Ronald(*) is 53 years old and has been homeless for two years. People on the streets refer to him as "Pop." He stays wherever he can. He walks with a limp from a pit bull attack in 1998. He has no health insurance or disability. "Good will help me," he says.
Walt(*) is 43 and has been homeless for 15 months. He used to work as an electrician, but three years ago he lost his job. He is manic-depressive. He asks, what electrical company would hire a guy that talks about suicide? Indeed, he did get electrocuted on his last job. Companies, he said, are not going to take that chance. Nowadays, he is on Lithium, Zoloft and Seroquel.
Leonard is 36 years old. He's been homeless for about two years. His girlfriend is seven months pregnant, so he works selling Street Sense, a bi-weekly street paper sold by homeless men and women. He needs to earn at least $300 a month to help support her. Leonard used to work in filming and editing, but got caught up in a fast lifestyle. Leonard smiles proudly and says he's been clean for 30 days.
 | |  Leonard, selling Street Sense. | | | ©2008 Joan Dawson | |
 | | | The Stars and Stripes offers little protection. | | | ©2008 Joan Dawson | |
Homeless people have a human story to tell. Behind the statistics -- Washington, D.C., has 12,000 homeless individuals -- each person has a saga to tell about what catapulted their life from living indoors to living on the streets. Each story is a thread in a loosely woven fabric that represents what poverty can do to human beings when that thread starts to unravel. It can affect your health and longevity, leave you vulnerable and take away your dignity. All of these are basic human rights that should be preserved.
As I walk the streets, I can't help but wonder: What are their lives like? Why do we have this problem in the capital of the richest nation on the planet? How can we simply walk by these individuals every day? Are we not witnessing human rights abuses right in front of our very eyes?
We walk right past homeless people that call their "home" a park, the steps of a church or a doorway to a business. Every day we walk by men and women who have little protection from the elements, who have difficulties finding places to shower or use the bathroom and who may not have eaten in days. Basic survival and basic human rights are lacking. Yet we callously walk right by them, often avoiding simple gestures like eye contact or a smile.
If it is guilt we are feeling, we should. The lack of affordable housing is the number one reason we have a homeless problem. We have a responsibility to hold our politicians accountable for attacking the root causes of poverty and ensuring that there is adequate and affordable housing for the population. We can write letters and demand that this issue be given the priority it deserves.
 | | | At "home," in the park. | | | ©2008 Joan Dawson | |
 | | | Homeless woman. | | | ©2008 Joan Dawson | |
We can demand safety nets that would prevent homelessness in the first place -- jobs that pay adequate wages, programs for people who can't find work and universal health care.
Many homeless people have been evicted from their homes, lost their jobs, fallen ill or were abused in their homes and their only escape was to live on the streets. It's estimated that up to 50 percent of homeless women have escaped violent relationships. Domestic violence shelters turn thousands away, some are not able to accommodate children and some have limits as to how long clients can stay. With adequate funding, they could offer safer and more appropriate alternatives than having women and children living on the streets.
I was told by Michael Stoops, the director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, that women and children make up the fastest growing segment of the homeless population. About 40 percent of D.C.'s homeless are families, 25 percent of the homeless are under 18.
The homeless suffer from many health conditions and often lack basic services. Leading problems include alcoholism, mental illness and HIV/AIDS. Others include tuberculosis, diabetes, high blood pressure, malnutrition, infections and frostbite (1). Sometimes health problems were the impetus for becoming homeless; often they simply worsened the situation. Certainly, many of the homeless go without medication or treatment for many of their ailments.
 | | | Someone's belongings. | | | ©2008 Joan Dawson | |
 | | | A beautiful smile. | | | ©2008 Joan Dawson | |
As a result of lacking basic medical care and being vulnerable outdoors, the longevity of the homeless population is greatly affected. While most Americans can expect to live until 76 or 77 years of age, the average homeless person will only reach their 50th birthday. Disease, murder, suicide and freezing to death are some of the causes of premature death.
Indeed, many of the homeless population are robbed, beaten, threatened, injured and killed. For women, they are at a high risk of rape and sexual assault. Some of the women wear multiple layers of underwear or clothing to try to protect themselves (2).
Back in 1988, for example, Ella Starks was a victim of rape and homicide. She had been homeless for 10 years. She was raped then stabbed repeatedly. Afterward, according to an article attributed to The Washington Post, she "died of asphyxiation when an umbrella was forced down her throat" (2).
While crimes like these should be considered hate crimes, there are no federal laws and states have been slow to include homeless individuals in their hate crime laws. Certainly, violent acts against the homeless are blatant signs of contempt and bias.
 | | | A city of disparity. | | | ©2008 Joan Dawson | |
 | | | Walk for the Homeless, November 2007. | | | ©2008 Joan Dawson | |
Indeed, many people look down on homeless individuals as if homes and, indirectly, money should be the root of our worth. Value should be inherent on being a human being, not on being in a home. We need jobs that are secure and that pay a living wage in order to afford that home. If we are homeless because we lack work; we lack work, not worth. The two should not be dependent. We Americans tend to define ourselves based on our jobs first, our human qualities second. I say we are humans first, employed "productive" citizens second.
I recall the civil rights movement. In a speech in 1851, Sojourner Truth asked, "Ain't I a woman?" declaring that despite all her hard work and lashings in slavery, she was, indeed, a woman, deserving the same rights as a man. And I recall the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers' strike, where, amid all the complicated problems of wages, sanitation and race relations, protesters bore a simple sign that said, "I am a man."
I would say the homeless need a similar slogan: "Ain't I a human?"
|
RSS
Del.icio.us
Digg 
reddit
Y! MyWeb
Comments Note: Kindly refrain from personal attacks and profanity.
.jpg)
