The Homeless Veteran

Yesterday was Veterans Day. Traditionally it is a day when people are encouraged to think about the sacrifices veterans have made in their service to their country and about the outstanding courage and moral character the men and women in the military demonstrate.

Unfortunately for the past several decades, Veterans Day has also been a day filled with stories about the issue of the very high numbers of low-income and homeless veterans.

Several local media outlets covered these types of stories:

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wbfo/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1576841/WBFO.News/Legislation.Proposed.to.Help.Unemployed.and.Homeless.Veterans.

http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/local/Homeless_veterans_stay_at_City_Mission_20091112

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wned/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1576776/WNED-AM.970.NEWS/Remembering.the.Needs.of.Veterans

The national media outlets did too:

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/25078/

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/opinion/11wed4.html

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2009/11/13-of-homeless-today-are-veterans.html

This issue, low-income and homeless veterans, should challenge the way we think about poverty. On a day like Veterans Day we celebrate and honor our veterans; praise them for their values and hard work. How do we make sense of the fact that so many veterans are homeless?

Usually when people discuss those living below the poverty threshold, it is a discussion focusing on how lazy and irresponsible those people are. How their poor judgment and poor moral character are the reason they are poor. How it is prudent and just for our society to stop trying to assist them. How they’re a burden on the respectable taxpayers. How it would be appropriate to sterilize, imprison, or otherwise remove those people who are incapable and non-productive elements of society.

Is this how we talk about our veterans who are living in poverty? Would we dare say these kinds of things about homeless veterans on Veterans Day?

There seems to be some disconnect. What makes the homeless veteran different from the person struggling to get by? Are there some veterans who deserve our praise and others who don’t? Certainly there are few people who would be willing to make those kinds of distinctions, especially just a couple days away from Veterans Day.

Veterans, individuals that we generally agree have solid moral character, can be impoverished and become homeless just as easily as any other person. The market economy does not care how “good” or “bad” a person you may be.

The homeless veteran should remind us that income in no way dictates moral character. To believe that it does would mean having a confusing and bitter view of the world.

Thanksgiving Dining Room Schedule

Friends,

A number of local organizations are hosting free Thanksgiving dinners this year. Below is a link to a full listing of dinners in Erie County. Please spread the word!

2009 Thanksgiving Dining Room Schedule

-HAWNY

What HUD Should Hear About Buffalo’s Housing Crisis

“Mr. Donovan, tear down this house. And this one. And this one. And that one over there. That’s the message federal Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan should take with him from his visit to Buffalo last week.”

So begins a recent Buffalo News editorial on HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan’s visit to Buffalo. Demolishing vacant housing seems to be the preferred policy for resolving Buffalo’s housing crisis.

However, vacant housing isn’t Buffalo’s only housing crisis. Nearly 2,000 individuals and families in Buffalo cannot afford housing and as a result are currently homeless. This number does not reflect the many more that may be doubled and tripled up with friends and family or who are otherwise precariously housed and may be in danger of losing their homes.

It is a paradoxical situation: increasing housing vacancy rates along with increasing numbers of homeless individuals. How did Buffalo get here?

This graph from the Western Regional Advocacy Project’s report Without Housing tells part of the story:

Beginning with the Reagan Administration and continuing to the present, HUD’s subsidized housing budget has been slashed yearly. Thousands of units of affordable housing have been lost.

These cuts correspond to the dramatic increase in the number of homeless individuals in the 1980’s and the steady increases in homelessness since then.

Mr. Donovan must hear about both sides of Buffalo’s housing crisis: the vacancy as well as the homelessness.

He must hear that plans to revitalize or restore Buffalo’s housing stock must make the development and preservation of affordable housing a central priority. Otherwise this twisted paradox of a housing crisis will continue to hinder any attempt to revitalize this city.

Hotels for the wealthy, expensive jails for the rest of us.

Developer Mark Croce will be receiving a $1.35 million hand-out from New York State tax payers to turn a vacant downtown building into an “upscale boutique hotel at Franklin and West Huron streets.” Croce is “convinced there’s a market for an upscale boutique hotel that offers larger rooms with some unique amenities.”

This handout is coming in the form of a Restore NY grant which is intended to “stabilize neighborhoods and revitalize urban areas.”

Which neighborhood is being stabilized here?

Who will benefit from this kind of urban revitalization? The “upscale” market Croce is convinced is out there–we’ll say those households making more than $150,000/year–accounts for about 3% of households in Buffalo.

In other words, $1.35 million of public money will be used to provide a tiny part of the community with presidential suites, pent-houses, and “unique amenities.”

This is money that could be used to stabilize or revitalize the neighborhoods of the 30.3% of people living in poverty in Buffalo, still the third poorest city in the country. This money could even be used to provide basic housing to the hundreds of individuals and families that are homeless on any given day in Buffalo.

Instead this public money will be used to help a wealthy developer provide upscale hotel suites for wealthy travelers and community members.

The County is also looking to tear down buildings in downtown Buffalo. In an effort to avoid being held responsible to Constitutional standards for jails and prisons, the county wants to build a new multimillion dollar county lockup downtown.

Hotels for the wealthy, expensive jails for the rest of us.

Is this how the people of Buffalo and Erie County want their money spent?

Does this benefit the whole or even very much of the community?

Or does it continue to subsidize wealthy developers and their clients while a third of the city lives in poverty?

U.S. Census Bureau Releases Metropolitan Poverty Data.

U.S. Census Bureau Releases Metropolitan Poverty Data.

Poverty Rate in Buffalo Grew in 2008 Prior to Worst Portion of Recession.

The U.S. Census Bureau released data yesterday detailing economic conditions and poverty for 2008.

The City of Buffalo held tight in its position as the third poorest large city in the United States, behind only Detroit, MI and Cleveland, OH, with an estimated 30.3% of it population living below the poverty line.  This is an increase of 1.6% since 2007.

Detroit had an estimated 33.3% of its population living in poverty while Cleveland reports a poverty rate of 30.5%.  Taking into account the sampling error, however, Buffalo could just as easily be first on this list as opposed to third.

“As a community, we cannot continue to sit back and be idle, hoping these numbers will remedy themselves while almost a third of our population struggles to survive in poverty.  We must invest in our community and focus on economic development that raises the quality of living for all our citizens rather than a limited few,” said Bill O’Connell, Executive Director of the Homeless Alliance.

Further, and even more disturbing, the Census numbers report that an estimated 41.6 % of those living below the poverty line are below the age of 18.  An estimated 45.5% of people in homeless families are chidlren under the age of 5.

Studies show that children who grow up in poverty are more likely to suffer physical and mental ailments, have delayed development and struggle more in school than non-poor children (National Center on Family Homelessness).  All of these factors have serious and detrimental impacts on their adult lives.

For the past three years, Buffalo has remained at the top of ranking of the poorest large cities in the United States.  While already alarming, these numbers may belie an even greater concern.  Because they were collected in 2008, these data do not fully represent the devastating effects of the recession.

“With the unemployment rate continuing to increase and the fact that Buffalo has been slow to feel the impact, it is likely that our numbers will only increase in the future,” said O’Connell.

Partnership for the Public Good Forum, Try to Make It!

This is very last minute notice but maybe some of you can fit it into your schedules this afternoon……

“Do You See What I’m Saying?”: Ujima Theatre and Homeless Alliance Team Up

Homeless Families in WNY

With school starting up for most kids in the next couple weeks, we thought we would take some time to address the rising incidence of homelessness in families and some of the very devastating effects this has on the children in these families.

***

In America’s Youngest Outcasts, the National Center on Family Homelessness (NCFH) reports that since its last report in 1999, child homelessness worsened, especially since the onset of the Subprime/Foreclosure Crisis and accompanying recession. Roughly 1 of every 50 children in America will experience homelessness. Additionally, they found that:

-Children without homes are twice as likely to experience hunger as other children. Two-thirds worry they won’t have enough to eat. More than one-third of homeless children report being forced to skip meals.

-Homelessness makes children sick. Children who experience homelessness are more than twice as likely as middle class children to have moderate to severe acute and chronic health problems.

-Homeless children are twice as likely as other children to repeat a grade in school, to be expelled or suspended, or to drop out of high school. At the end of high school, few homeless students are proficient in reading and math – and their estimated graduation rate is below 25%.

Here in Erie County nearly a third of the homeless population are homeless families. In 2008, 64.9% of families were experiencing homelessness for the first time and the most commonly cited reason for homelessness was eviction, evidence that the Subprime/Foreclosure Crises and Recession are hitting Western New York hard.

The average income for homeless families in the area was $497.90/month and 39.2% of families reported not having any source of income. Only 6.1% reported having an income over $20,000/year.

Further, a third of all women in homeless families have experienced domestic violence.

(all data from our “2008 Buffalo and Erie County Annual Homelessness Profile”, which can be found at www.wnyhomeless.org)

***

There will be hundreds (possibly thousands) of children attending school in Western New York this year that will not have a steady place to come home to. As stated above, homelessness will have profoundly harmful effects on these childrens’ development.

Already born into a situation that affords few privileges and numerous challenges, these children and their parents will have to struggle especially hard for the next several years to find shelter due to an abusive housing market that places profit above human need. Some may be able to overcome these inequalities (with a little outside help from family or friends) but many of these children and families will be condemned to minimum wage jobs and unaffordable rents, ensuring that their housing situation will be precarious at best.

The struggle to end poverty and homelessness in Western New York must place as a high priority the healthy development of all children, regardless of income. Facing enormous economic and social inequalities, these children and families need all the help they can get.

Myths and Facts About Homelessness in WNY

Today we are posting information from our “Myths & Facts” brochure as another way of introducing HAWNY and the work we do.  More educational info can be found on our website.

Myth: “People are homeless because they don’t want to work”

Fact: 40% of the work-eligible homeless in Buffalo and Erie County are employed. While many still lack employment, those who are employed cannot afford a home with their wages. The affordable rent for the average wage earner in Erie County is $457, almost $247 lower per month than the fair market rent for a 2-bedroom apartment in the greater Buffalo area ($704).

Many must decide between paying for food or paying for housing and remain one emergency away from homelessness. The National Low Income Housing Coalition identifies an hourly wage of $13.54 as necessary to afford a 2-bedroom apartment in Buffalo, yet the average hourly wage locally is $9.91.

Additionally, 42% of homeless and very low income individuals surveyed by the Homeless Alliance stated that they had to turn down a job in the previous 6 months because there was not a transportation route (metro rail, bus line, etc.) to get there.

Myth: “Those who are homeless choose to be homeless”

Fact: In surveys conducted by the Homeless Alliance, the greatest need identified by those experiencing homelessness was safe and affordable housing.  Shelter allowances provided by the Department of Social Services ($214 per month for a single parent with children) fall far short of the fair market rent for a 2-bedroom apartment in the greater Buffalo metropolitan area ($704), often leaving safe, adequate, and affordable housing out of reach.

Myth: “Everyone who is homeless is mentally ill or addicted to drugs”

Fact: The majority of those receiving assistance from area shelters do not suffer from mental illness or substance abuse. In fact, according to Homeless Alliance data, only 30% of homeless people residing in shelters cited mental health as a reason for their homelessness and only 22.9% cited substance abuse as a reason.  These numbers were significantly smaller for the larger population of individuals accessing mostly supportive services.  In addition, many of these individuals experience a “dual diagnosis”, meaning that they experience both conditions concurrently, so there is significant overlap among the aforementioned groups.

For most homeless individuals or those precariously close to homelessness, the loss of a job was the most common reason cited for homelessness.  Family problems, like domestic abuse, as well as unemployment were also major reasons.  Additionally, 60% of respondents identified multiple reasons for homelessness, indicating that there are a number of contributing factors leading to homelessness.

Myth: “There aren’t many homeless people on the streets of Buffalo, so it isn’t a big problem.”

Fact: The homeless are not only those we see on the street. The homeless that are on the streets make up a small percentage of the local homeless population.  About 58% of recently homeless individuals have spent time in transitional or emergency shelter, not on the street.  About 25% of individuals who are accessing supportive services are doubling up with friends or family.  Additionally, monthly shelter counts collected in Erie County report an increased demand for emergency housing for families, indicating a rising incidence of family homelessness. Currently, one-third of those experiencing homelessness locally are families.

Myth: “People become homeless because they can’t manage their money.”

Fact: There are a variety of reasons that members of our community become homeless. For example, an illness can lead to job loss and debt, which can in turn lead to rental arrears, resulting in eventual eviction. Other causes of homelessness include domestic violence, loss of public assistance, physical disabilities that are barriers to employment, or unsafe housing conditions.

Myth: “There are a lot of people who just want to rip off the system and live off the government.”

Fact: In a study of homeless and very low-income persons frequenting soup kitchens and food pantries conducted by the Homeless Alliance, those receiving public assistance such as Food Stamps and Medicaid at the time of the study were less likely to be homeless. However, the grants available for public assistance have not been raised significantly since 1990 and the costs of basic necessities such as food, housing, transportation, and health care have risen significantly.

Myth: “Some people will always be homeless”

Fact: 23% of the homeless population nationwide are identified as chronically or long-term homeless. While this population has been difficult to serve in traditional service models, new models are emerging around the country that are assisting the chronically homeless in becoming self-sufficient. Safe Haven programs that offer -but do not require-supportive services to residents, and Housing First models which place homeless families and individuals directly into housing units (offering services once housed) are showing promising results around the country to assist the chronically homeless. The Homeless Alliance in partnership with the community has developed PRISM: Buffalo and Erie County’s 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness. PRISM identifies Prevention of homelessness, increased access to community Resources, Independence through housing, improved Services through increased collaboration, and Maintenance through aftercare of those exiting the homeless service system as the key strategies for ending homelessness. Working in collaboration, we can end homelessness in our community.

Myth: “Some people will always be homeless”

Fact: 23% of the homeless population nationwide are identified as chronically or long-term homeless. While this population has been difficult to serve in traditional service models, new models are emerging around the country that are assisting the chronically homeless in becoming self-sufficient. Safe Haven programs that offer -but do not require-supportive services to residents and Housing First models which place homeless families and individuals directly into housing units (offering services once housed) are showing promising results around the country to assist the chronically homeless.

HAWNY Introduction