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Solving Poverty Without The Poor?

6/29/2016

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Today, journalists, media, and other advocates in San Francisco, Seattle, and beyond are highlighting the reality that thousands of people live outside, and lack safe places to eat, sleep, and exist. I am glad this is happening. I do hope the highlighting of our neighbors who live outside can continue the other 364 days a year, but I am happy that so many are talking about this today.


However, I am struck by the nature of this conversation. We are talking about the complex issue of how we deal with the reality that thousands of people lack housing, jobs, community, and safe places to sleep. Yet I often see few, if any, people who actually live outside participating. And if they are, it is usually in small ways outside of the main work. The people who are actually in the situation we are discussing seem to have little voice in these conversations, or are just not invited at all. And this is not unique to this particular day. The work of engaging homelessness and conversation about how we can solve homelessness, and about what communities can do in regards to homelessness, are often dominated by those who are not experiencing homelessness.

And this is unfortunate. Because we are not dealing with an abstract issue here. We are dealing with people. Human beings. People with agency and wisdom and skills to survive in situations many of us have never had to worry about. To not involve them in the work of ending homelessness is to treat them like objects. Like abstract problems to be solved.


Why is this so common? If our car is broken, we take it to the people that have spent the most time fixing cars. If we need to learn about gardening, we will seek someone who has gardened for years.  If we want to learn to fly fish, we hire a guide who knows the river well and has spent countless hours fishing. Why then, when it comes to engaging the issue of homelessness in our community, do we not even ask those who live outside to have a voice (even a small voice) in conversations about ending homelessness?

I think a huge reason for this is the fact that our culture still sees poverty as a moral failing. That people who end up on the street do not possess the work ethic, the ability to make good choices, or the moral fortitude to succeed in our culture. Even when we acknowledge that there are structural and systemic injustices in our society that contribute to homelessness, we still like to believe that those injustices are not insurmountable barriers, and that a few good choices and some hard work can get you over them.


So given all of this, it is easy for us to assume that, since those who live outside ended up on the street through a combination of bad choices, low work ethic, and questionable morals, that it is up to those of us who possess those qualities to solve the “issue” of homelessness (read: those of us with middle class formal education, who are successful according to our consumerist capitalistic culture, and who possess the power and privilege to be seen as competent).

As well, I think there is another, and more subtle, reason that our culture sees homelessness in this way. Even if we see and acknowledge that there are factors, injustices, and situations outside of someone’s control that lead to them being on the street, we still want to think it had something to do with them and their own choices. Because otherwise, we would have to admit that there are people who end up on the street who worked hard, made good choices, and did the right things. Which would mean we would have to acknowledge that our own success might not be purely the result of our own hard work, good choices, and moral compass. In other words, we might have to acknowledge that part of the reason we are doing good in life is because of our own privilege. Because of things outside of our own control. And this is something we don’t like to admit, because it flies in the face of our belief in the American Dream Myth.

All of this is why it is so important that people who live outside are involved in any conversation, organization, or work relating to homelessness. Whether the work is about building community and relationship, like our work at Our Common Ground is, or about larger issues like housing and jobs, we need the voice, the wisdom, and the skills of those experiencing homelessness at the center of this work. We need to collaborate on how we can best work together toward creating communities where all people can not just survive, but thrive.

Because that is what we all want, at the end of the day. Not to “solve homelessness,” but to work together to imagine and create neighborhoods and communities where all people can live, work, and play in peace. And a good place to being that work is by inviting everyone to the table.
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To learn more about our work in Everett, WA, visit the Our Common Ground website by clicking on the logo
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Doing Good, Without Doing Bad

2/17/2015

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I have a confession to make. I am a "do gooder." I want to do good in the world, and see good done to those around me. I think most of us want to see good done in the world. This central to how I see the gospel of Jesus.

It is funny to me that I hear this term used sometimes as an insult, or at least as a way to critique people who are trying to do good things in their community. I have been called a do gooder in regards to my work at HOMEpdx with folks who live outside in Portland, at best by people who just didn’t understand our relationally-focused work with those living outside, and at worst by those who saw our work as disrupting their safe and secure middle-class existence. I took these small jabs in stride, even seeing them as a badge of honor. After all, I had been called worse, and my friends outside get called worse every day.

But I also came to realize that there is a better reason to be wary of being a do gooder. I came to see that in my effort to do good for those around me, for those in my community, I can actually end up hurting them. That my efforts to go good can end up doing bad.  My friend and mentor Ken Loyd often talks about do gooders. About how the church is often full of do gooders. And how this is a good thing! But, he says, in our efforts to do good, we so often end up hurting those we are trying to love and serve.

At the end of the day, I think most churches and individuals who desire to love and serve those living outside would want their work to do good and not harm. Yet it is amazing how defensive people and churches can be when you point out the harm that can come from certain ways of giving and serving. When people have brought food, gifts, or other items that my friends outside don’t want or need, and I kindly let them know a better thing to bring next time, I have been told things like, “Well, at least we are giving," or “Hey, giving something is better than nothing.”  And I do understand. Here you are, trying to help, and your efforts are met with criticism, however kindly it is communicated. But if we want to take serious the idea that in our desire to do good we can end up doing bad, then we can’t take these criticisms personally. Because it is not about us.  It is not about our intentions, however noble they might be. 

It is about my friends who live outside.

Which brings us to what I think is the main reason we inadvertently hurt poor people we want to help: We don’t know them. Which makes it harder to listen to them.  So much of the harm that comes from efforts to do good for the poor might be done away with if those who desire to give and serve would take a pause before doing so in order to listen and know those they wish to serve. Then they might see why a meal devoid of protein isn’t the best thing to serve. Or why certain clothing items are not needed as much as other ones.  And the simple fact of knowing another person makes it less likely that we will assume anything about their needs and wants.

This is why I truly believe that if the church wants to love and serve the poor, the church must know those who are poor.  I know this isn’t easy. And I also know this won’t fix all the harm that comes from good intentions. I mean, I have spent the last three years trying to listen to my friends who live outside, and I still fail sometimes at causing harm when I try and do good. But if we want to truly love and serve our neighbors who live outside, we must listen. We must learn. We must be willing to leave our comfort zones.

Because at the end of the day, us do gooders might not only find betters ways of doing good. We might also meet some new friends in the process.

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    I am a hopeful cynic, a pastor in Everett, WA, where I direct Our Common Ground, a community of hospitality and collaboration for neighbors experiencing poverty, addiction, or mental (un)health. I also occasionally write things on here. 

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