Nine-tenths of the homeless are families, children and the newly poor

Commentary
By Becca Williams

It’s easy to be blind to the issue of homelessness in a more rural community like McMinnville because, unlike in larger cities, it isn’t common to see people asking for money on the streets downtown. Despite its hidden nature, homelessness exists and is a pervasive issue in our communities.

For example, during a one-night shelter count in January 2008, 216 families were living in local shelters. This figure doesn’t include those in homeless camps, sleeping on couches or those for whom shelters don’t have capacity. It’s necessary for us to get to know those who are homeless and to support families that struggle to survive these rough economic times.

Stereotypically, the homeless are thought to be haggard, confrontational drunks who beg for money in public places to support a habit. In fact, studies show that this generally accepted image of a homeless person — someone who is abusing drugs, sleeping under awnings on the street, chronically using the system — constitute only five to 10 percent of the homeless population. The remaining 90 to 95 percent are children, families or individuals who are victims of the mortgage crisis or who couldn’t afford to pay rent along with rising gas, food and utility prices.

Unfortunately, poverty affects people of all ages. According to the Yamhill County Commission on Children & Families, 313 children were documented as homeless in Yamhill County during the 2006-2007 school year.

I have had a chance, along with other Linfield students, to get to know some of these homeless children while volunteering at YCAP’s transitional housing shelter. Once a week, we go to the shelter to read and play with the kids living there. It provides us a break from our studies and gives the parents a few free hours. We hope that we can be one of the few consistent elements in the kids’ lives as we color pictures or listen to their stories week after week.

Many of the service providers and homeless I have met emphasize that one of the most valuable ways community members can make a difference is the simple act of listening to the stories of the people in our community who are in need. In sociology, we talk about the “contact hypothesis,” which is simply that the more closely one is in contact with a group of people who are different than oneself, the harder it becomes to maintain stereotypes about them.

For instance, once a person sits down and shares a soup-kitchen meal with someone who may be homeless or receiving welfare, it is easier to empathize with them and understand their situations.

Though McMinnville has a number of shelters, most are specific to drug recovery or victims of sexual abuse, and there isn’t adequate emergency housing to meet the growing need.

When I first visited one emergency housing shelter, I was surprised at all the shelves of unused quilts and rows of empty wooden bunks. Even though they have the capacity to shelter many more people, there was only a handful of residents around this rather large building. One of the shelter managers told me later that she receives multiple calls a day from people who need a place to stay, but they have to turn people away because city zoning ordinances allow them to house only five unrelated people.

The shelter managers have tried to open up 20 more beds for the many people who call and ask for assistance and refuge. When the managers brought the proposal before the city council, four neighbors stood up in opposition. They said that while they recognize the need for a homeless shelter in our city — and they certainly wouldn’t want to turn away women and children — they don’t think their neighborhood would be safe if it had a shelter.

While I understand their caution about the neighborhood’s safety, it was difficult for me to hear them deny someone else access to one of the most basic human needs. We expect people who have been homeless to become functional members of society, but they often lack the self esteem to do so because of the continual rejection they face.

Right now in our communities, there is a big push to end homelessness.Yamhill County Commissioner Kathy George is working with a committee to implement a 10-year plan to end homelessness.

In late September, about 200 members of the community gathered for an event to kick off the plan. The event’s goal was to raise awareness about homelessness and encourage community involvement in solving housing insecurity.

Guests were encouraged to get involved as volunteers at various community organizations, by attending meetings in the different cities or by helping with the homeless count to take place in January.

Volunteering is not only beneficial for the people or organizations being helped, but also because it can raise awareness of needs in the community. If each of us were to take the time to get to know someone who isn’t as well off as we are, I think we’d be able to overcome some of the common stereotypes we have about the less fortunate.

Ultimately, I think it is our responsibility to care for the men and women who find themselves in situations where they have to seek emergency shelter. For the well-being of everyone, I hope that even the most marginalized members of our community can be treated with dignity and compassion.

Guest writer Becca Williams, a sociology student at Linfield College, worked with Professor Robert Gardner researching homelessness this past summer. She loves to cook, read and run. She is studying Spanish to prepare for a semester in Ecuador and hopes to teach abroad someday.