We've been working very hard to conceptualize and develop high quality, affordable housing for very low-income people here in Dallas, Texas.
Predictably, lots of people are not excited about our ideas.
We encounter strong resistance from some business interests who believe that single room occupancy apartments simply deepen the seemingly intractable problems associated with the chronic homelessness that is a big problem in our city's central business district.
For whatever it is worth, we have in mind permanent, extremely well-done studio type units. Everyone who lives in our development will be a paying customer from some source or the other. Some may lease a home using a voucher. Others will pay rent with Social Security or Supplemental Security income. Still others will be veterans and will satisfy their rental requirements by using those benefits. Some units will be paid for by earned income.
"So, is your project going to house homeless people, Larry?" someone always seems to ask.
How do you answer that question?
"Well, I guess it will if you mean people who might be homeless if we didn't develop our property," is an answer that is not completely satisfying to me.
A better answer is really no answer at all, but a question back to whomever asks me next.
"I'll answer your question, but first you must answer mine. What do you call a formerly homeless person who gets a home?" is what I intend to reply next time.
I call that person a neighbor, a tax-payer, a fellow-citizen, a wage-earner and a valued human being.
Of course, in every instance that is exactly what currently homeless men and women are before they find homes in which to reside off our streets! Somehow "homeless" has become an inescapable stigma.
Let me add one more thing. Lots of people post on this blog. Lots of people have ideas about who should do what and who shouldn't. Many have strong opinions about what the church should do and how business can help.
All of this is stimulating and wonderful.
But we need to remember that there comes a time to simply act. To be quiet and go to work. I've discovered that when you do that, the true colors of individuals, organizations and institutions are clearly revealed.
We're going to build fine studio apartments. Our target market is at the very bottom. It will be hard. But we will achieve our goal and we are open to working with anyone who wants to move past conversation to real work. . .for the sake of an important group of our neighbors and for the economic well-being of our city (more on this aspect of the challenge in a later post).
What is the work that needs to be done? Do we need to write letters, host fund raisers, or strap on tool belts? How does this idea become a home? I for one am eager to go to work.
ReplyDeleteYes, yes and yes!
ReplyDeleteHere are some other ideas that any of us could do, that require no money and little time:
1. The next time you are approached by a "homeless" person, talk to them. Shake their hand. Ask them their name. Then, ask them if they have a few minutes to talk to you. Let them know that you are interested in them as a person, not merely an epidemic. Ask them what they need to get off the street. I promise you, the answer is surprising for its simplicity: "A home. I need a place to call home. A place I can afford."
2. Whenever the local media covers homelessness, contact them to thank them. Let them know that you appreciate their coverage of this important issue . . . and encourage them to do more!
3. Write to your representatives to let them know that you care about homelessness, and encourage them to invest in solutions to it. Educate them about SROs and supportive housing.
4. Contact an organization that is involved in housing issues and ask them how you can get involved. Volunteer if you have can, donate if you can. Or, just organize a bunch of your neighbors for a gathering at your house and invite a representative of the organization to show a video about their work and host an informal Q&A to get the dialogue going. By sowing the seeds of social justice in the hearts of those capable of making change, we can create change.
5. Encourage your pastors to talk less about the selfish pursuit of personal salvation or more about community-oriented salvific action. Ask them how Jesus would have wanted his church to act in the world to truly endeavor to bring about the Kingdom of God, and encourage them to discuss the responsibilities that Jesus gave us. Ask them to be less worried about making us feel comfortable and good about ourselves, and more concerned with challenging us to take up our true cross.
6. Contact local apartment owners and encourage them to "donate" their unoccupied units to charity organizations that are seeking to place families in homes. Remember, there are hundreds of youth who exit the foster care system in Dallas each year - providing these kids with a home will help us to decrease the likelihood that these kids have to live on the street. 40% of the nation's homeless were in foster care as a child, according to Youth Today. This one move would be a cost-free way of closing down the largest "feeder school" into the homeless population.
Just a few ways that we can all work to build a better community!
Jeremy Gregg
jgregg@cdm-hope.org
Educator, thanks for your response! In regard to the specific project we are working on, please feel free to email me at ljames@cdm-hope.org. I will be glad to share in more detail our plans. As we move forward, some of all that you mention will be necessary. The first steps are underway and involve planning, fundraising and politics. We will need the help of many people like you.
ReplyDeleteLarry,
ReplyDeleteThat work is incredible! It's definitely time to stop strategizing and start acting. We actually started a group at my church called "Let's Stop Talking" designed to just work wherever we can.
Further in and further up!
Todd