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The US Housing Inequality Machine

Between 2006 and 2014, nearly 10 million US homeowners lost their homes to foreclosure.

Who acquired the foreclosed properties?

Clara Miller reports that corporate buyers often swept in to acquire the foreclosed properties and that this practice was seen by federal regulators, “as a means to fast-track the acquisition of a large backlog of distressed properties.” It also marked, “the largest stripping of assets from working class and BIPOC communities in US history.”

For a quick read with some great talking points I recommend: Social Housing Report Outlines Path to Affordable Housing for All

The quotes above came from this article and the page includes links to:

and many more!

Ideas for Pierce County? Bring them to the Tacoma/Pierce County Coalition to End Homelessness – let’s solve this.

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UNSHELTERED Critical Issue—Trauma and Survival Fatigue

“The first thing we want survivors of domestic violence and homelessness to do is make a lot of decisions. We give them a checklist or we give them all of these things that they have to do to move forward. But, we’re not realizing that they may have gone for hours, days, weeks without sleep. How can you make a good decision?”
~Ruth Glenn (from: Sleep Deprivation Is an ‘Unrecognized Problem’ for Homeless People) 

UnshelteredCritical Issue #10:Trauma and Survival Fatigue
Connections between trauma, homelessness, and survival fatigue 

  • Trauma is any type of distressing event or experience that has an impact on a person’s ability to cope and function.
  • Homelessness may be the result of a series of losses (employment, housing, family, community) or an event (domestic violence, eviction, natural disaster). Most people will experience these occurrences as traumatic to some degree.
  • Trauma can lead to homelessness and vice versa.
  • Survival fatigue is cognitive weariness and psychological exhaustion that makes it difficult to perform tasks or seek help related to getting ahead or even getting by.
  • Sleep deprivation is common among unsheltered people. Some sleep during the day in public spaces because they don’t feel safe sleeping at night.
  • Because services are provided by numerous agencies at multiple locations, people are often asked to fill out forms, attend several appointments, and answer the same personal intake questions-  asked by a series of strangers – in order to get their basic needs met.

What can we do?

  1. Learn about -and practice – Trauma Informed Care
  2. Mitigate cognitive and emotional burdens of living with scarcity and hardship (survival fatigue) by
    • avoiding re-traumatization 
    • increasing community outreach activities
    • simplifing application procedures and eligibility requirements, and 
    • creating smooth pathways to a wider range of services to meet basic needs.
  3. Practice self care
  4. Provide opportunities for training, peer support, and debriefing for staff and volunteers who work directly with survivors of traumatic incidents.
  5. Keep up the good work! Many staff and volunteers involved in outreach teams and day centers DO provide trauma informed care. The time and honesty required to build and maintain trust is real commitment. Also, the surest pathway toward health and housing for all. Thank you!

More about trauma and survival fatigue

More about Vicarious and Secondary Trauma

Ideas for Pierce County? Bring them to the Tacoma/Pierce County Coalition to End Homelessness – let’s solve this.___________________________________________________________________________________
Additional information and graphics for the Safe Sites 4 All Campaign are available here.Please help us promote solutions by sharing these messages with others.

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UNSHELTERED Critical Issue—Vehicle Residency

“People are definitely stuck in a cycle that you can’t escape. You know, you can repair your vehicle, you can move, but you have to keep moving. … It’s just stressful to be in this situation, especially when your vehicle’s in disrepair.
~Yesica Prado

____________________________________UnshelteredCritical Issue #9: Vehicle Residency
The good, the bad, and the ugly 

  • A growing number of people in the US are using vehicles as a form of affordable housing.
  • Vehicle residents account for more than 40% of the unsheltered homeless population in Seattle. (I couldn’t find similar data specific to Tacoma or Pierce County. If you have it, please send it my way.)
  • An RV or car offers more protection from the elements -and from violence- than a tent does.
  • A vehicle provides a relatively safe place to store belongings and (if it runs) transportation as well.
  • Some people live in vehicles because they can’t afford both rent and tuition; some can’t afford both rent and medicine and some simply can’t afford rent at all. Others have been living in vehicles for decades and do not consider themselves homeless.
  • Lack of off-street space and city parking restrictions make it hard to leave a vehicle-home unattended while working, attending to basic needs, or seeking social service assistance.
  • Parking tickets, towing costs, and impound fees quickly escalate and people may lose their home and everything they own when their vehicle is sold by the towing company to cover costs that are beyond their means. If you think it is difficult to contest such impounds in Pierce County, you’re right. 
  • One person’s “ugly RV that I wouldn’t be caught dead in” is another person’s “home sweet home” that may keep their family alive through the winter. 

What can we do?

  1. Support the efforts of Pierce County’s Safe Parking Network, come to a Safe Sites 4 All zoom meetingto learn more.
  2. Be an ally and advocate for inclusion of vehicle residents in decisions that impact them. Be informed regarding local legal challenges and court decisions regarding vehicle residence, e.g., City of Seattle v. Steven Long with a Homestead Act twist and  Potter v. Lacey.
  3. Learn about innovative programs in other jurisdictions. Some examples: Cars to Housing in Snohomish County; New Beginnings in Santa Barbara; Community First Village in Austin; and Operation Texas Strong: Weatherford
  4. Reframe the issue in human terms. Inform decision makers that survival housing is not a beauty contest. Old RVs are cheap, plentiful, and a quick way to get people sheltered.  
  5. Demand that safe parking – INCLUDING parking for RVs – be included in every jurisdiction’s plan to address homelessness.  As density increases faster than adequate public transportation, street parking for vehicle residents creates real problems. But that is all we have provided so far. Time to try something new.

More about vehicle residency 

Ideas for Pierce County? Bring them to the Tacoma/Pierce County Coalition to End Homelessness – let’s solve this.___________________________________________________________________________________
Additional information and graphics for the Safe Sites 4 All Campaign are available here.Please help us promote solutions by sharing these messages with others.

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UNSHELTERED Critical Issue—Slow Motion Crisis Response

“Remember when dealing with big organizations, most notably the government, that slow movement is a feature, not a bug.”

~Christopher Wink
____________________________________UnshelteredCritical Issue #8:  Slow motion crisis response
Three Realities that make progress on homelessness so slow and costly

  1. We are in a housing crisis and suffering the long term effects of poverty and inequity. Reframing this as a “homelessness crisis” shifts our thinking away from solutions into perpetual “management” of the problem. Decades of short-sighted policies at national, state, and local levels have gutted low income housing stock. We cannot rebuild this overnight. Replacing the public housing we squandered will be much more expensive in today’s economy.
  2. Finding a safe place to sleep may be perceived as a crisis by a person escaping freezing weather or other dangers related to being unsheltered. In that situation we quickly do whatever it takes to survive or to ensure the survival of someone we care for. Government agencies – in contrast – are not built for rapid response*; action requires funding which typically requires a proposal, feasibility studies, planning, budgeting, public input, pilot projects, assessments/reviews, recommendations and sometimes- if this all took a while – a new proposal.
  3. Homelessness in the US grew last year for the fourth year in a row. People are entering homelessness in greater numbers and affordable rental options are evaporating. Years of pretending we will somehow pull a “decent” home for everyone out of thin air have left us empty handed in terms of safe campgrounds or sites for people living in vehicle homes. If you question the value of a dry tent or vehicle against the coming winter – imagine the winter without even that small measure of protection. Pierce County is ramping up efforts in these areas – but – we need to work together and work quickly. 

*exceptions to this are emergency response teams for fire, natural disasters, etc. where the action is typically intense, swift, and of relatively short duration.

What can we do to reduce response time for critical needs?

  1. Support the efforts of local nonprofits, social service programs and faith-based communities that are addressing homelessness. Small groups are usually more nimble and can fill in some gaps while larger organizations and initiatives navigate the road to funding.
  2. Tell your representatives that we need a working 20 year plan, a ten year plan, and a short term emergency response ALL at once rather than one at a time. Remind them that similar plans were approved by their predecessors. Were these plans good?  implemented? effective? put in a drawer?
  3. Act as if someone who is out in the cold this winter is a family member or a friend (maybe they are)

More about the housing crisis and the slow motion crisis response

  • Housing needs by state/Washington (2021 NLIHC)
  • As Coronavirus Magnifies America’s Housing Crisis, FDR’s New Deal Could Offer a Roadmap Forward(Time, 2020)
  • Slow Democracy: local decision making that is inclusive, deliberative, and citizen-powered is not easy and definitely not rapid,

Ideas for Pierce County? Bring them to the Tacoma/Pierce County Coalition to End Homelessness – let’s solve this.*yes, the pun was intentional – I can’t help myself.

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UNSHELTERED Critical Issue—The Digital Divide

dig·it·al di·vide
Learn to pronouncenoun 

the economic, educational, and social inequalities between those who have computers and online access and those who do not
~Merriam-Webster Dictionary
____________________________________UnshelteredCritical Issue #7:  Homelessness & the Digital Divide
How the digital divide blocks progress toward housing and security 

  • Opportunities for in-person appointments are severely restricted due to the pandemic. Lack of reliable access to the internet & technology creates additional barriers to virtually* every resource needed to exit homelessness:
    • finding permanent housing 
    • finding a job 
    • accessing medical care and social support networks
    • accessing other benefits like unemployment, Supplemental Security Income, food stamps and Medicaid 
  • Technology-based healthcare interventions hold particular promise for unsheltered people, but many have little or no access to broadband.
  • Efforts to end homelessness by local government agencies and by organizations – such as the Tacoma Pierce County Coalition to End Homelessness – will only be effective with input from people experiencing homelessness in our community. Invitations to testify at council meetings or to join meetings are meaningless without provision of the tools and connectivity needed to do so. 

What can we do about the Digital Divide?

  1. Know that the digital divide is a reality for anyone on the wrong side of it. Promoting public broadbandreduces information and access barriers for all low income people. 
    • Contact local utility districts, cities, ports, counties, etc. and tell them you want public broadband.
    • Learn about the proposed national legislation that  would ban new public networks: the CONNECT Act,”Communities Overregulating Networks Need Economic Competition Today” (US HR1149). Pros & Cons. Referred to the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. (on 02/19/2021).
    • Join the conversation. 
  2. Create Technology Hubs for people experiencing homelessness 
  3. Support and promote the long-time, ongoing efforts from local libraries to bridge the digital divide
  4. Let people know about the Washington State Drive-In WiFi Hotspots Location Finder

More about the Digital Divide 

Ideas for Pierce County? Bring them to the Tacoma/Pierce County Coalition to End Homelessness – let’s solve this.*yes, the pun was intentional – I can’t help myself.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Additional information and graphics for the Safe Sites 4 All Campaign are available here.Please help us promote solutions by sharing these messages with others.

lauriedavenportart

UNSHELTERED Critical Issue—Food Insecurity

food in·se·cu·ri·ty

noun 

an involuntary state of food insufficiency resulting from financial and economic constraints 

____________________________________

Unsheltered

Critical Issue #6: Food Insecurity

 A Washington State University study (conducted in 2020) found that  34% of Pierce County households were food insecure. Critical disparities were found based on income, education, race, and marital status. The pandemic continues to stress the network of food banks, shelters. and other meal programs scrambling to fill the gap.  

Why is food an issue?

  • Unsheltered people seldom have access to food preparation areas or safe ways to store food
  • Gathering food (and most other supplies) is difficult while carrying essential personal belongings 
  • Some food banks work hard to provide nutritious food that does not need to be cooked – but this is not most of what is donated
  • Uncoordinated emergency food distribution programs are problematic:
  • Several agencies or individuals may distribute food on the street on the same days or at similar times, followed by days where no one offers food.
  • To be efficient, meals are often pre-packaged and people cannot select what they want or choose the amount they can consume before food will spoil. 
  • Without access to refrigeration or garbage services, unused food spoils and becomes garbage or rodent attraction 
  • Nutritional deficits for people experiencing homelessness are associated with higher rates of chronic conditions, hospitalization, emergency room visits and health problems in general (Baggett et al. 2011; Hamelin and Hamel 2009).

What Can We Do About Food Insecurity?

  1. Act locally
  1. Homelessness and food insecurity on the Key Peninsula
  2. Volunteer at local shelters, food banks, and other agencies  (like the RISE Center and FOB) that provide food and water to unsheltered people
  1. Convert hotel rooms used as emergency shelters into living spaces with kitchens so that people can store and cook food for themselves.
  2. Create access to basic food safety items needed by unsheltered people, such as:
  1. food preparation space (this is more challenging than you might think)
  2. sanitizing solution for food prep and serving surfaces (whether or not there is a common food preparation area)
  3. rodent-proof storage containers for food and garbage 
  4. coolers and ice
  5. Adapt our current patchwork of emergency food distribution to match the reality that food insecurity is an ongoing problem in need of a sustainable coordinated approach.

More about Food Insecurity 

Ideas for Pierce County? Bring them to the Tacoma/Pierce County Coalition to End Homelessness – let’s solve this.