LUKE   SUMNER
  • Blog
  • About
  • Queen Anne Christian Church
  • Our Common Ground
  • Contact

Solving Poverty Without The Poor?

6/29/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture

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.
Picture
To learn more about our work in Everett, WA, visit the Our Common Ground website by clicking on the logo
0 Comments

Who Chooses To Be Homeless?

9/17/2015

2 Comments

 
Picture

"You know, some people just choose to be homeless."

If I had a dollar for every time...

Honestly, I have been told this more times then I can count. Sometimes it is framed as a question by well meaning people, who honestly want to know how many of the folks I have encountered on the street actually choose to be out there. Often, though, people want to remind me that some people just choose to live on the street. And the underlying sentiment in this statement is that some people are less deserving of resources, or even our compassion, because hey, they made a choice.

I read an article saying pretty much this very thing. But it even went a step further, saying not only do some people choose to live outside, but even those who made choices in their past that led to them living on the street have also chosen this lifestyle due to the poor decision making. It makes me even more angry when I realize how prevalent this belief is in our society.  So let me reiterate what the author of that article ridicules as jargon from homeless advocates, but which I believe: Almost no one sits down one day and chooses to be homeless.

Let me clarify, as I am already anticipateing all of the "but..." responses. I do not believe anyone sits down one day and chooses the life of isolation, marginalization, and disconnect that comes with living outside in the US.

Now, I have met people who have tried for years to get a job, and have finally just given up. I have met people experiencing mental illness, who are unable to take the steps to get off of the street, even if they really want that to happen. I have met people who have been so discoouraged by trying to navigate the social services' system that they finally just give up. I have met people who have simply resigned themselves to being on the street, because they cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. They cannot see how to get from the street to a bed. And I have met people whose home life is so unstable and dangerous that they choose to live outside because if is safer.

And yes, I have met people who have made choices that led to them being on the street. I have even met people who say they are just fine, and have chosen to resign themselves to living outside. But I have yet to meet someone who, given all of the other options they could have had in life, would have chosen to live on the street.  (Now, somewhere out there, they may be someone who defies all of this. The person who is the reason why I say “almost no one” rather than “no one.”) But even if someone chooses to live outside, so what? Why does that mean that they should be treated any less? If feeds into the awful idea that is ingrained into our culture that people must be deserving in order for us to care. 

Even if someone, in their full agency as a human being, when they have other options available, fully knowing the reality of living on the street, does choose to live on the street, they still deserve to be treated like a human being. They still deserve to not be criminalized for living outside. They still deserve to be treated like a neighbor and a citizen.

I leave you with perhaps my most often used quote on social media:
“The Gospel takes away our right forever, to discriminate between the deserving and the undeserving poor.”
― Dorothy Day
2 Comments

Our Fear Of Those Who Live Outside

8/12/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
A few years back when I was living in Portland, I saw an article about a church not far from where I was living that wanted to let a few homeless women and children sleep in their cars on the church property.  The church had seen the reality of how many people in Portland were sleeping on the street or in their cars, and they wanted to do something. Because that is what churches should be about.  And one way they wanted to help was by opening up their parking lot to a few people who were sleeping in their cars. Though not ideal (it wan’t actual housing, after all), it would be a start. They were also going to make sure those who stayed there had access to restrooms and garbage cans. All sounded good and simple.

And then some neighbors got wind of what was going on, and their complaints helped to shut down the project altogether. And one of their primary complaints was one of safety. Yes, you're are hearing that correctly. Because a church was going to let just a few women and children sleep in their cars in the parking lot, neighbors were worried about safety. For themselves. The most poignant and heartbreaking reality of all of this was in a statement by the church after the program was shut down:  "The amount of publicity generated by the situation created a hostile environment where the church could not be confident about the safety of the people in the car.”  Yes, you heard that right. The neighbors, out of a concern for “safety,” were so riled up, that the church was concerned for the safety of the women and children.  

I remember being so angry when I first heard this story. It is a perfect example of NIMBY-ism. The “ let’s help people, but how dare you try to help them in my vicinity” mentality. But the reality is that this way of seeing those in poverty who live on the streets or in their car is not limited to this one neighborhood, but has become a part of our cultural myths about those living on the streets.

I was reading an article this week, and this story of the church in Portland kept coming back up in my mind.  The article was simply titled, “Our fear of the homeless is killing the homeless.”  The main idea of the article was that there is a widespread culture of shaming the homeless in our country. From ridiculing people who live outside for engaging in life-sustaining activities, to building a culture of fear about those who live on the streets being dangerous, this narrative is carried along by the news and other powers that be. The reality is, however, that it is those who live outside who are actually unsafe. Those who live inside are actually the ones who are a threat to those who live outside, and not the other way around.

One of the most striking things cited in the article was that the idea that those who live outside are dangerous to people and property is just a myth. The realty is that, though homeless people are more likely to have a criminal record, there are actually less likely to commit a violent crime.

On the contrary, those who live outside are more likely to be on the receiving end of the violence of our system.  Here are a few of the statistics cited in this article:

  • The mortality rate for those living outside is around 7 times great than it is for the general population
  • Half of the women and children on the street ended up their because of domestic violence
  • At least 2/3 of women on the street have been sexually assaulted (and that is likely a low estimate)
  • Treatment for everything from addiction to HIV/AIDS is much harder to access when you live on the street
  • The average life-expectancy for someone living on the street is between 40 and 50. The average for the general population is 78.

To live outside is to be perpetually unsafe. Those of us who live inside have many layers of safety surrounding us. We have doors to lock. We have neighborhoods who care about safety. We have security systems. We have healthcare, and cars to get us there. We have social networks of people that can help us.  To live outside is to lack most, if not all, of these things. 

Yet our fear of those who live outside contributes to their lack of safety. And part of that fear, I think, comes from the fact that such visible poverty is a reminder of how close poverty can be. To quote the article again:
This is what we really hate about the homeless, what really scares us: They are visible reminders of a society with no safety net. They are a microcosm for everything we are permitted to openly hate and shun and ridicule. The lack of privacy and dignity granted to the homeless worsens the issue; homeless individuals are forced to eat, sleep, and excrete for all the world to see because privacy or protection are for people who can afford them. The missing piece seems to be empathy.

Neighbors and politicians are caught in a bind. They don’t want to see them sleeping or smell their unwashed bodies—it just reinforces the disgust and the fear of all of the things we are disgusted by and afraid of —and yet, when given the chance to give them a place to get help, we reject that, too.
I hope and pray that our society begins to reject this narrative of those who live outside being dangerous. I pray that we can see those who live outside as neighbors in our city. That we can stop being afraid of things that will put us into contact with poor people. 

And as a pastor, I pray that the Church can step into its vocation to be a place of welcome to those pushed to the margins by poverty. That churches can speak up in their communities about the treatment of those who live outside, and practice a radical hospitality for all the world to see.

I pray all of this. And I am hopeful. But I also realize how ingrained this mentality is, and how much work it will take by all of us to change it. But for the sake of my friends who live outside, we must.
1 Comment

Hard Work, Success, and the American Myth

3/21/2015

3 Comments

 
Picture
Over the years of working in and around the streets of downtown Portland, I have talked to many folks who, for different reasons, find themselves living outside. I have listened to how many different people talk about their situation, and one of the resounding things I have heard is a sense of failure. Because we live in a culture that sees success in terms of power, money, and recognition, they see themselves as having failed at all of that. Since the "American Dream” (which in reality is more of the American Myth) says that hard work equals success (which usually means money and power), and their hard work did not, they see failure.*

I read a Facebook post today talking about the moralistic fallacy we make when we make we we equate what “ought” to be (that hard work will lead to financial stability) from what “is” (that in our context hard work in only one factor, whose influence is often small compared to, say, if your parents have money). How embedded this is in our society can be seen in so many ways. You can see it in dehumanizing system we force those in poverty to go through to get their meager benefits. We can see it in how we think we should have a say in what folks on food stamps do with their limited money.  And we can see it in the reality that those of us in the middle class and up actually see those in poverty and living on the streets as less than human.

The fact is, this myth needs to stop. It is hurting people. I am not saying I have all the answers, but if we can't recognize that our economic "success" is not just about how hard we work or how smart we are, we will continue to lose the imagination we need to ask better questions and find better solutions. And there will continue to be a larger and larger wall between those in poverty and those in the middle class, a wall that desperately needs to be broken down, because it is preventing the relationships and community that is vital to moving forward. 

I say all of this as a pastor, and I see relationship and community as central to anything we do in regards to those in poverty. But I think this goes beyond the faith community. Our whole society would be better if we stopped blaming the poor for their situation, and took the time to get to know them. If we truly listened to the complex situations and forces that led people to end up where they are.

How can we do this better? How can we begin to create a culture that sees success outside of money and power? How can we challenge these harmful myths that ignore things like class and privilege and put the blame solely on poor people? And how can begin to imagine, and create, communities where one’s economic situation is not a hinderance to being a participant in the life of the community?

We can do better. I know we can. Let's do it together.


*In case anyone wants to ask, yes, I occasionally met folks who were ok living outside. But it was a very small number. Most, by far, did not want to be there. Some had lost hope. Some did not know how there could get out of where they are. But very, very, very few were actually ok with living outside. This is another myth that needs to go away.

3 Comments

    Author

    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. 

    Archives

    January 2018
    August 2017
    April 2017
    December 2016
    June 2016
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014

    Categories

    All
    Church
    Everett
    Helping Without Hurting
    Houselessness
    Mental Health
    Pastoring
    Poverty

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.