Live United by Ann Austin

I was having a discussion with a friend recently about the homeless population in Albert Lea. She sees people every week at her place of work — seeking temporary shelter.

We occasionally get calls from community members who have seen someone sleeping on a park bench or wandering around the same area of town.

In any of these situations there are some things we must keep in mind:

 

1. Is the person truly homeless? 

We assume someone is homeless because of how they look or act. It’s always a good idea to ask, after first greeting the person. You can simply say “do you have a place to stay?” or ask if they need assistance.

 

2. What can I do?

Quite often people walk past someone who is homeless and avoid eye contact because they don’t know how to respond. People who are homeless are people first — you should treat them as you would any other person you pass in the street. Acknowledge them, smile and say, “Good morning.” Simple gestures of kindness go a long way towards warming someone’s heart and providing a sense of hope and belonging.

 

3. What kind of help do they need?

Money isn’t always the answer for someone who is homeless. It’s most helpful to ask people what they need. It could be food, clothing or shelter or it could be medication, a bike or a sleeping bag.

There are many reasons why people are homeless: job loss, domestic violence or unsafe living conditions, medical emergency, death in the family, divorce or abuse. We certainly don’t know the entirety of someone’s story, and we must not assume we know what they need.

People who are homeless often don’t have access to a strong support network to help them navigate the challenges they are faced with. In cases of chronic homelessness, there are usually mental health or chemical dependency issues, which pose a greater challenge.

Homelessness is not just people we see with signs on the side of the road. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, “Homelessness occurs when people or households are unable to acquire and/or maintain housing they can afford.”

Much of the homelessness in Freeborn County consists of people who are staying with friends or family, “couch-hopping” or sleeping in their cars. The uncertainty of where they will lay their heads to sleep or find shelter is something they deal with on a daily basis.

Homelessness is far more prevalent than people realize. According to the “State of Homelessness in America,” 15.5 percent of people in Minnesota are homeless with 7.6 percent unaccompanied children. Of the 5.46 million Minnesotans, this is 845,835 individuals and 414,732 children who are on their own. Homelessness has increased by 2 percent from 2013 to 2014.

 

4. How can a community respond?

We are thankful to have local programs such as Semcac Community Action, The Salvation Army and the Department of Human Services in town to help provide assistance for community members to prevent homelessness or help them when they are experiencing an emergency.

We are also thankful for the excellent work of local collaborations such as Partners in Prevention, Freeborn County Family Services Collaboration and Lift One, Lift All: Freeborn County Beyond Poverty. These groups are working to address underlying issues such as addiction, mental illness, abuse, neglect and lack of a strong support network.

But, our community should not and cannot stop there. A common issue that our community struggles with is the fact that we don’t have a good option for individuals who are homeless. The local Semcac site provides three apartments for families who are homeless, but individuals are sent out of town to the nearest shelter.

There are communities, such as Madison, Wisconsin, where people have taken things into their own hands and embraced the tiny house movement to provide cheap, easy-to-maintain homes for people who are homeless. For more information, you can visit the Tiny House Blog site: tinyhouseblog.com/humanitarian/madison-tiny-house-village-homeless/.

Our community could certainly come up with innovative solutions like this, with the right minds, and using the resources we have.

Homelessness can seem like a daunting issue, but it is overcome one person at a time. When I consider the challenges we try to overcome as a community and a society I often remind myself of Dr. Martin Luther King’s words: “Where do we go from here? We must keep going.”

 

Ann Austin is the executive director of the United Way of Freeborn County.