American Christmas Celebrations, Not (Homeless) Family Friendly

Christmas spoiler alert: I am not a fan of what Christmas seems to have become here in America.

Beyond that, I'm not a fan of what this country continues to do to millions of families who are homeless or at-risk of homelessness.

Like Tina. Here's my latest AlterNet post on her holiday-hell. If you're not going to read it--the bottom line is this gallant mother of 7 children is right now scrambling around to move her family into a small house trailer before Jan. 1.

The kicker--she's got to wait for the local housing authority to inspect the 3-BR trailer she's located to move into to make sure it's up to the HUD (US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development) standards. Factor in double holidays at the end of this month and she'll be lucky to make this all happen. If she doesn't, her family will be on the streets in a city without a family shelter.

She didn't procrastinate. Her landlord gave her exactly 30 days notice as required. She jumped right into the search, list of potential housing units in hand. When they weren't panning out, she pleaded for an extension but no go. Speculation is that he's losing the house where her family's lived for this past year. They've gotta go.

I don't know, but I'm thinking Tina and her kids probably aren't enjoying this commercially-motivated Christmas season. And I know they're not the only families suffering from house-lessness, hunger and other maladies during this time of year when most of us are involved in parties, time off from work with pay, shopping and ripping into presents. Scant media attention is given to these unfortunate millions, with a smattering of feel-good stories about Christmas cookies and Barbie dolls being shared with shelter kids.

Here's stuff most people don't know about how millions of our nation's most vulnerable families are housed:

• Subsidized housing, which pays the balance of rent after 30%, using our tax dollars, is only available for about 25% of those who really need it.
• Tenants must pay utilities and deposits, often hundreds of dollars.
• Strict rules govern tenants' behavior--and being kicked out of housing or falling behind on rent can blemish their record to the point of banning them from this program.
• Family/friends who need a place to stay can't bunk with their subsidized housing friend/family member. Guests are limited to 10 days...and pushing that can get everyone tossed to the streets.
• Family/friends with felony records are typically banned from subsidized housing properties.
• With 30 days notice, at the end of the lease period, the owner can tell the tenant to move. No recourse. 

Housing authorities oversee subsidized housing. They get federal funds. HUD's budget, now about $45 billion, despite the increased population and soaring poverty and homelessness, has been drastically slashed by the housed Members of Congress over the past 3 decades. That doesn't take into account The Sequester, when HUD's budget took an additional and devastating 10% hit.

Imagine--please--what Tina's family is going through now. No tree or Christmas celebration for the kids. Her truck's axle broke the other day, adding to her fiscal duress. She's scrambling around gathering boxes, shoving stuff in it, and getting her older kids (14 YO) to help. Stress, stress and more stress. 

Before you label Tina's family as freeloaders, dependent on government assistance, swallow this bitter pill:

According to WRAP, the recent big corporate bailout cost taxpayers over $800 BILLION, far exceeding the entire homelessness/housing assistance budget for 3 decades.

In the spirit of anti-commercial-Christmas, I'd call on a boycott of this carnage called "Christmas" until the most vulnerable families in this country have what they need to (at least) humanly survive. I'm guessing that even Jesus would approve.

More on the Mark-Up

It may sound strange, but I watched the entire mark-up hearing where the definition of homelessness was discussed. You can too, by going to this site. To save you the trouble of finding the right spot, just go to the 4:13 point. Watch it all if you have the time. It's interesting to see democracy at work.

But if you don't have time, here are my recommendations for some juicy parts:

4:30, Rep. Geoff Davis, R-KY (gotta love those Rs!) rips the “advocates” who dismiss the issue of homeless kids as not really homeless. He knows this issue firsthand. He was a homeless kid who, with his mother, doubled-up with others.

6:20, Rep. Foster, D-IL, my congressman, who RIPS me and my colleagues for our advocacy efforts. The man can’t pronounce “homelessness.” That's just the beginning of his problem on this issue. He better hope that I think better of the idea to park Tillie in front of his office so I can give him a tutorial on this issue. He didn't stick around.

6:28, Rep. Franks, D-MA—committee chair, who I think expresses sincere frustration, “close to anguish,” saying this was the hardest issue facing this committee that he can remember. He's been around a long time. I expect better of him.

6:55, Rep. Davis launches an extemporaneous tirade after sharing his experiences as a child who experienced abuse and homelessness.

Throughout the hearing only a few Representatives--I'd say 3 at the most on either side--actually stay for the hearing. Congresswoman Judy Biggert, R-IL, does and she constantly reminds the committee that kids having no place to call home is a BIG problem--one which needs solving, not surveying. She gets it.

The excuses--we don't have enough money--we don't want to tax the system--don't cut it. The committee voted for a ridiculous definition, one which will give shelter providers headaches and will ignore the real need.
But we're at the beginning of a process. My thoughts on what happened at this meeting the other day....

It was probably the most extensive, passionate debate/discussion about homeless kids that has ever occurred in those marble halls.

I'd like to think the handful of Reps who stayed for the hearing (Rep. Foster didn't stick around after spewing his frustration at the advocates...) really care about the issue of kids who need to count--kids without homes who HUD is fighting to ignore.

My disappointment with Rep. Foster for taking a nasty shot at advocates and then leaving the hearing is immense. I did call his local office and his DC office, in addition to sending faxes on this issue. I also stopped by and talked to his staff in Batavia. I carried on an email discussion with another aide. I eventually spoke with his chief of staff. To say they were "blind-sided" on this issue is bogus.

If Foster or any of the pro-dumb-definition people think that homeless families are taken care of in their districts, well, I have an RV to sell them. Use it and go out and see what's really happening.

Citing opposition from the US Conference of Mayors for expansion of the definition is like citing some gas company opposed to giving little people a break at the pump. I'd suspect few mayors really understand homelessness from a kid's point of view. And fewer are willing to forsake the piddly dollars that will be strewn among cities with nice mayors and cooperative Continuum of Care groups.

While shelter directors proclaim that their programs are taking care of the need (what HUD needs to hear), a massive gaping hole exists in those communities. Families who don't know about, don't want to go, or can't go to shelters for any number of reasons make do in motels, tents, vans, or with Aunt Shirley. The "making do" often isn't pretty, at least from the kids' standpoint.

In the meantime, HUD's abysmal "chronic homelessness" initiative is being recalibrated because IT'S NOT WORKING! And this administration, proponents of the 10-year-plan, w ill skip out of office in a few months.

As the beleaguered champion legislators and the ones who are really tired of this issue headed off in the sunset on Friday for time in their districts, they didn't get the job done for the kids who need a future that doesn't include homelessness. I'd suggest that they take their hunger, frustration, tiredness and multiply it by at least 100--that's what families and te e ns are experiencing.

For too long this country has neglected and, in fact, caused homelessness. Read this clearly written, disturbing report if you are curious.

It seems to me that we should be nurturing some outstanding young people for leadership roles. The way things are going, homelessness for families and teens will be around long enough for some astute, experienced new blood to step in and make the policy changes necessary to get families and teens off the streets and into a place of their own. I hope I live long enough for that day to arrive.

Sort of Obscene....

Every year at this time a couple of things happen. One is a special holiday which coincides with the winter solstice, National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day. I find the day a whole lot less commercialized, well, perhaps obscure would be a better description, than Christmas.

The other event is the annual drum roll from our nation's capitol as the HUD homeless grants are announced. The lingo goes something like "this year, President Doe is pleased to announce the highest funding ever to address homelessness...blah, blah, blah...."

This year is no different. The benevolent leader bestows the crumbs from the table on the poor homeless people.

Pardon my cynicism, but the phrase "too little too late" comes to mind. Having been a part of the HUD funding/feeding trough for many years, and not being on the take now, I can say a few things that need to be said about the process and the needs.

The history of modern homelessness is a fascinating subject, and serious research would bear out the points made in the report by the Western Region Advocacy Project. The bottom line: massive federal cut-backs in housing assistance from the early 1980s fueled an ever-growing rate of homelessness, compounded by a round of social service cuts and economic catastrophes over the past 20+ years, not to mention, well, I will, lack of things like health care, living wage jobs and affordable housing.

I want to reiterate a point made in the WRAP report. We have demonized homelessness in this country, blaming the victim, while going on our merry way thinking the government will solve this complex and entrenched issue. Lest anyone be thinking that homeless people are demons, I urge you to try to survive on the streets for even a short time and report back on how easy and pleasant it is. It's not.

And shelter/service programs typically face painful uncertainties as their most vulnerable funding hangs on the precipice of Congress' budget "process" which add up to a mere $8 BILLION of earmarks, which, compared to the $1.5 billion to care for the 3 million-plus homeless adults and children in our country seems a little distorted....

Instead of solutions, more fall into the abyss, victims of the latest subprime mortage debacle just showing up on the radar. Tent Cities spring up in communities ill-equipped to deal with the exploding homeless population. And what HUD doesn't want to talk about are the numbers of families losing their homes. Nah, that would sound bad.

So, good people in this land, and plenty are out there, at least do something--start homeless shelters, rustle up volunteers, put bandages on the wound of homelessness. They wait for the government to respond, which it does by scraping crumbs from the table and bragging about it.

Seems to me that we could all use a dose of reality. Homelessness isn't fun--it tends to be deadly. I think of babies of homeless parents I've known...babies who have died because of poverty and homelessness. On this day of remembering homeless people who have gone to the big home in the sky I take a deep breath and hope we can one day wake up from this nightmare.