Mi’Lady

So I passed him on the street yesterday,

He was dressed in rages, smelled like the public bathroom near a beach on a hot summer’s day.

His hair was long, I could have sworn I saw lice crawling in his ears,

His beard shaggy and gray.

He smiled when he saw,

Gave me a nice toothy grin, “Beautiful day mi’lady” he said as he gave me a mocking bow.

I smiled back politely while inside I felt awfully grim,

I know what was coming, his quick question for some spare change.

I never carry change, it’s a hindrance I find.

With the invention of debt and credit cards, there’s no need for me to carry some extra weight.

“Are you well mi’lady?” he asked.

I raised a brow, he gave me another toothy grin, “you look like you could use a smile.”

He was different I noted. He hasn’t asked me for change.

“I’m good, thank you.” I gave a curt reply.

“And you sir?”

I wondered why I asked that, usually I try to run the other away.

“I haven’t has a meal in ages.” He informed with is odd accent as he looked so very sad,

I found my heart feeling heavy as I watched his gray eyes cloud with doubt.

“I’m sorry,” I found myself saying, “I don’t carry change.”

He gave me another toothy grin as he looked frightened to ask, “Could you buy me something then?”

I looked at his face, filled with dirt, grease and dandruff speckles.

I nodded my head, after all, we all lost money all the time.

Why not buy this poor hungry man a meal.

“What would you like?”

He gave me the brightest smile I had seen in a week, “A bagel, mi’lady. With some lemonade if you could.”

I found myself smiling back as I walked into Tim Hortons to buy this man his meal.

As I walked back out the store and handed him his food, he looked at me with tears in his eyes and a “Bless you mi’lady, may god make you prosper! This is my first meal in ages.”

I thanked him for his kind words and walked away.

As I walked away my thoughts went back to the old fellow I had met.

I’m sure he would have been a jolly old man if he wasn’t living on the streets, handsome too if he were to clean himself up nice.

I wondered why I accepted his request to buy him a meal while I passed tons of other homeless individuals on the streets that very day.

Perhaps it was his toothy hair or the lice in his hair – who knew.

But one thing I do know,

In this hot summers day,

I had made a man smile.

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This poem is based on a true situation which I had encountered a while ago. I had many more encounters similar to this since than, and each time the person leaves an impression on my heart. It just goes to show that a little bit on compassion goes a long way.

Homelessness – An Issue of the Past

Medicine Hat Homelessness Could Reach Its End This Year

This link above is a new post published by the Huffington Post. It talks about Medicine Hat, a city in Alberta, Canada who ended homelessness. Currently there are no homeless person wondering the streets or shelters of Medicine Hat. Not only were they able to provide housing for the homelessness population, they also saved millions of dollars doing so. This proves to us that homelessness could be an issue of the past.

The solution to eradicating homelessness in Medicine Hat was done thought an organization called Housing First. Housing First emerged as a key respondent to homelessness in many parts of the world including Canada, United States of America and Europe – their philosophy is proving housing first to those faced with homelessness because people are more successful moving forward with their life if they have a stable home (Gaetz, Scott, & Gulliver, Housing First in Canada: Supporting Communities to End Homelessness, 2013). Unlike the old ways where people told the homeless to get themselves together, stop drugs and drinking before they were provided with homes, housing first believes that its more likely that a person is able to stop drug and alcohol use if they are given a home first. Not only does it provide stability, but also an environment where the individual can put themselves back together.

Housing First implemented their ideas in Medicine Hat, and guess what, it worked! Shocker, who would have thought that giving homeless people a home would actually help (note sarcasm)! Getting people off the streets means the cost of shelters, emergency rooms and police surveillance goes done – which means the city saves over $100,000 while housing first cost less than $35,000 per year. Overall, investing in Housing First saves about $22,000 per year (Gaetz, Scott, & Gulliver, Housing First in Canada: Supporting Communities to End Homelessness, 2013). If you apply this method to every city in the country, imagine how much money the government would save annually! The extra money could be used to increase social services, welfares, education, increasing minimum wages, etc. In conclusion, Housing First works. Currently is doing a great job in eradicating homelessness in Canada. Now if only we could get the over provinces and territories to join Alberta in this project as we.

References:

Ferreras, J. (2015). Medicine Hat Homelessness Could Reach Its End This Year. Medicine Hat: The Huffington Post Alberta. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/05/14/medicine-hat-homelessness-end-2015_n_7280232.html

Gaetz, S., Scott, F., & Gulliver, T. (2013). Housing First in Canada: Supporting Communities to End Homelessness. The Homeless Hub.

(Image source: Photograph by Creative Commons)

Can you spare some change sir? I’m starving!

Have you ever walked into a subway and saw a young girl no older than 15 sitting in a corner dressed in batty cloths looking tired and somber. I’m positive you have, especially if you live in a major city. This scene has become a normal situation in Toronto. Growing up my parents told me these were the kids who decided to not listen to their parents, dropped out of high school and held criminal records. These teenagers came from bad families and they were not good people. Today I know better. Youths are faced with homelessness isn’t because they don’t want to live by their parents’ rules, rather they have fled or been forced out of homes where there is abuse and neglect (Covenant House Toronto., n.d.). Homeless youths come from every part of the country and every background, on average, street youth first leave home at 15 – and 50% of homeless youths come from come from middle and upper class families (Covenant House Toronto., n.d.).

According to Covenant House Toronto – Canada’s largest homeless youth agency:

“In Toronto, it is estimated that there are at least 10,000 homeless youth in any given year, and as many as 2,000 on a given night!”

Living in a neoliberal society people question why these kids don’t just get themselves a job. Well, if you had no fixed address, regular meals, clean clothes or showers, dropped out of school to support yourself, having little to no skills could you find a job? Perhaps you decided you would continue going to high school, how would you find a job which provided suitable pay and gave you the time to finish you assignments and gave you flexible hours?

Homeless youths do not have the support system which regular youths have. As a teen I never realized the important role my family played in supporting my decisions and giving me proper advice to build my confidence and mental stability. Majority of youths faced with homelessness have never known the encouragement and support that most of us got at home (Covenant House Toronto, 2015). Today it’s hard for regular youths to find jobs much less homeless youths who have no access to computers, resumes or ironed cloths. With the increase of neoliberal policies, trends of minimum wage temporary jobs with zero benefits have started to decrease because of out-sourcing (Covenant House Toronto, 2015). Jobs with reasonable pay with benefits have become so scarce that even youths with diplomas are having a hard time finding one.

One of the ways to help stop youth homelessness is to provide homeless youths with stable housing. This will allow the youth to have a place to live and continue their education while perhaps maintaining a part time job for necessities such as a computer and internet to do their assignments and create resumes, buy groceries and have a phone as a means of communication. Covenant House Toronto offers support to youth seeking help, it has a job centre and culinary arts training program which are vital to helping youth form a career path. If you know a youth who is faced with homelessness and they live in Toronto, you can visit www.convenanthousetoronto.ca for more information and perhaps provide them with this information so they can find themselves a career.

References:

Covenant House Toronto. (2015). Youth Employment . Retrieved from Covenant House : http://www.covenanthousetoronto.ca/homeless-youth/Youth-Employment

Covenant House Toronto. (n.d.). Youth Homelessness. Retrieved from http://www.covenanthousetoronto.ca: http://www.covenanthousetoronto.ca/homeless-youth/Youth-Homelessness

Don’t gain your Pleasure from my Pain

A study was conducted in United States of America which looked at ricks factors affecting homelessness in society. It’s a given to anybody that those who are not financially stable are more prone to face homelessness in society. However as we know, the word homelessness is very broad. There are multitudes of reasons which cause a person to be or face homelessness.

It is estimated that 3.5 million Americans face homelessness annually (Shelton, Taylor, Bonner, & Bree, 2009). People who are homeless are more likely to experience sickness, physical and mental health and die ten years earlier than the average person. Homelessness is also associated with high suicide rates.  It’s also important to understand that people who face homelessness probably also faced childhood adversity (physical, social, emotional abuse, neglect, child witness to violence). One study indicated that 50% of homeless youth faced some form of adversity in their homes (Shelton, Taylor, Bonner, & Bree, 2009). Other factors which contribute to homelessness include school expulsion, lack of academic qualification, poor social network, offending behaviours, etc. The study indicated that youth who were at risk of facing homelessness could be identified early through schools, pediatricians’ offices or social service agencies (Shelton, Taylor, Bonner, & Bree, 2009).

As you can see homelessness is a caused by multitude of factors. Although it seems easy enough to find and predict people who have the potential to face homelessness, it’s a much harder process in reality. Let’s say we find a child who is being abused in their home and we take the child into foster care – what’s to say that the child’s foster parents won’t abuse them, or the child won’t face abuse from his/her peers? Many times people find themselves in abusive relationships because of poverty. There is an old saying in my culture:

“When poverty strikes, love flies out the window.”

In my opinion we cannot stop people from facing homelessness. However we can increase social services such as social workers, emergency shelters for women or families, increase minimum wage, increase welfare and social subsidies, and create stable and affordable housing for people. This will allow people who are seeking help and support to take care of themselves. We cannot help people who don’t want to be helped, however we can constantly offer support until they are ready to face the reality and ask for support. This will also decline the rate of people facing homelessness and allow for people to lead a better life style.

(Image Source: emaze.com)

Reference:

Shelton, K. H., Taylor, P. J., Bonner, A., & Bree, M. v. (2009, April). Risk Factors for Homelessness: Evidence From a Population-Based Study. Psychiatric Services, 60(4), 465-472.

 

I’m Sorry, did you say $7 Billion?

So far we looked briefly at the causes of homelessness and why homelessness is an issue in today’s society. As I’ve come to realize, homelessness is an issue which can be solved with an increase in affordable and subsidized housing. After all, homelessness is not just a housing problem, however housing will always be a problem with homelessness. So the best solutions to help battle homelessness is to provide homes to people – when people have a safe place to stay warm and sleep, they are much happier, healthier and in a better state of mind to overcome other challenges.

So what is the current cost of homelessness today? I don’t know today’s number, but 2013 report stated an estimate amount of $7 Billion annually (Lookout Emergency Aid Society , n.d.). The estimate is based on the cost of reacting to homelessness instead of taking preventative measures. Canada’s reactionary solutions are expensive which involves emergency services, law enforcement, courts and prisons, emergency healthcare, longer hospital stays, emergency shelters, etc. (Lookout Emergency Aid Society , n.d.).

Currently each person is given $700 per month on rent supplement and $200 per month on social housing (Gaetz, 2012). Comparing it to the amount of money the nation is spending on not doing anything about homelessness, it is safe to say that we are losing more money. It’s safe to assume that our taxes are going towards useless costs. Canada can easily reduce the amount of money they spend on homelessness by providing people with affordable housing and increased social funding’s and support. Plus it helps take people off the streets and into safe environments where they can receive the support they deserve from their horrible homeless experiences.

References:

Gaetz, S. (2012). The real cost of homelessness: Can we save money by doing the right thing? . Retrieved from The Homeless Hub : http://www.homelesshub.ca/costofhomelessness

Lookout Emergency Aid Society . (n.d.). Cost of Homelessness in Canada. Retrieved from Lookout Society Solution to Homelessness: http://lookoutsociety.ca/understanding-homelessness/cost-of-homelessness/the-real-cost-of-homelessness-in-canada

Sleepless Nights

30,000 Canadians are Homeless (video)

Housing First Support Program (Audio)

The links above talks about 30,000 Canadians who sleep on the streets nationwide. This news clip was published on June 2013, today I am sure that number has increased by a minimum of 20%. In 2013, 200,000 Canadians experienced homelessness in a given year, by 2014, 235,000 people experienced homelessness in a given year (Gulliver-Garcia, 2014).

The largest group of people faced with homelessness are men between the ages of 25-55 years old (CBC NEWS, 2013). Studies have shown that Aboriginal people are over represented in the homelessness population while youth and members of the LEBTQ community are at risk (CBC NEWS, 2013).

Homelessness cost Canadians $7 billion year for emergency services. Currently it is costing the country more to not do anything about the homeless population than to create subsidized housing and other social services. Housing First is a social service for people who are faced with homelessness, these people are offered a stable home where they are safe, warm and have the necessities to live. The audio and the video link has homeless people saying how they could not afford homes even with government support and subsidy – this just goes to show how little people are receiving and how much more support they require.

Homeless individuals also face discrimination from society, not only are they kicked and abused on the streets, they are turned down for homes when they try to rent a place to live. After all, who wants someone in their building whose current address is the forest or the corner of Ryerson University?  People now want all levels of government to build affordable housing. They have found that when a homeless person is housed, they stay housed and is able to improve their living conditions. Simple right? No. People look at the huge prices which will require them to build affordable housing but they fail to realize that not doing anything about homelessness is actually costing the country much more.

References:

CBC NEWS. (2013). 30,000 Canadians are homeless every night. CBC News – The National . Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/30-000-canadians-are-homeless-every-night-1.1413016

Gulliver-Garcia, T. (2014, 10 29). Infographic: Homelessness in Canada by the Numbers. Retrieved from The Homeless Hub: http://www.homelesshub.ca/blog/infographic-homelessness-canada-numbers

 

 

 

 

Age and Homelessness

A recent study was done in Canada which looked at homelessness in the Canadian context. The study showed that Canada is experiencing an increase in homelessness from senior citizens. Older adults occupy 14% – 28% of the homeless population using shelters in major cities (Reynolds, et al., 2016). The increase of older adults in the homelessness population are the result of poor economic climate, decreased subsidized housing, increase rents, decline in social benefits and services, the rise of mental health problems, etc. (Reynolds, et al., 2016). Basically, this can all be summed up to neoliberal policies.

The study showed that older adults who are homeless are more likely to be a White, male with mental health problems compared to younger adults who are homeless. Older adults faced with homelessness have shown to have a smaller social network compared someone who does not face homelessness (Reynolds, et al., 2016). In comparison to the younger adults faced with homelessness, older adults are more isolated and detached from the homeless community and have less contact with their family members (Reynolds, et al., 2016). Research estimates that aging homelessness population have an increase number of men compared to women, this is because older women faced with homelessness usually have relationship difficulties and widowed whereas older men face work related difficulties (Reynolds, et al., 2016).

As you can see, homelessness isn’t just as issue for the youth. Thinking about this day and age, it’s simple to understand why there are more people facing homelessness and are forced to live in shelters or on the streets. The implementation of neoliberal policies cause people lose their jobs, lose out on benefits, RRSP, CPP, health care, etc. Personally, I think this number of older age homelessness is only going to increase in the next hundred years or so if the government doesn’t change the system. Currently there are very little jobs in the job market, companies are taking available jobs to under developed countries for cheap labour and people here are suffering. Today companies are no longer giving people full time permanent jobs with benefits which cause people to lose money when they retire. Retired males and females now have to rely on the social welfare and relatives for support. Furthermore, for couples who live together, when one passes on the other is not only forced with grief by they no longer have the financial support which they used to receive from their partner. All in all, I am frightful for people entering old age and for my own future – the causes of homelessness is very obvious, if nothing is done soon than the streets and shelters would be crowded with more and more people.

References:

Reynolds, K. A., Isaak, C. A., DeBoer, T., Medved, M., Distasio, J., Katz, L. Y., & Sareen, J. (2016). Aging and Homelessness in a Canadian Context. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, 35(1). doi:10.7870/cjcmh-2015-016

(Image Source: Roberts, S. (2016, 02 1). The homeless are ageing too. Retrieved from Mercatornet: http://www.mercatornet.com/demography/view/the-homeless-are-aging-too/17535)

 

 

 

Homelessness, a Word

Previously I posted about a police offer and his interactions with a street people. I spoke about how I disapproved the use of the word street people and would prefer the word homelessness. The word homelessness is going to reappear many times in this blog, and readers should be aware of the proper meaning of this term. I am going to explain why I prefer the term homelessness, and why this should be the term used when describing anyone who does not have a stable home.

The word homelessness came into effect in in the early 90’s when countries like Canada needed a new term to define the social phenomenon which were happening in society. They added ‘ness’ to the word homeless to allow the readers and listeners to imagine whatever they want. There is no correct definition for the term but it allows the listener to interpret their own meaning from the person who is using the term.

There is a difference between the word homeless and homelessness. Homeless is a person without a home, simple right! But homelessness includes social problems such as poverty, increased rents, health, mental health, discrimination, system inequalities, abuse, etc.  Homelessness is not just a housing problem, however it will always include housing as a problem.

Up until recently, I believed that people who faced homelessness lived in the streets or shelters. However I came to know that there are various types of homelessness such as:
•    Living in public or private places (squatting) without consent
•    Living in public places not intended for habitat (e.g. cars, attics, closets)
•    Living in emergency shelters
•    Couch surfing
•    Group homes, etc.

These are just a few forms of homelessness. However there are those who are At Risk Homelessness – these people are people who are not homeless however they current living conditions are precarious and does not meet the standards of public health and safety (The Canadian Observatory on Homelessbess, 2012). Hopefully this helps clarify the difference between homeless and homelessness and I prefer the term homelessness.
(Image source: (n.d.).Homelessness. Affinity Projects, United States of America . Retrieved from http://affinityprojects.org/homelessness/)

References:
Hulchanski, J., Campsie, P., Chau, S. B., Hwang , S. W., & Paradis, E. (2009).

Homelessness, What’s in a Word. Finding Home, 1-16.

The Canadian Observatory on Homelessbess. (2012). Canadian Definition of Homelessness. The Homeless Hub .

Street Person or Homelessness?

Photo of police officer sitting on sidewalk with street person gets big response

The link above was posted today (May 27th, 2016) by CBC News. It talks about a Police Officer who takes time to talk and communicate with a ‘street person.’ All in all, it’s a great article which informs society about the people we see living on the streets and how they’re not mindless addicts and invisible baggers. Rather they are human beings with a heart and soul – perhaps if everyone took two minutes out of their day to talk with someone living on the streets, they would be much more informed and aware about homelessness issues and even make someone smile.

However I had a major issue with this article. This article refers to a person faced with homelessness as ‘street person.’ The proper term for a person without a stable home is homelessness. CBC reporter, J. MacMillan wrote:

Currie said it’s important to keep people safe, but also to remember that street people are human.

The use of the word street people makes people think people choose to live on the streets. According to Wikipedia, the definition of street people are people who lead a public life on the streets of a city, they are frequently homeless, mentally ill, and often have a bohemian lifestyle. Yet people don’t want to live on the streets, they are living on the streets because there feel that they have no other option left. The word homelessness however informs people who people living on the streets are homeless, they have no housing or other necessities. It allows the readers to imagine all forms of homelessness, and since homelessness does not have a correct definition it allows for a broader mental image.

All in all, this was a good article published by CBC News, it brought attention to the homeless population in Halifax and awareness that people living on the streets are humans just like you and I.

References:

MacMillan, J. (2016). Photo of police officer sitting on sidewalk with street person gets big response. Halifax: CBC News. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/panhandler-

Wikipedia . (2010, September 7). Street people. Retrieved from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_people