If people made a living wage, they could better support
their families. That definitely needs to happen, and the
combination of both is just unlivable.”
Increasing the minimum wage is one answer, but the
NCH argues for a slightly different approach: Indexing
the minimum wage to an area’s cost of housing. “We’re
in Washington, D.C., which is much different from a
smaller, rural community,” notes Hustings. “Veterans
who’ve gotten vouchers through the Veterans Affairs
Supportive Housing program have been struggling to
get housing because their voucher covers only a certain percentage of the rent, and they can’t afford the
area rent. HUD figures out every year what’s called a
fair market rent for many of its programs. It would be
a fairly easy calculation to make.”
Perception isn’t reality
Another challenge to resolving homelessness is the
perception many have of the people they see in their
neighborhood or on their way to work each day.
“For most people experiencing it, homelessness is just
a poverty issue,” argues Pirtle. “People are paying too
much for rent, and then they have some unforeseen
financial expense, whether it’s a big heating bill or
they’re injured on the job and can’t work for six weeks.
But we’d rather think of homelessness as a character
issue. It makes it easier for us to ignore it or pretend it
couldn’t happen to us.”
Hustings agrees that attitudes shape the discussion in
ways that harm people who need help — in some cases
literally. Just search the Internet for “bum fights” and
you’ll find videotaped attacks on vulnerable people
for sport.
“That’s where public education comes in,” she states.
“You’ll see this everywhere in popular culture, that
there’s an attempt to dehumanize people experiencing homelessness. The use of the word ‘sweeps’ implies
that we have to sweep them off our porch. And saying
‘the homeless’ makes it seem like being homeless is a
characteristic inherent to somebody. It’s just something
somebody’s going through.”
While people are experiencing homelessness, little
efforts can help them maintain their dignity. “It isn’t that
difficult to acknowledge people you see on the street,”
(Below) Homelessness has many different faces. The National Coalition for the Homeless has helped many in the Washington, D.C. area
successfully transition from homelessness. Steve Thomas overcame
years of drug abuse to end his cycle of homelessness.
Photo by Alessandro Lupo
(Left) Kaloko Transitional Housing
Photo by Hawaii County