Empathy for the homeless.

Empathy is the cure to all ailments of society but it is in short supply these days. Specifically towards the homeless.

Seattle has A LOT of homeless individuals. In fact, each January, volunteers help count men, women, and children who are outside during one winter night. Last year 9,294 were known to be homeless in King County, with over 3,000 of those individuals without shelter entirely, on the streets.

That absolutely blows my mind. Especially when you see buildings being erected all over Seattle, how can there be such a huge disparity in wealth?!

I could talk about homelessness and it’s roots all day long because it is such a complex issue. But what I feel the need to address in this moment, are some of the underlying judgments people pass and respond with facts and empathy.

As of late, I have been hearing comments about homeless individuals pretty regularly and I just can’t take it anymore.

Below are some of the most common things I hear WRT homeless individuals.

“All homeless are lazy drug addicts.”

• the homeless are veterans
• the homeless are domestic violence survivors
• the homeless are people who have been abused
• the homeless are runaways
• the homeless are people who were hit hard by the economic crash
• the homeless are people with mental health issues
• and yes, some of them may use drugs but that is by no means the thing that defines them as a human being

“They just want my money for drugs.”

• Some homeless individuals are drug addicts BUT the reality is, the rate of drug abuse in the homeless population is not significantly higher than in the general population.
• This isn’t a fact but it is something my dad used to say and I think it is a valuable nugget of thought. “What I do with my money is between me and God, what they do with that money is between them and God.” Now, I am not a Christian, but I appreciate this principle. I don’t know what is going on in other peoples lives and I am in no place to judge what they do.
• Now, if you want to help homeless individuals but you don’t feel comfortable giving people on the street money, that’s totally fine. Instead you can donate monthly/yearly/whatever to Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness or any number of the other organizations in the Seattle area.

“Why don’t they just get a job. McDonald’s is right up the street.”

• The first thing anyone lists on a resume is their address. These individuals do not have addresses (which also means they don’t have a home to sleep in, to be safe in, to eat in, to have security in, but also to list on a resume)
• First impressions are everything. this means you need access to the “proper” attire and need to display “proper” hygiene. Again, these individuals don’t have homes or money so how are they supposed to obtain a haircut, a set of clothes to interview in, and a place to shower.
• Many homeless individuals are parents-- parents who can’t afford to put their kids in daycare but wouldn’t feel safe leaving them alone on the streets while they interview.
• Many homeless individuals are battling mental health issues which doesn’t exact lend well to getting or maintaining a job without necessary treatment.
• Not to mention minimum wage doesn’t easily support an individual or their family.

When people act irratically- “these people need to be arrested.”

• Mental health services are consistently being underfunded and reduced. Not to mention with metro cutting the “free zones” (also due to underfunding) makes it significantly harder for low income and homeless individuals to get to the social services they desperately need.
• Let me get this straight, you want to put someone who is clearly mentally ill, in jail, temporarily. Got it. And that is going to address the problem how?

If you want to get rid of homeless individuals you should focus on getting rid of homelessness- attacking the root causes of homelessness rather than penalizing homeless individuals. Here are a few suggestions:

• centralize services and making them easily accessible
• fully fund mental health (and other social) services
• open more shelters to get people off the streets into safe, warm homes while they/we work on their transition
• provide education so people can get their GED, AA, BA and/or specific skills training
• provide services that help people apply for jobs and support them throughout the interview process
• provide basic health and dental services

We are only as strong as our weakest link. It is time we have empathy and help support each rather than making each other weaker. 

A human being died of hypothermia the other day. He literally froze to death. He was a human, and he was homeless, and everything about his death was completely preventable if our community had bothered to give a damn. It’s time that we reevaluate our priorities and as an entire community own homelessness and work to address it, rather than punishing homeless individuals.

I understand that it is uncomfortable to see people begging on the streets but don’t forget that they are human beings. Humans trying to get by however they can.

And at the end of the day, their survival trumps my/your comfort.