People Count!

Today was the day that hundreds of volunteers hit the streets of Long Beach for the biannual homeless count. It was awesome to see so many people counting...and to see that ALL people count.

We live in a "throw away" culture. For too long we have been tossing out whatever we don't like, whatever we have left. We've been buying disposable and filling the landfills with trash, throwing things "away" as if there IS such a place as "away."

And we've done the same thing with people. Collectively, we've trashed whole populations based on whether we felt they were needed or wanted...choosing those we prefer to keep around using arbitrary distinctions like race or culture and making it all seem palatable by emphasizing what is different about us rather than considering our common humanity.

People with mental illness, and the many who end up homeless (for whatever reason!) have been pushed to the very bottom of the heap. Heck, we've found all sorts of innovative ways to recycle plastic but can't seem to figure out what to "do" with people who seem different.

What we need is a reevaluation of our perspective. Why do we think that certain people have nothing to offer, and quickly label them a "burden" to society? Why do we focus on need rather than gift? It may take a little extra effort, but it seems to me that a consideration of the formidable assets of people we've trashed would be of immeasurable benefit to EVERYONE.

"Hey mister, got some change?"

I think it put it all in perspective for me this morning, as I hurried down the street to get to my internship a man asked me if I could spare some change today. He was with a woman, and they looked tired and desperate.

I said "no, sorry, not today" and was on my way. But I struggled as I continued to walk. The decision I've made to not hand out change indiscriminately makes sense on some level, but when it comes to saying "no" to people who are obviously in need, I'm still at a loss. It doesn't feel very good. (I'm sure it doesn't feel very good to them either).

And then I wrestled with this: I was on my way to an internship at an agency that exists, in good measure, to assist people just like those I had refused to help. Should I go back and tell them about the services available to them? Should I tell them about the programs here in the city that might be able to help them: the Multi-Service Center, the Village, the Salvation Army, etc.?
I kept walking.

This afternoon I'm going to the Multi-Service Center to help set up for the homeless count. And tomorrow morning I'm going to be there at 4:30 am to help in the process. But this morning I had an opportunity to help and I kept walking.

Devils and details

It all reminds me of that old saying, "Even the devil can quote the bible."

The latest figures from Los Angeles show a decline in death rates (non-murder/suicide) on Skid Row. Today's LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-skidrow-deaths27-2009jan27,0,5779952.story) tells the story, with various camps offering explanations.

One side claims that services have expanded and improved: fewer people on the streets means fewer deaths.

Another side claims that police have amped up their efforts to drive the homeless away: fewer people on the streets (in LA) means fewer deaths (in LA).

Both can quote statistics to support their P.O.V. In the mean time, even ONE person homeless remains a travesty in the so-called "richest nation on earth."

Can you feel the love?

I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but I am. How can people be so heartless?

There must be a reason that people who are normally pretty nice, even kind, can somehow talk about or treat other human beings in such a hurtful and hateful way.

Is it the smell?

Is it fear that perhaps, one day, they too will be homeless?

Is it the sometimes strange behavior, as if we don't all act a little weird sometimes?

Thomas Edison was rather fond of a quote that reminded him of the vast energy and creativity expended to avoid the real work that needs to be done...and in the case of people who are homeless, I think there's an application.

Here in the city of Long Beach we've worked long and hard to come up with all kinds of reasons why we shouldn't help people, even to the point of suggesting that having homeless people ride the bus to an assistance program will increase our carbon footprint.

HUH?

So here's the deal: most of the homeless in Long Beach are people from Long Beach. Long Beach is not a "magnet" for homelessness, nor can it be substantiated that offering programs to help them will increase their numbers (folks, these are people, not rabbits...or rats). Homeless people are not more violent than the general public (in fact, they are more often the victims of violence than the general population, probably due to exposure). The homeless are at increased risk of health problems.

The truth is, people are dying at our feet, and we've spent most of our time trying to figure out how NOT to help them.

Schroeder Army Hall and MHA Project Request for Waiver Council Item Withdrawn
By Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske January 21, 2009

On the advice of the City Attorney, item #18 which was co-sponsored by Councilwoman Rae Gabelich, Councilmember Pat O’Donnell and myself, to request a waiver of the requirement that the City provide property for homeless services in order for the City to obtain 5 acres of property now occupied by the US Army, was withdrawn.

The City Attorney advised that in order to make any changes — whether to ask for a waiver or to ask to be allowed to offer cash equivalent for the property at Burnett and Grand instead of land as a full accommodation — that the Council has to vote to withdraw plan submitted to HUD and the contract with MHA terminated and a new public hearing must be held before the City submits the new plan.

The City Attorney will draft an agenda item that sets these actions out for a council meeting in February.

I had attempted to find a solution where both parties could win in this difficult situation. There wasn’t sufficient public outreach when the proposal to use Burnett and Grand for a homeless program for the mentally ill. I had hoped that by requesting a waiver for the accomodation on the basis that I believe the City of Long Beach provides a great deal of services to the homeless –especially compared with cities which surround us — the City could still obtain the Army property without bringing the homeless program to the area.

If you don’t live in the 5th Council District — you need to contact your councilperson and let him or her know if you want the proposal withdrawn from HUD and the process started all over. Without 5 votes, the proposal will stand as written when this issue comes back to the City Council.

A Victory?

The agenda item to "suggest" that a request be made to HUD to circumvent the law of the land (aka McKinney-Vento) by making the argument that Long Beach already "does enough" to serve the homeless was removed from the docket last night. Apparently the city attorney was able to convince a certain council person that it wasn't in the city's best interest to pursue her quixotic quest.

Not necessarily a victory for the mentally-ill/homeless in Long Beach..but not a defeat either.

Just Beautiful!

The city of Long Beach has spent some money in an attempt at beautification of the downtown/Pine Avenue area. There are now large blue barrier walls with design cut-outs surrounding the planters at several street corners.

It all seems a bit strange. Most gardeners will say that plants grow better when they get adequate sunlight, but these walls are barriers to sunlight, not to mention any view of what's growing in the planters. So what's the point?

City scapes are filled with so-called "design elements" with a purpose that often goes unnoticed except by those most-marginalized: those fancy jagged design pieces on ledges and sills in cities across the country are more than "gingerbread," they are there to keep people from staying too long. After all, what could take away from a city's ascetic beauty more than those ugly homeless people. We'd rather hide our lack of compassion and unwillingness/inability to help those in need: never show your ugly side.

Seems to me these little blue walls in Long Beach are yet another attempt to keep the homeless and those with mental illness out of sight...and out of mind.

It won't work, of course...because people don't just disappear. Pushing them away to create an illusion that all is right with the world (at least in downtown Long Beach) is naive and cruel.