I often blog about what's going on in the world, the Middle East in particular, and sometimes this country. I rarely talk about local issues. It's not because I don't care about them. It's just because things like the Middle East loom so large in my mind. Today, I'm going to talk about something that does deal with local politics, but which affects every city in this nation. Homelessness.
I have been hesitating to write about this topic for a long time. I have a friend who works for the City and was involved in efforts to decamp Fresno's homeless from their makeshift homes. It was not his idea to do so and he was just doing what he was told. But I take issue with how the City of Fresno handles its homeless. More disturbing to me is that most of us who live here seem so complacent to let the City do what it's doing to homeless people.
Fresno County is largely rural. There is a lot of agriculture here. There are a lot of migrant workers. There are also a lot of people who cannot afford decent housing because they don't make a living wage. Anyone who thinks that you can afford a house and power and food on one minimum wage job is misinformed. It's virtually impossible. There are a lot of homeless children and families in Fresno County. There are places that homeless people can turn to for help - the Poverello House for food,the Fresno Rescue Mission for shelter, and the Marjorie Mason Center for abused women and children. The facilities cannot keep pace with the growing number of people in our community that do not have homes. As a result, camps have been set up in parts of Fresno. Homeless men, women and families have set up makeshift tent cities. One such tent city was near City Hall. The City recently "evicted" those residents from their "homes". Another was on the railroad grounds. The railroad fenced the area off so the homeless couldn't get to it. Our solutions to the issue of homelessness seem to be to blame the homeless.
Most people's attitudes towards the homeless here seem to be that either (1) they are addicts or mentally ill and choose to be homeless or (2) there's nothing that I, myself, can do to help, so I'm going to ignore the problem. We move them away from places where they can be seen. We complain about the panhandlers in the medians. I know that some people are homeless by choice. I know that some of the homeless are mentally ill or addicts. But an ever-growing part of the homeless population are families who just can't make ends meet or are victims of this horrible economy. How can we turn a blind eye to this? Most of us are closer to homelessness than we would like to admit. One major illness, one lost job.
I'm no better than anyone else. I feel for the homeless people and the intractable situation they find themselves. Once you are without a home, there are almost insurmountable odds that you will make your way back to "normal" society. But I don't do much in my every day life to help. I don't, as a general rule, give to panhandlers on the medians. I don't volunteer at the Poverello House. I should. I know I should. Because every day I think "there but for the grace of God go I". I'm not writing this post to assuage my liberal guilt. I'm writing this because homelessness is a huge problem here and I'm upset at the half-assed versions of solutions that have been offered to the problem.
Frankly, the City couldn't handle this problem worse if they tried. De-camping the homeless, bulldozing their "homes" and taking their few possessions, is not a solution. Just because these people have been forced to live in inhumane conditions doesn't make them inhuman. Every single person on this planet deserves basic human rights and basic human dignity. The City's solution to this problem offers neither.
In this economy and with the City, County and State facing enormous budget constraints, a real working solution isn't likely to be funded. I do not know if a real, working solution has been developed. But we as a society have great thinkers. If we can cure diseases, we can certainly figure out a way to deal with the problem of homelessness. I do not have any answers, except to say that charity begins at home. We should do what we can to help. Whether that is volunteering once a month at the Poverello House or donating to the Rescue Mission.
It's easy to blame the voiceless. It's easy to disregard people who you look at as dirty and smelly and if they aren't willing to take care of themselves why should we. But that's exactly why we should. We should take care of those people in our society who cannot take care of themselves. It's harder to think that could be you. It's harder to think maybe they have no family or friends. Maybe they were deinstitutionalized and truly need help. Maybe they lost their two minimum wage jobs and their apartment and don't know how they are going to feed their children.
It's easy to look and think these people are inhuman. But it is we who have lost our humanity if we cannot find it within our own hearts to do something to help.
