They are all addicts, criminals, on drugs, mentally ill, dangerous and have made bad choices, unlike us. That was the general sentiment of the people who showed up to protest a new homeless shelter in the community where I live. They might as well have put a sign out that read, Poor People Keep Out. […]
homeless
Homeless Shelters as Band-Aids: Housing Is a Human Right
From the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Article 25: (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, […]
Spare Some Change? Institutional Change Must Be Guided By Leadership Who Listen
Many years ago, I worked in a shelter that served chronically homeless women. My organization focused on supporting the rights and self-determination of our clients as we kept the peace and built trusting relationships. Unfortunately, the agencies charged with serving people who are vulnerable and in need of great service are often led by people […]
How the non-homeless talk about homeless people
I knew it was bad, but I didn’t know it was this bad! I had a chance to ask over 500 people to write down the most classist comment they had ever heard. Because the host was Real Change, Seattle’s wonderful street paper, which is sold by homeless and formerly homeless vendors, lots of the […]
Class Inequality and Transgender Communities
Transgender issues have received more sympathetic media attention in the past few months than ever before. While so many people are paying attention to trans issues for the first time, this seems like an important moment to draw attention to an issue that’s at the heart of many of the challenges trans* people face in […]
The distance between us … and them!
The other day, I saw a billboard that reached out and slapped me across the face in a very figurative way. An enormous billboard for a domestic violence campaign asserted, “Sally is not one of THEM, she is one of US”. I also heard the radio commercial version of this campaign, encouraging listeners to empathize […]
Need vs. Greed: Greed Wins
I’ve been interviewing people and carrying out research lately on housing affordability in San Jose, and what I’ve found has been both heartbreaking and enraging. In a city and area where housing is jaw-droppingly expensive, some of the wealthy exploit the poor, or worse, take for themselves public goods intended for the needy. Beginning my […]
