I read with interest the recent letters to the Register Guard about the homeless situation in Eugene (July 20, 2021 and July 24, 2021). Kate Nelson and A. Lynn Nash took a harsh stance: The homeless are responsible for their situation. They made “poor life decisions”. They don’t practice “personal responsibility”. For these offenses, they in no way deserve our compassion and should be forcibly removed from our city.
I too once held similar beliefs.
I don’t pretend to be an expert in the underlying causes of homelessness. I’m not a sociologist, nor am I an expert in drug treatment or mental health counseling. But I have made a personal journey away from the beliefs of Nelson and Nash.
Up to November 2016, I believed our American economic system was mostly working for a large majority of us. The election of Donald Trump suddenly made me aware how seriously wrong I had been. Our country, the most prosperous and free in the world, had somehow become a place that had kicked millions of people to the curb. (I wrote an essay about this at the time, which you can find here.)
I began to view homelessness for what it is: a problem that we created and stood by as it became endemic in our society. And thanks to us, it’s not going away any time soon.
That’s when I had my epiphany about the homeless population.
It’s not their fault.
Here’s a thought experiment. Most of us in the middle class have a comfortable home. Now imagine your home without toilets, bathtubs, or showers. Imagine you have no trash pickup. Now take away heating and air conditioning. You still have a roof over your head, but how would your property look? Strewn with trash? Human waste on the ground? Your landscaping stripped for firewood?
Now let’s add one more thing. Every few weeks, someone knocks on your door and tells you to move out within two days. Living like this, how would you get up every day and get to work on time, or at all? How would you keep appointments with doctors, counselors, or others trying to help you?
This gives you just a hint of what our homeless face every day.
Every human being has a right to safe, stable shelter. It is essential for our ability to function in our society. We need a safe space to store our belongings. We need to a space that we control. We need a location that is ours. Without these essentials, the needs of basic survival consume most of our effort, leaving little or no time for work or getting help for ourselves.
The solution is so simple in theory that it escapes many of us. But this simple solution is also way beyond the budgets of state and counties. The solution is housing. Permanent, safe, affordable housing. For everyone. Without exception. But that will cost many billions and must be tackled at the national level. Don’t hold your breath.
What are we to do at the local level? Harassment, “cleaning” of camps, or “moving them along” are common things we hear, and they can’t work. These tactics are just squeezing the balloon. Move them from one place, they set up down the street.
Eugene and Lane County are years ahead of most other cities who face homelessness. Our leaders have realized the futility of forcible removal of encampments without providing an authorized place to go. They have instead chosen to devote resources to allowing the homeless to camp in designated locations, with support like toilets, trash bins, and hand washing stations. This is an enormous step in managing the homeless population in a way that greatly reduces the trash and waste problems associated with unauthorized camping.
Add to this a host of local non-profits who are working to provide safe, affordable housing of all kinds to those in need, and we now have a situation in Eugene and Lane County where despite our large homeless population, we do not see the chaos and despair of other cities.
The homeless population is not going away. We are the ones who need to show personal responsibility by acknowledging our role in its creation. Treating the homeless thoughtfully, with compassion and understanding instead of blame and hostility, is our only way forward.
I hope you will join Congressman Gibbs in bringing articles of impeachment of Joe Biden based on irrefutable facts.
I sent a long well thought out reply.
Did it get lost in cyberspace?
https://gibbs.house.gov/sites/gibbs.house.gov/files/documents/Gibbs%20Letter%20to%20GOP%20re%20Biden%20Administration.pdf
This should have been attached to earlier response.
Evictions won’t be prevented much longer because the relief going to the landlords will end. When evictions start up, they will do so with a vengenance, causing another large spike in homelessness. In my column, I said the long range solution is housing affordable to all. In fact housing prices have spiked up so much this year, that solution is even further out of reach. Given this state of affairs, a large homeless population will get larger, will not go away, and must be managed in a way that acknowledges this.
In a constitutional democracy, which the US used to be, how do we make the leap to government intervention in a private contract between two citizens?
I’m trying to think of a precedent.
Even ol Mr Senility himself acknowledges the ban on evictions won’t hold water in court
There are help wanted signs everywhere! High skilled to no skills.
Why can’t the government allow landlords and tenants to reach their own agreement? Landlords do not want to lose good renters.
Can’t afford the rent? Move to cheaper options.
The nanny state is always paid fir by OPM.