Yesterday, in the monthly meeting of the Dallas area Continuum of Care group that administers and utilizes U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Affairs funds to serve the homeless locally, a representative from Plano,Texas informed us that the shelter in her city was full and that it had been for over a year. No weather related cause explained the situation. When asked, she also told us that the surge in shelter population was not Katrina related either.
For a number of years Plano, Texas was at or near the top of the list of America's most affluent communities. I am sure it is still way up there, but something else is obviously going on in Plano and, I would argue, around the nation.
There really are "two Americas" today.
A small group of people are growing more and more wealthy.
At the same time, a large and growing group are losing ground with many falling off into poverty. The Plano, Texas shelter report is just the latest piece of data to confirm what I am seeing.
The extremes are at once disturbing and bewildering.
This morning NBC's Today Show aired a story on a mattress company in New York City. Did you catch it?
The company specializes in handmade mattresses. The least expensive mattress in the store sells for something over $4,000. The top of the line mattress that is their best-seller--are you ready for this?--goes for a bit over $49,000.
The top-of-the-line mattress is considered "an investment in your health and your sleep."
Wonder what my buddies who spent last night on the curb or in a Downtown shelter, or out in that Plano shelter would think about that pitch?
I suppose the extremes are always like this.
But I've noticed across the years, we would be wise to watch the extremes because after awhile they begin to tell us really important things about where we actually are.
A bulging homeless population in suburban, North Dallas and mattresses worth more than many homes in South Dallas. What do you think?
9 comments:
I think there has always been two Americas. In the 1960's there was a book I had to read in college, Michael Harrington's "The Other America."
I don't know the details, but I heard the other day about a VAST complex to be built somewhere for the homeless,(Virginia?) I believe this is a mistake because they will find that "homeless" people will emerge from the woodwork. What's your opinion?
Larry, what are your thoughts on Bush's insurance tax deduction plan? I know it wouldn't help the jobless, but could it really provide a bump to low-income families?
As I watched a call-in show on C-SPAN this morning, a back-woodsy sounding guy from Missouri was ranting about rich folks. Once he stopped, the Congressman on camera began his response with, "I can assure you that I'm not rich." ! ! !
I went on a cruise with my family at Christmas. When we stopped in Nassau, we toured the Atlantis hotel. It's not the United States, but I don't think Atlantis exists for the Bahamans.
One of the coveted rooms with a balcony overlooking the site costs $25,000/night!! For the life of me I can't figure out what hotel room is worth $25,000/night! ...more than many people's annual salary!
Jammin' conversation here!
I don't know about homeless coming out of the woodwork in VA. I doubt it. That is not how my homeless friends react to institutions. A far better approach would be to mix the housing opportunities in the general population. The point is to care for and respond creatively with those who have the housing problems for whatever reason.
Charles, don't know enough to have an opinion. However, I find it funny to talk about a tax deduction on health insurance for working people who don't have the money to pay for it in the first place! For some, it might make a difference intially. But, I wonder if it would go away if not indexed to the rising price of the coverages. I need to know more. The obvious flaw to me is that it tries to solve the national problem with traditional, for-profit insurance. I don't think we can get there down this road.
When oppulence reigns, one response is public policy that leverages and rewards hard work in ways that bring those at or near the bottom into the mainstream. We've done it before, we can do it again.
I truly appreciate your discussing these issues on your blog! Sadly, for too long, I was one of those people that believed "the poor" could do better if they really wanted to badly enough. WRONG. At least in the majority of cases. And there but by the grace of God go I . . .
Charles,
Having worked in the healthcare industry, I would add that tax incentives will only begin to scratch the surface of our healthcare snowball (a problem that is gaining momentum). Without active cost containment, improved accountability and efficiency we will not see improvements. The President's plan doesn't appear to address any of these core issues. Our system is simply not sustainable and it will require all of the parties coming together to create balanced change (physicians, administrators, patients, insurance, & third-party suppliers). Think de-escalation. For an informed discussion of President Bush's proposal visit The Commonwealth Fund: http://www.cmwf.org/aboutus/aboutus_show.htm?doc_id=448217
That link didn't come through very well. Try this: Bush Response
Larry, I don't know if this is the same conference or not, but three members from the North Atlanta Church of Christ are in Dallas to share what we have done as a church in our recovery outreach and to see what else can be done to serve the community around us.
If you run into a Steven Jackson (a handsome, bald, African-American guy) or a John Neyland (he is white and I'm not sure what he looks like), those are the people from North Atlanta. Steve's in my small group and he's a cool guy!
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