Homeless in Minnesota
Amherst H. Wilder Foundation Perspective Series
Homeless in Minnesota: 2006 Survey Results |
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| Mary Paradis is a long time member of St. Joan of Arc with her husband, Claude. Mary is currently the co-chair of the Mental Illness Ministry. Mary can be reached at claudemaryparadis@comcast.net.
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Sweet Patrick Arden Wood spoke at the November, Mental Illness Ministry meeting, about his work with people who are Homeless and live on the street. He recommended learning about the comprehensive study on the Homeless in Minnesota done every three years by the Wilder Foundation. Patrick knows who really knows about people who are homeless, besides homeless people themselves. So I listen to Patrick and on the morning of April 10th, I attended the Wilder Foundation’s presentation on the results of the 2006 Homeless in Minnesota Study. I was impressed, encouraged by both the size of the group which was over 200, and the background and commitment of the speakers. It was a St. Joan-kind-of-event. You can learn about the Wilder study at www.wilder.org.
As we listened to the study results, we were asked to think about the implications and issues raised. We were asked to think about how to work to transform opinions and policies, how to solve the reasons for homelessness and to think at the molecular level because that’s all it is; how do we get a person or family into a house and how do we sustain them in that house.
Some of the study findings said there is:
- a great racial disparity in the percentage of homeless African Americans compared to the percentage of African Americans in the Minnesota population
- an increase in people 55+ years of age who are homeless
- almost an equal percentage of homeless women as there are homeless men
- a high percentage of homeless who have mental illnesses, especially depression
- a high percentage of Veterans who are homeless
- a higher percentage of ex-offenders who are homeless, who are also Veterans and Veterans with serious mental illnesses and traumatic brain injuries
- a high percentage of homeless Veterans died by suicide or attempted suicide
Richard Amos, St. Stephen’s Human Service Director of Housing, said that many African Americans know someone who has been murdered or attacked, but there is no time to grieve. Maybe his quiet words were so powerful because he has been homeless and has spent time in prison. He said that at one time, he was so disheartened about his life that prison became a kind of home for him. He had food, shelter and no bills about which to worry. Amos said that an art teacher in prison looked at him like he was worth something and that changed everything. Amos asked us to look at people who are homeless or ex-prisoners like they are worth something. He recommended that we screen people as they enter, rather than exit prison so that we can know and plan for housing and employment needs and be ready at exit time. He says not to act as a Savior with all the answers, a advisor who is better, knows better and who will show the way, but rather, act as a partner when working with people who are homeless. Amos said that agencies have to eliminate many eligibility requirements, which keep the homeless out of programs instead of helping them get into programs.
How can we make progress to end homelessness in Minnesota? Some suggestions were to eliminate systemic homelessness by:
- having a mindset, a common philosophy that all people deserve adequate housing
- develop regional thinking and ownership about this issue
- acknowledge systemic racism and take action to reduce it; think of all the agreed upon ways that we usually do things; think of how many minorities are at the table to help make decisions or are in charge of making the decisions
- provide adequate supportive housing; “Without these support services, affordable housing is just inexpensive shelter.” Unknown, Amherst H. Wilder Foundation
- grow faith communities who will develop their capacity to have real relationships with people who are homeless; we truly need to know others who are lonely, who aren’t doing well
I thought of people at St. Joan of Arc who live with mental illness, who are lonely, who sometime aren’t doing well, who often worry about being homeless, who have no friends.
Amos said he wonders why criminals can work together, but various religions can not. I’m glad that I remembered to listen to Patrick Arden Wood.
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