Category Archives: homelessness

Mary, homeless mothers, and the innkeeper

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Tonight we remember a young mother two thousand years ago who had no bed nor shelter and gave birth to her son and laid him in a manger.

Tonight, I remember all of the homeless mothers who came to me seeking help this year–mothers who lived with their babies on the street, or in a car; mothers who were seeking help with rent so they could stay in their apartment; mothers who needed formula or diapers or food for themselves; mothers who needed help and hope.

And I remember all the times I said no–sometimes because I couldn’t help, sometimes because I was too busy to help, sometimes because I was too overwhelmed and couldn’t bear to hear another story or suffer heartbreak once again.

And I remember those times when I listened compassionately but inwardly condemned her for choices I assumed she’d made that brought her to our door.

I remember and inwardly today I cry because like the innkeeper, I said, “No room. No room.”

Madison’s debate about homelessness continues

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You don’t have to go further than Madison.com to see our dysfunction. Mayor Soglin is in the news again for wanting to bring in private security guards to monitor homeless people in the City County building. The article points out some of the problems caused by the regular presence of homeless people in and around the building, and also cites County executive Joe Parisi’s opposition to the proposal. The projected cost is $42,000, money that might be better spent on providing services to those who need them–like showers, rest rooms, and, perhaps even, some housing.

Also today, news finally broke that the County is hoping to purchase a facility on the east side for a permanent day center. I had a chance to tour the facility last month. It needs some renovations, especially additional bathrooms and showers, the location isn’t great, but it has great potential with ample space not only for a day resource center, but also for other agencies that work with homeless people. Unfortunately, the current owners won’t be vacating until spring, and the facility probably won’t open before summer. In the absence of such a facility this winter, homeless people are pretty much forced to seek shelter wherever they can, including the City-County Building.

We’ll see how the dynamics of these two stories play out.

You never know who might walk into the reception area at Grace

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This afternoon, it was people from the United Way looking for a press conference.

“I don’t know anything about it,” I replied. Over the next few minutes, a larger group assembled, the cameras came, and eventually we all made our way downstairs into the Men’s Drop-In Shelter at Grace.

It turns out the press conference was about three local men’s experiences on the street last week. Pat Schneider provides details about local businessman Tim Metcalfe, Michael Johnson of the Boys and Girls Clubs, and Will Green of the Salvation Army, going undercover to experience what life is like for homeless men in Madison.

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The stories they told are heartwarming evidence of a generous community, with passers-by, restaurant managers, homeless people, and shelter staff acting with generosity and compassion.

One thing I learned this afternoon: current sleeping  capacity at Grace and the two overflow shelters is 140; last night 139 stayed in the three facilities. What will the numbers be when it gets cold?

 

On Veterans’ Day: What does it mean to honor our vets?

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The platitudes and patriotism are easy. Honoring veterans with brass bands, politicians, and lots of flags takes little time, money, or energy. What’s hard is taking care of vets who are suffering the long-term effects of their service on battlefields. The physical wounds are one thing; the psychic and spiritual wounds quite another. On this Veterans’ Day, I’ve collected a few stories about veterans struggling to put their lives together after serving their country.

From David Finkel, author of Thank You for Your Service, a story of one vet’s struggle with PTSD. 

Here’s a link to an earlier story on PTSD and meditation.

Recent veterans (those who have served since 2001) continue to face double-digit unemployment. The rate hasn’t changed in the last year. One important reason: the fact that the number of those wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan is now around 1 million, and the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is 13.2%

18 veterans die each day from suicide (Harpers Index, Feb, 2012)

About 1 million vets are on SNAP (food stamps). House Republicans honor vets by proposing to cut benefits for 170,000 of them.

I’ve previously blogged about homelessness and veterans here and here.

Mark Sandlin expresses my feelings:

If we want to truly thank our veterans, we need to give them justice when they return home, we need to remember the real cost of war and we need to grieve with their families.

In my mind, today should be more of a day of mourning than a day of celebration. I’m not advocating to turn it in to another Memorial Day as much as to be more aware of its realities. We need it to be a real reminder of the real costs of war. We must not forget. We must not forget the lives lost. We must not forget the limbs lost. We must not forget the mental stability lost. We must not forget the veterans on the streets and those who pull up chairs to empty plates. War is hell – and frequently the other side of war is a living hell.

We must not forget.

A prayer for veterans and those who serve in military service:

Merciful and Almighty God, whose Son came among us and laid down his life for us, showing us the fullness of your love for all people: we remember with prayerful and thankful hearts before you this day the veterans and active military of this country, who have given of themselves in love for the sake of peace. We pray for the living, the departed, for those still serving, and their families – with gratitude and for healing. We pray, Lord, that you would make us grateful for the peace they sought by making each of us more peaceful. So Lord, as you taught us, we pray for our enemies: that all people would come to know the unending love and joy of the Prince of Peace, our Savior Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (via Jonathan Melton)

The Annual November scramble to help the homeless survive winter

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We are in the midst of the annual last-minute ritual in Madison to try to patch services and shelter facilities together in an effort to provide for our neighbors who have nowhere to sleep and nowhere to find shelter during the days. This year is worse than previous years because the temporary day shelter that was provided the last two years is not happening. Instead, city and county politicians are hoping to provide funds for some services this winter: bus tickets, showers, storage, and the like. They’ve also funded some outreach activities in the newly-renovated Central Library. You can read more here.

Joe Tarr reports in this week’s Isthmus about how shelter providers are planning for significant increases in the numbers seeking shelter this winter. The reasons for the increase in homelessness in Madison are complex, debatable, and in part beyond the control of anyone in our community.

But there are things within our control. With a rental vacancy rate of under 2% and recent changes that limit the restrictions on landlords, it is very difficult for people with limited income to find housing in Dane County. There’s a boom in construction of apartments across Madison but none of that construction is going to be affordable. The city and county are working to build some single-room occupancy apartments and providing other options but those are long-term solutions. Meanwhile, I learned this week that the number of homeless students in Madison’s Public Schools is 848 and certain to rise in the coming months.

There are signs of hope, however. I toured a facility yesterday that the County is hoping to purchase for a permanent day resource center. The building isn’t available now and will need renovations so it won’t be a solution for this winter. It’s not a great location but in light of the fact that no other site has been identified over the last year, it will probably have to do. And there’s movement on providing medical respite for homeless people as well.

Perhaps by November 2014, the annual ritual I mentioned will no longer take place and our energies can focus on trying to solve some of the systemic problems faced by individuals and families who lack adequate housing.

Homelessness and the high cost of medical care

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I’ve blogged repeatedly about the relationship between our medical system and homelessness–direct discharge from hospitals to homeless shelters for example. Here in Madison, we’re working to find solutions that could involve creating respite care for homeless individuals and families, a place to come after they’ve been discharged where they can receive the care they need as they recover from surgery or illness. But that’s only part of the problem.

A study in Chicago shows the effects of providing supporting housing for homeless people with chronic illnesses:

A beautiful randomized trial conducted here in Chicago supports Bendixen’s claims. That study found that placing homeless people with chronic illnesses in supportive housing reduces emergency department visits, residential substance abuse treatment, hospital inpatient admissions and nursing home use. Researchers also observed average annual cost savings of $6,307, with greater average savings among the chronically homeless ($6,607) and among those living with HIV ($9,809). The sample size of 407 was too small to establish statistically significant savings, but the results were obviously promising, especially when housing services are focused on men and women with high expected medical costs.

In Illinois, 3.2% of patients accounted for half of all Medicaid spending; the top.15% (4500 of a total 3.2 million enrollees), had required annual spending of $285,000 each.

The article points out that in addition to housing, chronically ill people need help with medications, reminders to keep appointments, and case managers. There are profiles of two people who are in the supportive housing program.

 

The full story is here.

A lengthy piece on homelessness in New York City

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Written by Ian Frazier, it provides some interesting comparisons to our own situation here in Madison:

In fact, during the twelve years of the Bloomberg administration, the number of homeless people has gone through the roof they do not have. There are now two hundred and thirty-six homeless shelters in the city. Imagine Yankee Stadium almost four-fifths full of homeless families; about eighteen thousand adults in families in New York City were homeless as of January, 2013, and more than twenty-one thousand children. The C.F.H. says that during Bloomberg’s twelve years the number of homeless families went up by seventy-three per cent. One child out of every hundred children in the city is homeless.

Madison, Chicago and homelessness

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On Saturday, I drove down to a Chicago suburb to participate in the ordination of a former staff member to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church USA. At the reception following the service, I had a conversation with a member of that congregation about Madison (he was a UW alum). As we were talking, he mentioned homelessness. I was somewhat surprised that our conversation took that turn.

A couple of hours later, I was sitting at a dinner table in the same suburb, visiting with friends of the newly ordained as well as members of her congregation. Again, the topic of homelessness came up. More specifically, they asked me about the connection between Chicago and Madison.

On Monday, I put it together. Pat Schneider wrote about the Chicago Tribune’s coverage of the Chicago family who had come to Madison to find a new life and the efforts of our community, from the Mayor on down, to help them out. Much of the story is behind the Tribune’s paywall, but there is free video available.

I suppose it’s possible to decry, as many in Madison do, those who come to Madison seeking help or a new life. On the other hand, ours is a nation of immigrants, built by people who came here seeking new lives and new opportunities. There has also always been internal migration, as people moved from settled places to the frontier, or moved from the South to the North, seeking jobs in the Great Migration of the 20th century, or those millions who move South or West, for retirement or to seek new opportunities.

We welcome certain kinds of migration, or the migration of certain kinds of people–like my wife and I who moved here from South Carolina–, or all those young people who move here for college or graduate school, or to seek their fortune with Epic or some other firm.

If nice, white, well-educated people move here, we shouldn’t be surprised that working class, or African-Americans, or Hispanics come here as well, seeking new lives or new opportunities. They may only be able to work at minimum-wage jobs, but perhaps their children will get college degrees and realize whatever is left of the American Dream in the 21st Century.

The homes they left, whether in the violent neighborhoods of Chicago or in Latin America, were desperate places that offered little hope for the future. Madison may not be the place where everyone can achieve their dreams but all of us ought to do our part to make those dreams real.

This particular family’s saga is being played out in the pages of the newspaper. They have attracted the attention of the city and even the mayor. Apparently, someone has come forward to help them find housing at least for a few months. Perhaps that will give them time and space to figure other parts of their lives out. How many stories like this one remain untold? How many other homeless people, homeless families are living on the streets or in their cars, having come here to start over?

Thank You, Mr. Mayor!

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I’ll admit I’ve been critical of Mayor Soglin’s statements and policies regarding homelessness. At times, it has seemed that he has wanted to avoid the issue entirely or evade the city’s share of responsibility to address homelessness and the underlying issues that contribute to it. In recent weeks, however, he has seemed to have something of a change of heart.

The inclusion in the city’s capital budget of money towards the construction of up to 100 units of single room occupancy for homeless or recently homeless people is a very important step. With a rental occupancy rate of around 2%, there are simply not enough vacant units to house people in Madison and little incentive for landlords to rent to low-income people.

Even more encouraging is what happened yesterday. Mayor Soglin involved himself personally in the plight of a homeless family. After seeing them at a bus stop on his way to work, Mayor Soglin went to the office, turned around, and spent considerable time ferrying them to various agencies in an effort to find them housing. The article is here.

He learned first-hand about the limited services available and about how difficult it is to access those services. These are things those of us who work with homeless people know all too well. Indeed, the family Mayor Soglin worked with yesterday had stopped by Grace earlier in the week. He also probably experienced the frustration and anguish many of us do when our efforts to find housing or other help fail.

Of course, the city can’t solve the problem of homelessness by itself but it needs to engage constructively with the county, with social services, and with advocates to address both the lack of housing as well as the underlying reasons that contribute to homelessness.

I’m grateful to Mayor Soglin for his pledge to address these issues, and for taking the time to get to know and to try to help a homeless family yesterday.

The shelter system and the prison system

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A really fine article by Pat Schneider on the direct line from the prison system to the homeless shelter.

Linda Ketcham, executive director of Madison-area Urban Ministry, a nonprofit agency that assists criminal offenders returning to the community, estimates that 75 to 80 percent of people her agency assists in its offender “re-entry” programs are homeless. “The shelter system is the only option“ for many of them, she said.

I’ve blogged about this before here. I can confirm several points in the article. I know that guys come straight from the parole office to the shelter. I know that sex offenders that are released to their own communities come to Madison because there’s no place for them back home.
I remember several years ago a young man, a teenager, brought by corrections officials to the shelter from whatever prison he’d been in elsewhere in the state. His parents came down too. They wanted to know about the shelter, how he would fare, what would happen to him. For whatever reason, he wasn’t released to them. What I remember most about him was the look of fear on his face. Whatever he’d faced in prison was nothing like the uncertainty he was facing now. I have no idea what happened to him.
His reaction is quite common among those I’ve talked to who have just been released from prison. They’re facing incredible odds in their efforts to put their lives back together. In addition to all the social services they need, they also need a support system to help them, to encourage them, and to offer a helping hand when they make mistakes. Instead, they come to the shelter where they’re anonymous, where they’re surrounded by people who may or may not want to help them, and where access to the services they need is a maze in a city they probably don’t know.
The re-entry program run by MUM mentioned in the article does amazing things.