The Faceless Homeless

Thursday’s LB Press Telegram front page above-the-fold headline told the wrong story. Last week a team of volunteers was surveying the chronic street-bound homeless to identify the most at risk of dying on the street. The headline said that effort was giving the homeless a face and finding ways to help them. But their face is already all too visible, all too often, in our parks, alleys, storefronts, and street corners . . . these faces are the fuel for the NIMBYism that hinders our ability to provide critically needed services. Help is already there in our shelters and public services, if they would only choose to accept it.

What the public does not see, but needs to see, is the face of the homeless who wants help . . . those who have not made a choice to be on the street of their own accord – as many of those surveyed have chosen. The impetus for the survey is humane, as well as economic at its core: identifying the most at risk and providing keys to housing and intense case-management will save the city, county and service provider critical funds that are expended treating a homeless person in the last months of life on the street. Police, EMT and hospital emergency rooms are major costs that can be indentified and redirected to preventative care and housing, which will cost less in the long run.

But what of the homeless we don’t see – those whose face is unseen? Those who are at-risk of becoming chronic homeless on our streets, in our hospitals, jails, and parks? Federal funding is now focused primarily on the chronic homeless rather than stemming the tide of those at risk of being on the streets. Our local homeless shelters provide a critical refuge from the street – or a detour on the way to the street – and provide needed services for life-change. These actually hide those faces from public view. But these faces are the ones who need to be seen, as these are people who are reaching out for help, taking advantage of services, getting physical, emotional and spiritual help changing their lives for the better. But due to NIMBYism, there are not enough beds for the current or future need. Although we can easily fund and staff more beds and services, we can’t find the political capital or public will to make the choice for expanding current, or locating new facilities.

While I serve on the task force and support this housing-first initiative as one of many weapons in our arsenal to fight homelessness, it is a last-ditch effort to stem the costs, and we cannot forget that these people were once like you and me; people with families, friends and careers, whose lives have spun out of control, oftentimes overcome by addictions and mental illness. The challenge for us is to treat the issue on both ends . . . those at-risk of dying on the street, and those at-risk of reaching the same street and the identical outcome. Let’s make sure we see the many faces of those already reaching out for help in our shelter programs – and those that would, if there were only more room in the inn. These faces don’t need our NIMBYism, they need our help and compassion.