Debunking Myths About Homelessness

-

 Debunking Myths About Homelessness

What do you know about the homeless population in your area? What do you know about their struggles or overall situations?

We obviously can’t know all of the individual histories of every person experiencing homelessness. However, it’s important to try to understand. It’s oftentimes that homeless people are looked down upon, but why? Maybe it’s time to confront our bias against the homeless by tackling the three main misconceptions behind homelessness.

Laziness/Unemployment

Starting with the biggest one, a lot of people think that homelessness is caused by people being lazy and not wanting to get a job. Contrary to popular belief, many people who experience houselessness actually are employed. It’s even reported that up to 40%-60% of these people are actually employed by The National Coalition for the Homeless (Council for the Homeless). The cost of living increases every year while the minimum wage is barely keeping up. Even for those houseless people who don’t have jobs, it’s important to think about the barriers that make a job unattainable for those who don’t have the proper resources to get the proper clothes for an interview or a home address to give to an employer. Instead of focusing on the supposed ‘laziness’ in others, remember that for most people, homelessness is not a choice. Click here (https://reports.nlihc.org/oor) to learn more about exactly how affordable housing is in your state.

Criminal Status/Substance Abuse



Another really big myth is that people think that most houseless people are dangerous, violent, criminals. As an extension, some folks also think that all houseless people are drug addicts and don’t deserve help because of their hopeless addiction. The conversations around both of these misconceptions require a certain level of nuance. 
It is not true that houseless people are more likely to be more dangerous or violent than a person who owns a house. This is a reality that coexists with the fact that a lot of houseless folks are criminals because of camping ordinances or loitering laws. In fact, houseless people are more likely to be a victim of a crime rather than be a criminal (Council for the Homeless). With that, it’s important to realize that many houseless people are breaking the law by not owning a home. 
While a high percentage of houseless folks struggle with substance abuse, it should be said that houseless folks turn to substances in an attempt to cope with their situation. Substance abuse can lead to homelessness because of how it disrupts family dynamics and other general things in life (Substance Abuse and Homelessness). Making a comment on someone’s addiction without understanding the complexities of their situation is incredibly insensitive, regardless of whether or not the person owns a house. It’s important to take an empathetic approach when confronting your biases around the criminal status/level of substance abuse of houseless people. 

How They Spend Their Money

The last myth we’ll be unpacking is that houseless people spend their money on drugs and alcohol. It’s
actually shown through studies and collecting interviews that houseless people spend the little money that they get to try to buy things they need to survive like food and hygiene products (NYU Web Communications). There are definitely some houseless people who spend their money on drugs, but homeowners also spend their money on drugs. Why does someone’s home-owning status dictate how they should spend their money? If you were living on the street, would you try to do it sober? Although people shouldn’t willingly “feed people’s drug addictions”, it should be said that it’s very unlikely that houseless folks are solely relying on panhandling to keep a consistent supply. 

Being mindful about how we view houseless folks is definitely a good start in addressing houselessness. Deconstructing our previous biases and helping correct the views of houseless people that others hold is something we should all strive to do. However, there is more that you can do to help people suffering from houselessness. Visit some of the links below to either further educate yourself on this issue or to help get involved.

Education:


Volunteer Opportunities:



Sources:

Published by: Dom Chen

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Access to Healthcare for Homeless Individuals with Disabilities

-
Image
Photo by Sarwer e Kainat Welfare from Pexels. Healthcare access is still a major obstacle for the homeless, especially those with disabilities. The complexity of homelessness and the obstacles faced by people with disabilities in Oregon and elsewhere pose a serious threat to public health. This blog post examines the particular difficulties and potential solutions to enhance access to healthcare for this vulnerable population. Unique Healthcare Challenges for Homeless Individuals with Disabilities A study by Oxford Academic published in "Social Work" highlights several key barriers to healthcare access for homeless individuals with disabilities. These barriers include: Absence of Accessible Services Inadequate care results from many healthcare facilities' lack of capacity to address the unique requirements of people with disabilities. Transportation Problems It can be challenging for homeless people to regularly attend medical visits since they frequently lack access to...
Read more

Hostile Architecture: A Harmful Solution

-
Image
  As homelessness starts to rise in many states, many actions have started to take place, one of them being hostile architecture.   Hostile architecture is an architectural design intended to deter certain activities and restrict people from using that public space. Hostile architecture goes unnoticed by most people, as they don't affect them. Some examples of hostile architecture involve: Armrests on benches Curved or slanted benches Rocky pavements Bike racks and planter boxes in a line Window sills with spikes In Portland, Oregon, the hostile architecture are focused towards the homeless and preventing camping. Since 2013, the state agency has spent over $1 million on what is described as "rockscape landscaping" to keep homeless campers off property owned by the Oregon Department of Transportation. In downtown Portland, NW Broadway, dozens of lined up bike racks were installed in. The area isn't an active destination, so the need for that many bike racks i...
Read more

Camp Clearing on the West Coast

-
 On The west Coast homelessness is a serious problem. When considering the homeless crises, Los Angeles is one of the places that comes to mind. Homelessness sweeps beyond “Skid Row” in Los Angeles, in fact it has become widespread throughout California. As of July 25 th, 2024, Gov. Newsom has issued an order to remove all homeless camps in the state of California. Will this be beneficial, will it be improving the lives of homeless individuals, or will it be another pointless tax on Californians? Improving to the lives of homeless individuals; appears to be uncertain as far as we know. Gov. Newsom has decided to invest $24 billion to clean up homeless camps. Gov. Newsom said, “We must act with urgency to address dangerous encampments which subject unsheltered individuals living in them to extreme weather, fires, predatory and criminal activity, and widespread substance use, harming their health, safety and well-being, and which also threaten the safety and viability of nearby busin...
Read more