But first...

The language among caring service providers often includes phrases like: “Oh, they’ll never be productive, but AT LEAST…..”

I think this is plain wrong-headed. I believe that we will not make real progress until we can figure out a way to recognize that EVERY person is gifted and productive, that our definitions of “usefulness” or “productivity” are connected to Northern European/US industrial imperialism and the Protestant work-ethic that says that if you don’t produce something in a narrowly predefined category that you are not useful. But who defines “productive?” Are philosophers UN-productive because they don’t have a pile of widgets to show at the end of the day? Are poets and dreamers unproductive? What about homeless advocates? People with a mental illness? People who have lost their home?

If empowerment is really the name of the game, then we must realize our role in the unlocking of human potential, in both the giving and the receiving, rather than merely defining people and working to fit them into tiny little socially constructed boxes.

But first we need to find them a place to live.