Border Homelessness

Wednesday, 12 October 2011 03:47

Video, photos and story by Tim W. Glass.

Please, watch the video first. 

Homelessness happens to other people.  In a nation that takes so much pride in home-ownership that it throws out rational thinking in order to put people into homes they can’t afford, being homeless is about one of the worst things someone can think of happening.  Then a recession hits and both the job market and the housing market go belly-up, and more people find themselves facing the prospect of being homeless for the first time in their lives.  Suddenly the other, the ‘them’, just might be you. 

Unless it’s Christmas, or especially Thanksgiving, we try not to think about them.  When stopped at a street light where someone’s holding a “will work for food” sign we look at the speedometer, the light, our cell phone, anything but the tired eyes of the homeless person asking for help. 

In arguably the richest nation on the planet we don’t want to admit the fact that, daily, there are over a million and a half people who will not sleep in a safe place and may have to dig through a garbage can in order to eat, according to a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA) 2011 report. 

Over a 1.5 million.  The number may be larger.  “An estimated 2.5 to 3.5 million people now experience homelessness each year,” according to a Medscape Today news article by Martin Donohoe, M.D.  Either way, it’s a large number, though a relatively small percentage of the U.S. population which tops out at over 312 million, according to the Census Bureau.  Grasping exactly how far-reaching the problem is is even more difficult because of the transient nature of many who are homeless.  Accurate statistics are difficult to develop and limited, according to the SAMHSA report. 

It’s a large enough problem that Pima County in Southern Arizona created a ten year plan to end homelessness.  According to the Tucson/Pima County Homeless Information Management System report, “During the 2010 calendar year, 7,812 unduplicated individuals utilized homeless services at some point,” during the year. 

“I don’t think that you’re ever gonna end homelessness,” Sharon Wine said.  Wine is a behavioral health technician with the Sonora House, a homeless shelter run by La Frontera. 

Wine and her husband took in a homeless man years ago.  “It was cold, he was hungry, and we had a place,” she said.  Since then she has worked with The Salvation Army and Primavera before the Sonora House. 

Sonora House is unique among homeless shelters because it is a “wet” program.  “We try to keep it a safe environment without making it jail-like,” Wine said.  The staff makes no effort to force sobriety on the clients, and the clients are welcome to stay as long as they don’t create problems.  Of course, all of the staff at Sonora House are willing to provide any of the clients the help they need to get sober – the clients only need ask.  Sonora House staff also try to establish or re-establish benefits for their clients, and of course, bridge them over to more permanent housing.

According to the SAMHSA report, over 26 percent of homeless people receiving help on a given night in January 2010 had severe mental illness and over 34 percent had “chronic substance abuse issues.” 

The term homeless is broader-reaching than the image of the person sleeping on a bus stop bench.  Due to the current recession, “foreclosures have increased the number of people who experience homelessness,” according to the National Coalition for the Homeless.  Some of these people are able to find housing with extended family networks – but they’re still homeless. 

The streets of Douglas, Ariz., are relatively free of homeless people.  Elsa Varela, a program coordinator with House of Hope in Douglas, believes it may be due to cultural differences and the lack of programs in small towns like Douglas.  She’s lived in Douglas for 30 years.  “I haven’t seen very many homeless,” Varela said.  “It could be the culture, because Hispanic people get together.  Friends or family members will usually let other people stay with them.”  House of Hope is a domestic violence shelter. 

South of the border, homelessness is a growing problem for deportees, according to an article by David Maung published in the North County Times, a San Diego, Calif. newspaper.  Deportees have been dumped south of the border with no support system and often no money to support themselves, after years of working in the U.S., according to the article. 

Some U.S. homeless aren’t lucky enough to have family networks that will help.  Wine said they see a lot of people who have burnt every bridge of support in their lives, many because of addictions or behavioral health problems. 

Jesse Valenciano is a client at Sonora House.  He’s 56 years old, and has been homeless since May when family members he was living with kicked him out.  Valenciano said life on the streets is hard.  He was “rolled” five times in one day. 

Whether in Tucson or south of the border, a solution to homelessness seems elusive at best, may be simply impossible. 

Written by Tim W. Glass You are reading Border Homelessness articles