On Common Ground - Summer 2016: Housing For All

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.