Culture, poverty and homelessness

Back in 2010, there was a Congressional briefing called Reconsidering Culture and Poverty based on a special issue of The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.

I found it after reading a quote from Michael Goodwin, a FOX contributor, stating “the problem that struggling Americans receiving SNAP benefits (food stamps) have isn't really hunger or poverty. It's that they're not ashamed enough about taking the help.”

I realize that commentators take controversial positions to get attention. What worries me is that “policy makers and the public still tend to view poverty through one of two competing lenses. As Michèle Lamont, an editor of the special issue of The Annals, said: ‘Are the poor poor because they are lazy, or are the poor poor because they are a victim of the markets?’”

Or more formally, Michael Laracy, Director of Director of Policy Reform and Advocacy at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, said, “Too often, discussions here in Washington ... revert to sort of sterile, default positions with liberals wholly blaming structural issues such as the economy or racism while conservatives too quickly fault our culture and our poor families for counterproductive behaviors and attitudes.”

The positions are so far apart it’s hard to find any middle ground.  If, as liberals believe, the economy and racism cause poverty and homelessness, it feels like there is no solution. The only thing to do for poor families is offer assistance like food stamps. If, as conservatives believe, all poor families are lazy, then they mustn’t deserve assistance.

Around Community LINC, we operate on the assumption that there is indeed a culture of generational homelessness and poverty. Representative Lynne Woolsey of California captured it best when she said, “What a concept. Values, norms, beliefs play very important roles in the way people meet the challenges of poverty.”

But, we don’t share the belief that people should be condemned for what they didn’t learn growing up in poverty.

Instead, we believe in teaching the coping skills, behaviors and attitudes needed to hold a job, stay in school and create better lives for themselves and their children.

We believe that equipping someone willing to learn with knowledge they need is good not just for them, but for the community.

Hope for the children

Every family becomes homeless for reasons that are uniquely their own. Some become homeless because of a change in situation or circumstance. Others are born into families that have been in poverty for generations.

Ruby Payne, PhD, writes in Bridges out of Poverty “It is the hope… that 100 years from now poverty will no longer be economically viable. Two hundred years ago slavery was thought to be an economic necessity. It was not. One hundred fifty years ago it was believed that women were not capable of voting. That also was not true. We fervently hope that by 2100 individuals and society at large will no longer believe that poverty is inevitable.”

Because our Children’s Program Director always has great insight into the lives of our children, I asked him if he could share something that would help paint the picture of a child who came to us homeless because of generational poverty. He shared the following.

“Research paints an extremely bleak picture for children born into generational poverty and their chances of upward mobility. These children are statistically dealt a hand that suggests they will never leave poverty.”

“The negative impacts of generational poverty on children are extensive and long lasting. Statistically these children are more likely to have poor diets, be subject to violent situations, change where they live many times, and struggle academically.”

“These statistics hold true for many of the children we serve at Community LINC. Many of our families come from neighborhoods that are food-barren areas. Due to lack of transportation and scarcity of grocery stores, children often eat food that is within walking distance. When I ask students what their favorite foods are an overwhelming number of them say chips, soda, and candy. All of which can be purchased within walking distance across the street at a gas station.” 

“Furthermore, many of our children have been subject to violent situations. Recently I was teaching a class to a group of 4th and 5th graders. I asked who in the room had ever been in a fight, everyone raised their hand.”

“I then asked who knows someone who has been shot; all but one raised their hand.”

“The last question I asked was how many of them had seen a physical fight at home between family members, everyone kept their hand up. Often times our children believe violence is a way to handle problems because that is what they have been exposed to.”

“Many of our children are very transient, meaning they have changed where they live many times. I recently spoke with a client about how many schools her children have attended in the past. She told me that for the last 7 years they have changed where they live between staying with friends and family, shelters, motels, and cars. She said that they usually move 2-3 times a year. This amount of housing instability causes children to have higher stress rates, more emotional and psychological disorders, and more physical health problems.”

“This rate of mobility is also one of the contributing factors to why our children often struggle in school. Another harsh reality is that the schools that our students attend are failing to meet their needs because they lack the necessary resources. Our students often express concerns about their safety and educational needs not being met by their schools. Also, many of our students face additional responsibilities at home that hinder their education.  Due to lack of family resources many students are required to contribute financially. Right now we have a 16 year old girl who works full time at a restaurant on top of being a junior in high school.”         

“Despite the difficult situation our children go through I would describe them as amazing kids. Their ability to express concerns about their future and their needs being met shows a desire to make the right choices, and a hunger to learn.”

We share Ruby Payne’s hope for these amazing kids.

More Than Ending Homelessness

A couple of weeks ago I told you about an article written by Mary Beth Shinn of Vanderbilt University called Ending Homelessness for Families: The Evidence for Affordable Housing. The bottom line for the article, and my blog entry, is that families become homeless when they are extremely low income and can’t afford an apartment at the market rate rent. They end up living with relatives or in places “unsuitable for human habitation” when there isn’t enough subsidized housing.

If the goal is just to end homelessness, for the vast majority of families, all they need is a housing subsidy. However, our mission is to develop self-sufficient families.

For some families, self-sufficiency will only mean ending their homelessness. We know that among our families there are some that will never afford a home of their own without a government subsidy. Poorly educated single parents will always be challenged to independently support their families.

Many of our families are aiming for a different kind of self-sufficiency though. Myeshia finished her GED and starts college this Fall. Stephanie paid down the debt that was keeping her from getting a home. John is finishing culinary school. Virna left nearly debt-free for her own (unsubsidized) apartment. The list goes on.

For them, self-sufficiency will mean that they rise above homelessness and out of poverty.

A Point in Time

Each year Community LINC takes part in a “point in time survey” of the homeless in Kansas City. It’s a count of homeless individuals and families both in shelters and on the streets.

The preliminary estimate was that on one day (January 27 this year) there were at least 2,655 people, including 715 children, homeless in Kansas City. In past years, before the economic downturn, about 15,000 people became homeless over the course of the year. There are an unknown number who are not counted in the survey. These are the homeless who couch surf with families and friends or stay in a weekly motel.

It makes me realize that our goal is for homelessness to be just a point in time for the families in our transitional housing program.

Right now, half of our families were raised by grandparents or other relatives. Like foster kids who age out of the foster care system, these young parents have no one left to fall back on. They didn’t have families or friends to give them a place to stay when they became homeless.

We can see the impact of the downturn in the economy in a lot of ways. Today, there are 64 families on the waiting list for an apartment. A surprising 30% of our families are two parent families. In a typical year, less than 10% of the families have two parents. We are also seeing more families from situational poverty rather than generational poverty.

We will help most of our families ensure that they don’t become homeless at any other point in time. We will provide about 36,000 bed nights this year. The average family will stay for 7 months. What they learn while they are here will ensure that, for at least our two year follow-up period, more than 8 out of 10 will not become homeless again.

-Laura Gray