Changing the Way We Think About Homelessness

The word "homeless" perpetuates the myth that the solution to homelessness is affordable housing. Early services for the homeless reflected this belief, as  evidenced by the system of emergency shelters that was established to provide food and shelter. But the demand for "temporary" shelter not only overwhelmed the capacity - the shelters soon became a permanent place to live for thousands of people. Clearly, food and shelter were not solving the problem. In truth, chronic homelessness is almost always a symptom of treatable problems, usually substance abuse, untreated mental illness, social disaffiliation, or a combination of the three.

Current Thinking

Evolving viewpoints have led city and state officials to work in partnership with nonprofit service providers like Volunteers of America to convert many of these basic shelters into in-depth, service-rich programs able to provide a continuum of care in a clean, safe environment. Today's programs offer a bridge away from homelessness by addressing each individual's illness and/or addiction to promote recovery and independent living.

Homelessness need not be a permanent part of the urban landscape or any community. Government officials, non-profit service providers and the community must be united in the belief that we will put an end to people living on the streets only when we treat underlying problems, not the symptom. We must stop enabling people, through well-intended but misguided handouts, to live on the streets and we must encourage city and state officials to continue to fund proven solutions, such as supportive housing for the homeless mentally-ill. An enlightened public is the key to ending this tragedy. Only through treatment of underlying disabilities will we provide hope, healing and recovery to the thousands of people who still call the streets home.

The Impact of Homelessness

On a practical level, homelessness is a losing proposition for everyone. Long-term homelessness undermines civic order and morale and burdens taxpayers, who must pay costs associated with temporary shelters and hospitalization for untreated illness or emergency medical care. For many who live on the street, life is a daily nightmare of psychiatric delusion and physical illness. Health problems and the risk of accident, assault, or homicide are daily realities. It is estimated that people living on the streets have a life expectancy at least 20 years below the national average. A recent study printed in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that homeless patients place disproportionate financial burdens on hospitals, illustrating the impact of addressing the consequences instead of the causes of the nation's social ills. We should not be surprised that our health care system is overburdened by the costs of treating the chronically homeless. Chronically homeless persons often do not receive needed medical, mental health and addiction treatment until they are facing a serious medical emergency and enter the health care system. By this time they are often suffering from multiple disabilities and chronically untreated medical conditions.

De-romanticizing Homelessness

Homelessness has been with us since the beginning of modern urban society, and each decade has witnessed its own attitudes toward homelessness -- many of them represented by well-known cultural icons. Sadly, whether these are the lovable hobos of the Charlie Chaplin era, the street-poet characters of the `50s and `60s, or the "simple-living" street denizens of the `90s, all of these stereotypes perpetuate a false and romanticized depiction of life on the street.

A review of current newspaper accounts of homeless individuals, movies including The Fisher King, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, and Midnight Cowboy, all feature romanticized homeless characters. We must reject the illusion that street dwellers are merely vagabonds living a romantic life of leisure in public spaces.

Reversing the Trend

While sincere and well-meaning, the current trend to assist and accommodate individuals who live on the streets through handouts, money, or food are, ironically, perpetuating a tragedy. Our inability to resist the temptation to give money to panhandlers further enables homeless individuals to continue their life on the street. Living on the street is not romantic, and almost never involves a "choice" in the true sense of the word. And contrary to countless news accounts, many who choose the streets over shelters do so because disabilities cloud their decision-making ability. Their "choice" is often a rejection of service and not an informed response to the conditions of the shelters.

Programs that recognize and treat underlying problems can help the homeless turn their lives around. But before we can provide treatment, we must help people in need accept, and take responsibility for such treatment. To do this, we must assert - to the homeless and to ourselves - that homeless individuals are people worth saving.

Persistent outreach by caring professionals can persuade the homeless to accept treatment services and begin the path to personal responsibility and recovery. Volunteers of America and other organizations that provide service-rich programs for the homeless can attest that these real-life success stories are happening every day. We call them everyday miracles.