Doing the Good Samaritan Thing?

Some recent letters regarding the homeless and views they advocated toward the homeless have disturbed me. The plight of openly chronic homeless in Long Beach has regularly been in the news and in the opinion section. Those addressed as homeless are not necessarily representative of the growing population of the homeless, but are getting the bulk of the coverage.

This coverage which exacerbates the negative image of the homeless helps me understand the apprehension of the public whose only perception of the homeless are the chronically addicted lying around in neighborhood parks and on church steps, panhandlers accosting downtown shoppers, and street people with signs, “Will Work For Food.”

These articles and letters, however, expose naïve and simplistic views. Those reflected in the news are not the picture of homeless that we see coming in off the street into our residential programs. The growing homeless, or near-homeless, population is made up of men, women, and families who, without our help, would otherwise quickly become homeless statistics as those we read about.

A young mother loses her job, can’t pay the rent, and is told to vacate her apartment without notice; she packs some clothes and takes the hands of her two toddlers and walks to the Mission.

A successful CPA falls into alcoholism and is brought to the Mission by a pastor friend and finds spiritual recovery.

A man with several warrants is found to be a participant in the Mission’s New Life Program, goes before a judge and is remanded to the program; the judgments are dismissed upon his completion of the program and his subsequent gainful employment.

A young man who finally desires a life free from drugs, successfully completes the Mission’s New Life Program, finds gainful employment, is reunited with his wife, and they regain custody of their children from foster care.

A young woman caught in addiction graduates from the women’s program; after 13 years of successful executive employment she returns to provide case management at the Mission.

These are actual cases involving successful clients in the Missions I have worked with. In October, Long Beach Rescue Mission contributed to an annual Snapshot Survey with 300 other Missions across the country. The results indicate that 80% of our clients are long term residents of the area; 38% have been homeless less than one year; 28% have never before been homeless; and 45% are chronic (have been homeless more than two or three times); and 93% prefer the spiritual emphasis of our programs.

The average American family is only three paychecks away from homelessness. Women and children make up 27% of the growing homeless population in Los Angeles County; of those, 64% are children. According to the last census, almost 50% of the homeless in Long Beach are families (most of which are in shelters), and children make up 66% of that number. Lydia House, our women and family shelter, currently has 9 families with 20 children living there. Our long term residential programs have more than doubled in the last few months, and we are planning on taking emergency overnight beds to make more program beds. These statistics paint a vastly different picture than the recent letters portray and most of the public perceive the homeless to be.

The current discussion of the homeless sleeping outside on the steps of a local church greatly disturbs me. Can people really be willing to pay a $1000 a day fine rather than hire staff to bring the homeless inside out of the cold – or take them a few blocks to the shelter pick up site? Are we really that against a city wanting to take homeless off the street when there are available beds? We as a society have a responsibility to act accordingly when others can’t or refuse to act on their own behalf; and those sleeping on the street need us to step up to the plate.

The Multi Service Center and other agency programs are doing a great job providing a hand-up to those who seek it out. But daily support services will be meaningless for many homeless if they have nowhere to sleep, bathe, get clean clothes, and prepare for work. Close proximity to jobs, public transportation, and other support agencies is critical for those desperately wanting to break the cycle they have found themselves in. We need to be ready with a safety net and effective solutions for those who will wind up homeless statistics without such support.

Even the Good Samaritan took the beaten man to a shelter.