Cooking the Books on Homelessness Stats: Are there really 3 million Americans wandering the streets?
posted by Helen at 5:54 AM
Thursday, July 24, 2008
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8 Comments:
Lies, damn lies, and numbers published by bureaucracies trying to justify their continued existence and growth.
One thing I notice is that the "problem" of homelessness is articulated almost exclusively by advocates who are not themselves homeless. They see homelessness as a problem through projection. Sitting in the comfort of their homes with full stomachs, they perceive homelessness as a terrifying thing and assume it must be terrible for others as well.
For most of the homeless, however, homelessness is not a problem, but rather a choice. That's why, as San Franciscans are discovering, providing homes for people who choose homelessness does not solve "the problem".
My guess is that most of the homeless, if they were being truthful, would not tell you that their problem was the lack of a home. They would tell you their problem was lack of money to buy drugs and/or alcohol.
I worked for several years in San Francisco. My office was in the financial district and my client was at Market and Van Ness, about two miles down Market Street.
In good weather I would often walk from one to the other, but you could not walk down Market Street in those days without being panhandled at least three or four times for money "for food". My standard response was, "I won't give you money, but if you come with me, I will buy you a meal at St. Anthony's Dining Hall."
I can't tell you how many times I made that offer -- certainly well over a hundred. Care to guess how many took me up on it? You're right: not a single one. And many of the responses were pretty abusive.
I'm not unique. Nearly all of us are good people and want to help. But how do you help those who crave self-destruction and reject bona fide offers of what would actually help them?
Sounds like Mitch Snyder all over again.
Those that panhandle don't necessarily represent the entire homeless population. Another large segment are people with psychological challenges. People with psychological issues either opt not to get treatment or receive medication to control their moods then feel better so they stop taking their meds, afterwhich they become jobless and homeless.
The homeless can also include people whose income no longer covers their expenses as well. The mentally challenged and the financially strapped aren't necssarily the homeless you will see actively panhandling. Those that panhandle can be either alcoholics, addicts, crust or gutter punks.
"Help" is a relative term. What defines help to you isn't help to an addict. Some addicts think that help means money for drugs. For a financially strapped individual help means a low-cost place to stay with a good lock on the door. For a crust punk help means some loose change to purchase candy and soda. For some of the psychologically challenged, they don't need or want "help".
I know a lot of runaways head for Portland, Oregon. They live in the parks, etc. The city seems to let them be for the most part. I know they are everywhere in the daylight hours.
I have not been back there (for work) in a few years, so I can't say how things are now.
Decrepit-looking people and panhandlers are by no means necessarily homeless. A schizophrenic relative lived for many years in a comfortable apartment building, but she preferred to spend her time hanging out on the street scrounging for various items. Among other things, she believed that the bus bench in front of her building was "her" territory, and would often sit there for hours, unwashed and in filthy clothing. Normal people just assumed she was "homeless." It's a generic term for the unwashed, the mentally ill, the decrepit, and the substance-dependent, and I think it's often a misnomer.
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The author of the article says that Wikipedia exaggerates the number of homeless, but you look on their page about Mitch Snyder it says he made up the number.
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