from the series Peace House Community – A Place to Belong
By MARTI MALTBY
I think everyone is familiar with the magic trick where a coin disappears from the magician’s hand and then reappears out of someone’s ear. When we were little, we believed the coin really had disappeared. As we got older, we knew the magician had simply used a sleight of hand, and they were still holding the coin, but if the magician did the trick well, we were still willing to be fooled.
Many of the “solutions” to homelessness and similar problems are just variations of the coin trick.
Unfortunately, I find many of the “solutions” to homelessness and similar problems are just variations of the coin trick. The solutions don’t really solve homelessness. Instead, they try to make the homeless “disappear”, and if the solution looks appealing enough, everyone is supposed to applaud. On some level, everyone knows the homeless still walk the streets, trying to find safe places to sleep and keep their belongings. The folks working their magic just hope no one points that out too loudly.
Mayor Frey’s approach to homeless encampments is one example of this approach. With the City dismembering encampments as quickly as they are set up, he can plausibly argue that he has ended encampment homelessness, and (less plausibly) that the homeless have accepted the housing that they were offered.
Unfortunately, there are many similar examples. Organizations like Peace House Community (PHC) often receive criticism for causing problems for our neighbors. These problems include noise, threats, theft, vandalism, and more. The problems certainly exist, despite the Mayor’s claims, and I understand our neighbors’ complaints. Unfortunately, the solutions that people usually toss out to solve the problems are simply more variations of the coin trick.
I’ve been told by many people that the problems would end if PHC stopped serving food, or if we hired armed security, or if we bought guard dogs. During those discussions, I’m often tempted to sum up what I’m being told as follows:
¨A bunch of people had comfortable lives with good jobs and stable housing, but PHC served such good oatmeal in the mornings that they all decided to leave their homes to get the oatmeal. They now live on the streets, waiting eagerly for us to open our doors each morning. If PHC would just take the oatmeal away, these people would go back to their jobs and homes and the problems would be solved.¨
Fortunately, I’m diplomatic enough not to say that out loud. Besides, nothing would end well if I did say it. Instead, I try to find more effective ways of exposing the coin trick. The homeless don’t live on the streets because we lured them out of their homes. They won’t disappear if we take food away. Simple solutions won’t work because the causes of homelessness are far more complicated than a supply of enticing meals.
One challenge is that those who suffer the collateral problems of homelessness understandably want their problems to stop, and they are often willing to have the problems disappear (read “go somewhere else”) to get some relief. As understandable as this is, it won’t solve the problems. The problem moves to a new location, and moves again when those neighbors take action, and eventually the homeless run out of neighborhoods and come back to where they started. We need more determined and complex solutions than those being offered.
While there are undoubtedly problems with having homelessness blatantly visible, it might be better than having them hidden away somewhere. As long as it is visible, we cannot deny it, and we are forced to grapple with the sort of society we have created, and the sort of society we will create tomorrow. Making the problem disappear, may be quicker and simpler, but ultimately it solves nothing.
MARTI MALTBY is an avid cyclist, Director at Peace House Community, and an obnoxiously proud Canadian.
