Fighting homelessness
July 26, 2008
In a Hunger & Homelessness Awareness my club organized at my university a couple months ago, we invited someone from a non-profit organization that fights homelessness to speak at a seminar. Here is a recap of what she said. I haven’t posted on this in a while, and I really should. So here is something to think about –
Phyllis Sakahara, Program Director with BOSS (Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (http://www.self-sufficienc
y.org) gave a great seminar today about homelessness in America. She talked about homelessness as an OUTCOME, not as the PROBLEM as most people view it. Our country takes on a reactionary approach rather than a proactive approach.
Here is a great quote she gave: “The state that has the authority to remove children from families has the responsibility to first do everything to support the family.”
She identified the different categories of difficulties that many homeless people face as: racism, education, health, and family.
Also, she made a point that housing is a human RIGHT. She used the analogy that with our policy on homelessness, we tend to “pick people out of the river” while neglecting to “help build the dam too.” What we SHOULD be doing is both.
For health from a policy standpoint, we must include mental health. Mentally ill people are usually the victims rather than those who are the threat, as portrayed by our media. Mental illnesses are biological, chemical, and predisposed.
BOSS has been fighting homelessness for 37 years — is that something to be proud of? What does this say about our country?
Saul Alisky, a community organizer in the 1960s, divided people into 3 groups: the Haves, Have-Nots, and Have-a-little-want-mores. We need to change the “have-a-little-want-mores”
With the War on Poverty during LBJ’s administration, we swung left on the pendulum and placated the leftists and Have-Nots for a while. The right got annoyed. So we swung back. But REAL change occurs from the top. We need that to shift. In order to do so, we must recognize the inherent connection between the economy and social change. Economics drives social change. Until then, we will be continuously influenced by the media.
The FIRST STEP to changing is universal healthcare. We need single-payer, universal healthcare, not the healthcare that involves the insurance companies.
Secondly, housing must be a human right. Phyllis passed out post cards that said: “From Regan to Bush for 25 years, a spirit of Abandon: starting in 1979 our federal government began slashing billions from the public housing budget. That money has never been replaced. In 2003 over 1.3 million children in America experienced homelessness. America has abandoned its spirit of human rights.” The campaign website for this is: http://wraphome.org
I thought that Phyllis gave a really interesting and different view on homelessness and what we should do to begin and approach this issue.
Posted in Politics, Poverty at 8:01am
