Street Roots • July 29-August 4, 2016
Page 3
Editorial
A complex problem calls for multi-dimensional solutions
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cold, hunger, isolation and vulnerability.
ime and again, despite the rhetoric, we are
reminded that homelessness is not a one
The solution, like the problem, is multi-dimensional,
dimensional issue. It is the byproduct of the
and has to span both long-term economic and social
unlimited combinations of economic, social and
sustainability with the immediacy of sundown. To say
environmental forces. Its roots extend far into our
people don’t want help is to not understand the
educational institutions, our health care structure, our
complexity of what helping really means. And to equate
criminal justice system and the
help with a shelter mat is missing the bigger picture
incarceration industry. And that’s
entirely.
even before you stir in the housing
In the past year we have seen a lot of ideas laid out
crisis, wildly
on the table, none of them without
outrageous rents
controversy: Sanctioned camping by the city;
and the loss of middle-income jobs.
Our approaches a proposal to create a massive consolidated
Homelessness is a complex and
shelter space; a construction excise tax and a
can't be
sophisticated issue, just like the human
ballot measure to bond for low-income
all-or-nothing
beings living through it: We would say
housing construction. We’ve also seen rules
survive, but not all of them do. All of
propositions if we around rent increases and eviction notices,
these forces push people downward and
want to succeed. because the problem doesn’t begin on the
keep them there.
No single plan is streets. It begins in the apartments across
The Springwater Corridor is the latest
this city where families are becoming
going to have
flashpoint in this decades-long struggle
financially drained.
universal
support,
around modern homelessness. It is
And we also have to find a way for people
drawing fire from all directions - toward-
or come without on the streets to exist safely and peacefully,
the people who are homeless and their
its critics. That's because mass shelters and mats on the floor
supporters - and back again.
a good thing.
are not good for everyone for myriad reasons
Sensationalized figures aside, there
- mental illness, domestic violence, PTSD to
Discussion
and
are undoubtedly hundreds of people out
name a few-
debate — not
there, and like any fledgling society, it
Street Roots is excited by the
ultimatums — are
features the good, the bad and the ugly.
opportunities ahead, but we’re also cautious
It also features perseverance, ingenuity
the cornerstones
of the fallout that sometimes follows. If a
and compassion.
of progress.
group’s big idea is questioned or challenged
In recent weeks, the housed and
by advocates and the homeless, the rejection
homeless alike have been coming
becomes another reason to blame those they
together, organizing around civility,
profess to want to help. We’ve heard it time
safety and sustainability for people on
and time again: What’s that you say? Amat
the,corridor. Some of it is activism, but
oh the floor in a room with 100 other homeless people
most of it is people trying to do the humane thing for
is not for you? Why do we waste our time if you choose
people who have nothing. Because cursing at the
to be homeless? And so it goes, in many shapes and
problem - no matter how cathartic - doesn’t move the
forms.
ball forward.
That kind of misguided attitude only pushes people
How often do we hear the response - after an
further into their corners when we really need to be out
individual or group of people experiencing
pushing the envelop. The problem doesn’t look like it
homelessness make do - “That isn’t a solution.”
did 30 years ago, and neither can the solution.
Dignity Village, Right 2 Dream Too, church lot
Our approaches can’t be all-or-nothing propositions if
camping, small camps, emergency shelter, etc.: That
we want to succeed. No single plan is going to have
isn’t a solution, people said.
universal support, or come without its critics. That's a
That depends on what you’re calling the problem.
good thing. Discussion and debate - not ultimatums -
Yes, it’s the lack of affordable housing, jobs, health and
are the cornerstones of progress.
support. But if you’re homeless, it also includes the
B
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