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 Street Spirit July 2006 A National Epidemic of PovertyBy Janny CastilloPart 2: Interviews from the homeless community answering the question, “How do people become homeless?”
Peter and Elizabeth Peter, who is by nature quiet, spoke first. “Lack of jobs, drugs…There’s no one specific reason why people become homeless.” He mentioned that his experience in recovery groups taught him that drugs and alcohol abuse play a major part in people becoming homeless. Peter and Elizabeth have been together for 5 years – they have been homeless for most of that time. They have survived having their children taken away from them, life in a homeless shelter, severe depression, and drug addiction. His wife Elizabeth spent her teenage years in a foster home. She remembers the day her mother left. She was 11. “My mom came home with a guy who turned out to be more than her friend. She left my dad, me, and my two younger sisters.” Liz said her Dad was strict – “highly strict” were her exact words. “My Dad believed in hitting us with belts and extensions cords. We weren’t allowed to do anything. I clashed with him every day.” At the age of 14, Liz ended up in a foster home that turned to also be very strict. “So when my friend’s mom said that she would be willing to be my foster mom, I left. I stayed with her until I was 18.” Liz then enrolled in Chico State University where she says she “partied her way out”. College life became a whirlwind of drugs and alcohol and little learning. For many college students, Liz’s lifestyle was the norm. (see “How to party your way of out of college.) One day after partying all night, in terrible shape and on her way to an interview, Liz met the man who would father two of her boys. He told her he had something that would keep her awake for her interview. It did and she became instantly hooked on “meth” (Methamphetamine). “After that, most of time I stayed in this house off campus with him.” Liz said. “It wasn’t a good scene, lots of drugs, lots of everything.” They were together for four years. She endured physical, verbal, and emotional abuse until she could not endure it any longer. She took her boys and left for the Bay Area. “We have pretty much been homeless since Chico,” she said. She met Peter, who took the family to live at his mother’s house. She soon became pregnant. Little Alec was born with amphetamines in his system. Liz also tested positive and the hospital insisted that she sign up for a family maintenance program. Liz found it hard to cope with the living conditions and now three young boys; she slipped further into her disease and deeper into depression. One day, CPS knocked at the door. They thought Liz looked high, saw the conditions the children were living in, and took them. “I felt horrible and so out of control.” “I fought. I fought to clean up the house. I fought CPS to get my kids back. I fought to stay clean.” Peter remembered how hard it was to visit his kids. “Alec was only 15 days old but the older boys were devastated. I still remember the look on their faces when they had to go back to their foster kids home.” It took six weeks for Liz and Peter to get their children back. Her addiction took hold of her again and after three weeks. CPS came again and this time they did not take the kids but insisted that they move out of Peter’s mother house. Liz’s Dad came to the rescue and took them in. “We went to my dad’s house for like six months, (but) he assumed that we were drinking and using and kicked us out.” After that the family went from motels to family homes, back to motels, and finally to the Harrison House Emergency Shelter. “The same week we got our beds at Harrison House, we had a CPS court hearing.” Peter says. “They told us we had thirty days to straighten up or our kids are gone. That was two years ago in August.” The family credits their success to BOSS, who gave them the time and resources to stay clean and keep a roof over the family’s heads. Nikki, the Family Services Coordinator, shared that it’s the family’s hard work that in the end makes the difference. Peter, after working in a low-paying job for several years, landed full time work at a major grocery store. The family is getting ready to co-share a 4 bedroom house in Oakland. To afford this rent, they will share the house with a single mom also living at McKinley House. Both families have been applying rigorously for section 8 and subsidized housing for many years, yet not one opportunity materialized into permanent housing. The wait continues for them, as well as many other homeless families. (see The Long Wait) No Stability Brenda has three boys. Her two year old lives with her while her older two are with relatives. She is currently enrolled in the EBMUD training program. She has endured CPS, a serious drug problem, and has joined Peter and Elizabeth renting a 4 bedroom house in Oakland. “No stability,” she says. “I could not find work that could handle the bills – that and drugs caused my homelessness.” Elizabeth nods her head. “Personally, I did not have stability either. I came out the foster care system and was able to get my own apartment. I was free. I was 18. I went from one dead-end job to another; none of them got me any where. Then I had my first son and I couldn’t find affordable childcare and I couldn’t get any one to help me pay for it either.” Nikki, who was formerly a foster care worker in New York City, said, “There’s no safety net after foster care. If someone is struggling with a drug and alcohol problem, there’s no one to help him/her hold it together until you get it together. Once you are18, there’s no where to go, no job, no higher education opportunities.” A Job For Life? Not in America Mikki, an immigrant from Yugoslavia, came to America in 1982. He says he came because of love and shared his first impressions. “It was a shock. The work place culture was very different.” He grew up in socialist Yugoslavia where the philosophy was a ‘job for life’. “Here, people are disposable. (Yet) they have humanity and do sincerely care about each other.” Mikki lost his Los Angeles printing job with Warner after the AOL merger. Employees that were allowed to stay had triple the work load for the same pay. “Also the industry changed, everything became digital and then after a serious health crisis my daughter encouraged me to come to Berkeley.” The story repeated itself; he could only find low-paying jobs and eventually he found himself homeless. “The middle class is basically gone.” Mikki told us. “I now work for a drug store in town, another low paying job.” But Mikki has a plan – he is building from the ground up a worm compost business. Several years ago he worked for Berkeley Worms which, for financial reasons, was on the verge of closing. He talked about how he made the decision to go into business for himself. “I saw a great opportunity to continue its work because Alameda County needs this service.” Alameda Point Collaborative lent him a piece a land where he has been experimenting and is producing excellent grade compost. Mikki considers his work to be a public service and an effective way to divert waste from landfills. Mikki shares his thoughts on homelessness. “Because of the changing structure, the middle class is disappearing. New companies do not want to train the existing staff for the new professions and they lose their jobs.” Divorce, severe emotional stress, and medical emergencies are all situations that send the middle class slipping into poverty and homelessness. “Basically people are treated like disposable material.” He says. “People also hold the notion that homeless people are lazy, stupid, and are not willing to work. This is not the truth.” The chronically homeless – people who have been on street for many years – make up only 30% of the country’s homeless population. Many are veterans and mentally ill. “Conservatively, one out of every three homeless males who is sleeping in a doorway, alley, or box in our cities and rural communities has put on a uniform and served our country.” In addition to the complex set of factors affecting all homelessness … extreme shortage of affordable housing, livable income, and access to health care … a large number of displaced and at-risk veterans live with lingering effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and substance abuse, compounded by a lack of family and social support networks.” From website: National Coalition of Homeless Veterans. Getting the big picture
Separate bar: How to party your way to college Why do some college kids end up like Liz and others don’t? Is it a question of class, money, opportunity, family, self-respect or determination? Yes, it is. Those that have the right connections, A+ recovery centers, the ability to relocate and start anew, and healthy family ties can recover a lot easier than others – those that don’t fall through the cracks. From an online article by Daniel Ari Kapner about drugs and alcohol abuse on college campuses we learn that… The consequences that both drinking and non-drinking students suffer due to alcohol use are alarming. Compiling results from a number of general health surveys, NIAAA’s A Call to Action: Changing the Culture of Drinking at U.S. Colleges estimates that, as a result of alcohol use, every year:
While students use illegal drugs at much lower rates than alcohol, illicit drug use has led to serious tragedies, including violence, sexual assault and rape, hospitalization for overdoses, and premature death. http://www.edc.org/hec/pubs/factsheets/scope.html. But self-respect and determination is obtainable by everyone. Peter and Elizabeth, though their journey has been bleak and long, reflect an inner light that is worth more than gold and they no longer carry the label of homeless. Separate bar: The Long Wait According the www.hac.net, the Alameda County Housing Authority, through section 8 subsidies and project based housing serve 5,700 households. In California, the demand for low income housing is three times actual available housing. In the year 2000 a report was published with the following statistics:
Taken from a report by Dr. A. Kevin Williams, Consultant to the Corporation for Supportive Housing and Housing California, entitled The Long Wait: The Critical Shortage of Housing in California, June 2000. STREET SPIRIT © 2002-2006 STREET SPIRIT. All rights reserved. - Published by American Friends Service Committee
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BOSS’s
McKinley House is a transitional house where families can stay a year or
longer to search for affordable housing, find work, and complete
training programs. I met with residents in a small studio-like unit.
Above our heads in the common room, we heard the children engaged in an
art class. There were six adults in the room and Nikki Sachs, the Family
Services Coordinator. There was a moment of quiet as everyone thought
how best to answer the question: “How do people become homeless?”
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