Conversation Blog: Housing & Homelessness (September 2010)

[IPJC Office]

This blog is the place to share your insights and ideas on the topic of housing & homelessness. Click here to join the conversation.

[IPJC Office]

We invite you to join the conversation with your own reflections, experience or ideas on the issue of housing and homelessness.

We ask that all blog posts be in the spirit of our Justice Cafe Etiquette.

[Susan Francois, CSJP]

The Seattle Times newspaper had a very interesting series on "Invisible Families" - the homeless you don't see.

One article that was very disturbing to me was about Refugees who have come to the United States seeking safety and a new life, but end up running out of benefits and homeless.

You can read the series online: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/flatpages/local/invisiblefamilies....

[Sh'mal Bob Ellenberg]

Hey all, I just looked at your site for the first time after looking for something that was happening this International Week of Peace. So, I came to IPJC which suits me. I've been in Seattle for two years moving from G'ville Fl where I lived for 23 years, the last five very involved with homelessness. I haven't been involved in this issue since moving here, but I probably have something to offer. It does, or can, consume ones life. I have been going slow in getting into community here, but I will show up Monday and see what's happening with the IPJC Justice Cafe. I have been involved in peace and justice issues for many years, sometimes getting a bit discouraged, well not really, but would like a more perfect world, but, it might be as perfect as it's going to get, so we participate as much as we can in community to try and make it more, what, wholesome or something, so life is fair and equitable for all. I guess that's the intention or its been mine. Fair and equitable for all. Sh'mal

[Glen Butterworth, SJ]

I remember what great job the churches around the U District in Seattle did for young people who couldn't find a good place to crash every night - rotating shelter space and whatnot. Not sure if its still a working program but back in the day they could always use more help with new/clean sleeping bags and other useful things, like gloves, etc.

[Jessica Escobar]

Our first Justice Café of the Fall 2010 semester was a huge success! We were so grateful for the 17 or so students who showed up, and for their openness to the topic of Hunger & Homelessness really inspired and energized us.

We opened up the discussion by asking students to brainstorm words or phrases that came to mind when they thought of home. After reading two accounts from our homeless brothers and sisters, we discussed some of the elements of our lives we take for granted, like the freedom to do what we wish at whatever time we wish, the peace associated with private space, and the security of always having a safe place to go.

In small groups, we reflected on our spiritual traditions and what they say about home. Students also spoke honestly and frankly about some of their personal stereotypes about homeless people. Most of us agreed that people generally think of the homeless as crazy, lazy, or drug-addicted. Students who had visited St. Vincent De Paul during Orientation commented how surprised they had been to see seemingly sane and "normal" people lined up to receive the free lunches that we served to them. They were also shocked to see families with children eating in SVDP cafeteria. We were also grateful for input from some of our students, who bravely shared with our group their own experiences with homelessness, or the experiences of their families.

I was honored for the opportunity to speak about one of my passions, the Catholic Worker Movement, and to invite students to visit me and my friends at the Oakland Catholic Worker house. Thankfully, many students expressed interest in taking action on the topic of homelessness & hunger by volunteering to visit us and lend a hand to our brothers & sisters on the street.

The Oakland Justice Café would like to extend a sincere “thank you” to all who attended our first café. There are no easy answers to the problems that we attempt to address at Justice Café, but we believe that dialogue is the first step. Thank you to all who contributed to this important dialogue, and we hope to see you again next month!

[Jennifer McKasson]

Wow, my first Justice Cafe was awesome. We met in Seattle in CapHill and I felt myself actually engage with homelessness for the first time in my life. Thank you so much!!!

I think the exercise about what we take for granted about housing security was the most powerful for me. I have a personal passion when it comes to ex-offender housing, specifically all the legislation making a hard job even harder.

Hopefully we can move forward with this and actually work on this problem to help resolve the housing insecurity that plagues our world.

[Kevin Gaffney]

I worked on housing for people experiencing homelessness in Seattle. During this time low income housing appeared very sparse with long waiting lists at housing agencies. Another barrier was stigma by housing staff to rent to a person experiencing mental illness and homelessness.

Hopefully there will be more programs to enroll those experiencing homelessness into housing.

I wish those working on this issue luck.

[Angela Sedun]

We had a very real conversation at Etown. One of our students is from Haiti, but has very little patience for the apparent lack of motivation to work people in the US have. She asked if we think it is so bad here, so much more so it is in Haiti. It was a wake-up call: we take so much for granted here. Nonetheless, the national statistics that we went over are certainly startling. One consensus that we all agreed needs to happen for many homeless is (besides providing shelter and jobs) to help them gain a renewed sense of self-worth beyond material posessions- a sense of self dignity, as spoken of in the section on the Catholic Social Teaching on Housing. There was among our group a general sense of empathy, motivation, and gratitude.