds that force people into programs and models that don't work, he said. Helping Hands is "person-centered", recognizing individual homeless persons as the unique individuals they are. Each has his own story, his unique needs and may need his own unique resources. Government doesn't seem well-equipped to provide that kind of flexible, individual, person-centered focus.
Can government play a role to help solve the homelessness crisis? For starters, maybe governments can be more open-minded to ideas that are different from their own, relax zoning restrictions, reduce red tape and regulations, and increase the individual charitable deduction so that ordinary people, rather than governments, make the decisions about which organizations they choose to support to meet the social needs of their communities. See also "The Pursuit of Happiness".
What can YOU do to help "contain homelessness"?
- View the short video How San Francisco Creates More Homeless While Championing Equality | Michael Shellenberger
- Read the article The Politics of Ruinous Compassion: How Seattle’s [OUR] Homelessness Policy Perpetuates the Crisis—And How to Fix it”, Christopher F. Rufo
- Vote for candidates who have a better understanding of homelessness and the political courage and will to act to contain it.
- Work for and contribute to those organizations that offer transformational hope to the homeless and not just basic, animal-type support (like Bybee Lakes Hope Center or Portland Rescue Mission).
What do YOU think? Please fill out the Voter Feedback Survey.
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