I met James while working at the 18th Annual Free
Community Party put on by the Co-op. When asking him what he thought his
neighborhood could use, he said “more housing for the homeless and more
low-income housing.” At the time I could not really tell that he was homeless
although he did carry a large backpack. This sparked a conversation between us
given that I was working on started the Food Recovery Network at Western. He
was very interested in getting students involved in advocacy work such as
attending city meetings and voicing interest in affordable housing, given that
homeless people are most often marginalized and ignored in government
decisions. We exchanged contact information as have been in contact through
email since then.
He has CC’d me in all conversations about the severe weather/overflow
shelter for the winter. I have become aware of many unfair, unethical, and
inhumane practices and treatment of the homeless population. It has become
clear to me that there they have created a business out of homelessness. They
help the homeless survive, providing meals and overnight places to stay, but
there is not enough emphasis on housing or help for transitioning people into
become a part of society again.
Whatcom County has the least amount of affordable housing in
the state of Washington. There are not enough resources directed towards this,
yet they pay the Homeless Outreach Team 70,000/yr salaries out of the housing
fund. This type of work is usually done (and can be done) by volunteers, and
this money could be used more effectively.
James is a very smart man who has found himself in an
unfortunate situation. He has been homeless for five years, and to apply for
housing needs to have had a permanent address within the last two years. As a
veteran James knows how to survive. He always states that he will be fine, but
there are many others on the streets that will not be. The severe weather
overflow shelter is opened when temperatures outside reach 20 degrees ---
TWENTY DEGREES?!! That is insanely cold! Way past the danger of hypothermia and
death! James is fighting for them to open at 45 degrees. Still cold, but much
more reasonable. As someone who is not homeless, I cannot imagine sleeping
outside in such temperatures. Never having to deal with such a problem before,
I had no idea that this is how the homeless have been treated. It must be easy
for them to hide the treatment of these people and disregard their lives and
voices. This is no longer something that I will ignore. I will be working with
James extremely hard this winter to help them get people off the streets.
Tips/Advice from James:
“Think of yourself as an old person, and what you want to
look back and say you did during your life. If you know what outcome you want
in life, it will be easier to identify steps to get there.”
“Ditch your wallet and home for two days and sleep outside
on the streets. See how hard it is. This is what you need to do to fully
understand the problem of homelessness.”
