Homeless people in Chattanooga are being treated like unmentionables and swept under the rug of people’s minds. Why are they stuck on the streets hungry, alone, and ignored?
The state government is not doing enough to offer long term self-improvement programs to help the homeless get off the streets of Chattanooga. The homeless are people and they deserve proper help. It is unethical to sit back and do nothing while these people die on the streets. There should be large scale/long term facilities that help the homeless reintegrate into society by providing them housing, counseling, and training in order to get a job.
The city of Chattanooga has six programs that offer some sort of shelter to the homeless (Community Kitchen, Inter-Faith Ministries, Rooms in The Inn, Salvation Army, Shepherds Arms Rescue Mission, Chattanooga Rescue Mission). These programs offer small-scale housing, counseling, and free meals. They are all non-profit organizations or 501(c), meaning they are tax exempt and rely on donations from churches, companies, and individuals to meet their financial needs. These programs cannot offer help to everyone because of the lack of funding and the overwhelming size of the homeless population in Chattanooga.
The government needs to establish a tax raise that will set money aside so that cities with a high volume of homeless people can create an establishment that can house the homeless and provide them with the needed tools to turn their lives around and get them off the streets.
In “Nowhere to go” by Pam Sohn she says that, “About 561 people in the 11-county Southeast Tennessee region are homeless on any given night, according to the 2011 Chattanooga Homeless Coalition’s point-in-time count. But there are 46 beds for men and 14 beds for women at the Chattanooga Rescue Mission - the only emergency shelter still operating locally.” This shows how vast the homeless population is in this area, it’s only halfway through the year so this number is subject to increase. The Chattanooga Rescue Mission is a good program, but it cannot receive government funding since it is church based. If the government would fund CRM they could offer more beds to people.
In an interview with Captain Jon Winter (coordinator for The Salvation Army) he talks about their programs, funding, and message.
Captain Jon Winter says, “They are a church based organization and their main goal is to share the word of god to homeless people by getting them off of the streets for a few hours and giving them drinks and snacks while they share the gospel with them, they have a few programs one of which gets six homeless people off of the streets and into an apartment, they help them keep their morale up, and help them find jobs. They cannot receive government funding because they are church based, so they are funded by donations.”
Those six people matter and what the Salvation Army does is wonderful for the homeless community. If the government would fund a long term self-improvement facility in Chattanooga the Salvation Army could use the large amount of money they use on those six individuals on a larger scale program that could potentially help the whole homeless community. They could use that money to purchase clothes, offer lunches, even counseling. When asked why he didn’t think the government was doing anything to help the homeless on a larger scale he said “the people who run for office want to appeal to a large demographic, they want to make promises to the people who vote. They want to offer to fix things that voters are going to like and since homeless people don’t vote they don’t have to make them any promises."
In the article “Community Kitchen remembers 23 homeless people who have died in Chattanooga” by Yolanda Putman it tells how in “December 200 people gathered at the Chattanooga Community Kitchen to remember the 23 homeless people who had passed away in 2010 the number in 2009 slightly larger at 30.” “The observance is always held on Dec. 21 in conjunction with the winter solstice, marking the first day of winter. Some people have said homelessness is not a problem, said Charles Hughes, the Community Kitchen's executive director. But the sobering reality is that people are homeless and it takes a toll on people to live in the elements from day to day.”
In the last two years 53 homeless are accounted for having died on the streets of Chattanooga. These people were left out to brave the weather for an unknown time period. Why were these people forgotten and left to die? The government does not care about America’s well-being. The government is nothing without taxpayers, they pay the governments bills. Homeless people don’t pay taxes so they are expendable to the government. If you live on the streets the government does not care if that is where you die. If the government funded church based organizations that help the homeless they would be breaking the law because of “separation of church and state”. By not funding church based organizations, the individuals who run this program are being discriminated against because of their religion. The fact that the government does not want to be involved in these programs seems as if they have ulterior motives. Organizations that help the homeless deserve rightful access to proper funding, but the government is using religion as a barrier to say they cannot receive such funding. The government is using “separation of church and state” as a scapegoat to not give funding to organizations whose main goal is to improve people’s lives which in result improves the community.
The solution is to make “separation of church and state” pertain to viable circumstances or fund long-term self-improvement facilities through church affiliated shelters or to have the government establish their own facilities. In a paper titled “Discourse Analysis of Public Debate over U.S. Government Faith-Based Initiative of 2001” by Vincente S. Scott a quote from Congressman Mark Green really stood out, “We need to recognize that government and faith-based organizations share many of the same objectives. At their best, all strive to help the less fortunate, both work to strengthen our communities, and both obviously try to make a better future for families.” This Congressman from Wisconsin openly states that these faith-based organizations are very common to government funded programs. If these organizations are so common what is the need to have a barrier keeping them from obtaining government funding? The state government does not want to be the ones in charge of funding programs helping homeless people in Chattanooga because they do not want it to be their responsibility.
Mayor Ron Littlefield attends walks to raise money for the homeless, homeless charities, and homeless memorial ceremonies. Mayor Littlefield is known well among the homeless community for making many appearances at events such as those previously mentioned. Mayor Ron Littlefield cares so much for the homeless community that In the paper “Nowhere to go” by Pam Sohn it says, “Five years ago, Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield purchased the Farmers Market for $775,000 to expand its services to the homeless. The city released a rendering of a shelter that some dubbed the homeless Taj Mahal." This would seem like an amazing accomplishment towards helping the homeless community. Except in “Nowhere to go” it also says, “Today, plagued by a history of pollution, much of the 9.3-acre site between 11th and 12th streets and near the Chattanooga Community Kitchen remains vacant. Littlefield's spokesman, Richard Beeland, said the city never planned to fund a shelter inside the warehouses, but made the property available if anyone had the resources to build a shelter.” The government does not want the responsibility of this program. They are willing to purchase a facility for $775,000 but not willing to fund the needed programs.
The only way for the homeless people of Chattanooga to get off the streets indefinitely and turn their lives around is for the government to fund a long term self-improvement program. A long term self-improvement program or (community) is a facility that would house an unknown amount of homeless people for a decided amount of time. As well as housing this program would offer caseworkers that meet with each individual on a weekly basis discussing personal issues and keeping their morale up. This caseworker would be put in place also to show this individual that someone does care about them and wants them to succeed in the program. A long term self-improvement program would offer counseling (depression, drug, etc.) and mental health evaluations to see if these people need to be admitted to Mental Health facilities. Individuals in the program would have group talk every other day, this would help to develop a bond between people in the group and help create a support system among the residents. Monthly drug screening would be required and every individual would be subject to random screenings, failing a drug test would be termination from the program. The program would also offer job skill training to help them attain work. Access to the outside world would be limited to things done in groups and when a job was attained from there and back. Keeping them in this “Community” would block out any negative influence that would pull them back into their old lifestyle.
In a book titled Homelessness, Housing, and Mental Illness it is said, “Communities and organizations can and do seek to limit environmental influences that disrupt the social patterns that founders and members desire to maintain. One way to limit environmental influence is boundary management: members are admitted to the community only if they meet requirements and are expelled when they violate collective expectations. Alternatively, the community or organization can limit undesirable environmental influence with social control efforts that maintain desired patterns of social interaction within the organization.” (pg25) The overall goal of a long term self-improvement program is to help these people get mentally and physically stable so they can maintain a normal lifestyle and reintegrate back into society.
The United Way says that, “A professionally staffed shelter offering beds, storage, phones, meals, showers, laundry and case management counseling can cost $40 per person per night.” If a program like this were available in Chattanooga the number of homeless people would decrease substantially. It would give the homeless an option to get off the streets. It would not be simple or as cheap as giving them a meal and sending them on their way.
The state government is not doing enough to offer long term self-improvement programs to help the homeless get off the streets of Chattanooga. The homeless community is increasing but viable programs aren’t being established. The government needs to fund a long term self-improvement program that would get the homeless people of Chattanooga off the streets for ever. It’s time to give them their lives back.
Rick Andrew Birchfield
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I just finished reading Mr. Birchfield's opinion piece on the homeless. In order to find solutions we have to understand all, not just some, of the underlying problems that contribute to becoming homeless in the first place.
I'm not one to talk about what I've done to help someone. However, I would like to provide a few examples on what works.
When my finances were better (and God willing, they'll get that way again, so I can do what I enjoy most - helping someone) and I was in a better position financially to help here's what I saw as the underlying problem and what works. I believe in helping an individual in such a way that they could and would eventually be able to become self-sufficient. It doesn't mean they might not have to come back at some later date - even I've had to asked for help from time to time. But the goal should be to help people in such a way that they can stand alone. Too often, I think, givers fear an individual they help just might rise above their situation and become better and stronger (some people actually don't want that to happen). Most everyone I've ever helped to my knowledge are better off. Some better off than I am. And that's a good thing. I might not be rich financially or in the way of material things (I wouldn't know what to do with it except give it away even if I were), but spiritually I'm wealthy beyond measure. I'll give just one example of what works here.
Years ago a young person came to me who was struggling. The individual was looking for a way out - to turn their life around. The individual felt joining the military was a way out. The only thing holding the individual back was they had some unpaid fines, court costs, etc. due to some past encounters with the law. The military, at that time, was willing to consider the individual but told them they'd have to take care of those fines, etc. first. So that's what the individual was looking for - help in paying off those fines so they could join the military and turn their life around. So that's what I did. I paid off the fines. The individual offered to pay me back when they got on their feet. I, of course, refused that offer. I told them the fact they were looking to turn their life around was payment enough. Just pass the gift on to someone else at some point. That individual was able to join the military and complete a tour of duty to the war zone. Has graduated from college in another state and has been offered an opportunity to attend a four-year college in yet another state. The individual, not yet 30, has also since purchased a home. I think too often givers help with strings attached to make the recipient beholding. When you offer help it should come without any strings. Just encouragement and blessings.
One of the many things keeping the poor and homeless at a level where they will never be able to rise above their situation are the crippling laws and a system designed to prey on the most vulnerable - those who can't afford a lawyer or defend themselves.
Take this recent roundup, which was no more than grandstanding during a year when politicians are looking to get elected. Now those roundups look impressive with their numbers of arrests, citations written, and misdemeanor charges. However, those people are usually poor and can't even pay the fines, let alone fight the charges. So they end up pleading guilty which they will be required to pay the fine. That fine goes unpaid because the individual couldn't afford to pay it in the first place, and this often leads to the person losing their driving privileges or can even lead to their being arrested at some future date for unpaid fines.
Having been personally affected by one of those recent roundups curiosity led me to take a closer look, make contacts to families of individuals listed on the arrest report (this is where some of these organizations can do the most good. Go out into the communities affected by lawless laws and be willing to get dirt on their hands by making direct contact (assessing the problem(s) then zeroing in on solutions). The law and laws have never been a friend of the poor. That's just the way it is. The way it's always been and likely always will be.
Now, when we see a drug charge, what usually comes to mind? Some drug dealer/user out there slanging drugs, right? Well, a charge of drug possession isn't always what it appears to be. As in the case of one individual with such a charge. The individual had a loose pill (meaning not in a bottle with a label) in their pocket and cash money. That immediately led to a charge of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drugs for resale. The reality is the individual had been doing odd jobs to earn money since having been laid off from work where their hands had been severely burned and became infected. They'd also hurt their back. The individual worked in the restaurant industry. You can't handle food with infected hands can you? The pill was for pain. I had a quick education and learned, if you're stopped, even for a minor traffic violation, and you have a pill inside its container...it's just a pill inside a container. If that pill is loose, in your pocket or has fallen on the floor, that can become a felony drug possession. Of course, left up to the "discretion" of the arresting officer. Whatever cash money is on your person, you immediately lose it because there's now a drug charge. The money this individual had earned doing odd jobs or whatever, was lost. The money was for utility bills. The wife, girlfriend(a student attending college/working a small low wage job) whatever who was dependent in part on that second income to keep their head above water is now left struggling alone. Because of course, the officer arrested the individual on the spot.
It's not that people are more criminally prone today than they've ever been. America was much more crime-ridden than it is today. The problem is every step we take, word we speak, every traffic stop, no matter how minor, can lead to an arrest. Now, some people have said if you're not breaking the law you have nothing to worry about. How naive, can one get. They don't realize just by going about their daily lives they break laws every day. Those laws are just not enforced where they live because of who they are, who they know and their class status. However, if those laws were enforced across board and not used to prey on only the most weak and vulnerable in society, they'd have criminal records too. And eventually, if not sooner, their livelihoods and ability to survive would disappear as well. The next thing you know, they'd be out there doing whatever they could just to feed their families and keep a roof over their heads just like everyone else.
It's not a free nation when just going about our daily lives we can become caught up in that web of laws that oppress (they do nothing to correct behavior). Oppressed by rogue laws, lawmen and governments no different than some people living in Third World countries. The prison industrial complex, with the help of laws, lawmen and a justice (actually injustice) system are making everyone in America criminals. In a nation where every act becomes a criminal act, at some point, every citizen will become a criminal. In today's America, Americans are lucky to make it from cradle to grave without having at least one arrest hanging over their heads. The reality just hasn't caught up to you yet. I'm a criminal and so are you...When they come for you, who will be left to speak out? America's judicial system is long due its own reform.
Brenda Manghane~Washington