Day 28–July 31, 2009

Strictly speaking homelessness means not having a home. But there are many ways a person can be homeless; staying with family or friends; living in transitional housing or shelters; or simply getting by on the street, in cars, or in tents.

Regardless, homelessness is the result of a breakdown in community. For those with a supportive network of family and friends–a network that takes care of one another–there should be no need for anyone to be living on the street or in a shelter. But, for millions of Americans, such a support network does not exist. When they fall, their network of family and friends cannot pick them up as they too have fallen.

Just as wealth is passed from one generation to another, the inability of one generation to give the next a lift up can pass poverty down generation after generation. By guaranteeing that everyone has a roof over his or her head, we can break out of the cycle of poverty.

To find the solutions, we need only ook to our own neighborhoods. Before I set out on this trip I spoke with Nan Roman, president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, about the many challenges facing those who advocate for the homeless. She told me that it was within our own communities that both the problems and solutions can be found. Yes, economic decisions at the federal level have an impact. But the decisions that determine quality of life are made by your friends and neighbors.

It is the neighbors who cry NIMBY when attempts are made to build affordable homes. It is the citizens who argue against budget items or tax increases to fund public transportation, health and human services, all-day kindergarten or other services that benefit the poor.

While I was a reporter in Kent, Ct., there was a bitter fight to bring just a few units of affordable housing to the town. Though the proposal eventually passed I was intensely angry at those who had opposed building affordable housing and suggested it would bring “undesirables” to the town. What they didn’t realize (or perhaps maybe they did) was that those “undesirables” were their firefighters, teachers, small business owners and dozens of others who made the town run–myself included.

Most people understand that things like schools, roads, parks, trash collection and a multitude of other services cost money. Similarly it is accepted that if we do not pay for such services we will live in a world where there is no need to worry about how a firetruck will get around a pile of uncollected garbage on an unplowed road to put out a fire at your house as there will be no firetruck. But, when it comes to taking care of people, paying them enough to live, and ensuring that everyone can afford housing, we suddenly can’t understand why minimum wage is not enough to make ends meet.

So look around your community and ask yourself which of your neighbors is struggling to make ends meet. And then ask what you have done to ensure everyone can afford a home. To find out how many people in your community are homeless, check out this report complied by the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

– By Jennifer E. Cooper