Reflections from the front lines serving people experiencing homelessness, stymied by dynamics that make housing instability an increasing possibility for people across the country, energized by organizational responses we can control, and shaking my head over local punitive measures.
In brief, as an intro, because I have something much longer to share….
The Keys to Change outreach team counted 314 unsheltered individuals in the immediate neighborhood. This is dramatically less than the 762 individuals counted in May of 2023. Three years ago, the reduction of the encampment in our neighborhood (some refer to it as “the Zone”) began on May 10th. This was the start of the street-by-street conversations to offer unsheltered people indoor spaces. By November of 2023, the encampments were erased, the City of Phoenix Safe Outdoor Space opened, and signs were posted warning of no camping with a redirect to the Keys to Change Brian Garcia Welcome Center.
Since November of 2023 unsheltered people have remained in the neighborhood. Whether they are walking, pausing on a sidewalk, resting in shade, waiting for a service. There is not sufficient emergency shelter capacity on Key Campus, nor across Maricopa County, for everyone who needs emergency shelter. This is the reality.
Homelessness is a reality.
Like Keys to Change, dozens and dozens of organizations, including some in government, are working every day to assist those who are unhoused. The inflow of new people into homelessness continues to outpace the number of households who can find affordable, sustainable housing to move into. This is the reality.
This Reflection Blog is not one of spreading a positive, hopeful message. The reality is that at the federal level changes are impending to reverse long-standing best practices and to punish people who have not committed a crime. Being unhoused is not a crime. At local levels, cities are adding ordinances to restrict access to public spaces, like parks, from unhoused people and organizations that offer them basic survival items, such as food and medical treatment. And for the record, law enforcement agencies do as they are directed; they are not the policy makers. I have not met a single police officer who wants to spend their time addressing homelessness, that’s not why they decided to become a police officer.
For some time, I have stared at a Dr. Seuss book called Oh, the Places You’ll Go, thinking that’s nice…and it doesn’t apply at all to those who are homeless. In fact, society has made it so that for the homeless, it really is the opposite, because we won’t allow them to be anywhere. With all the swirling dynamics in current events, I wrote a piece called, “Oh, the Places You Won’t Go.”
It begins with:
“Deep apologies!
Today isn’t your day.
You’re without a home!
You’re out on your own!
You have brains in your head.
Do your feet have shoes?
You must steer yourself in a direction, can you choose?
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the person who has to decide where to go.
You’ll find ‘new to you streets’. Check them out for what’s there.
At some intersections, you’ll decide it’s better to pause on a stair.
With your head full of brains and your feet already beat, you’re forced to be street smart and look for a safe seat.
Those park benches and easements will uncomfortably hold you down.
In that case, of course, your face will be stuck with a frown.
It’s frustrating to be left unhoused in the wide open air.”
For the full piece, please click through to the PDF.
