Humanizing Homelessness

I've been sharing the Humanizing Homelessness section weekly for over 3 months now. It was intended to demonstrate the fact that the people we see on the street, in alleys, parks and washes are, well...people. People who have a story. Nobody is born into homelessness. I've wanted us all to hear the stories and understand the variety of backgrounds and conditions that have left people unhoused in our community. Based on the feedback I've gotten the piece has done that many of you have let me know you've appreciated the section.

The intent of my writing these snippets of peoples' lives was also to educate M&C and city staff that we're relying on a Housing First/Housing Only model that simply is not effective in addressing all of the needs in the homeless population. Some of the people I've interviewed might thrive in a shelter setting, or in an apartment. Others would be in and out in a day - or a week, relying on that model as our only tool is unrealistic, wasting money and resources, and is ignoring the reality that we do not have anything close to the bed capacity needed even if all of our homeless population would use it.

Since I began writing these sections we've shifted homeless camps around at Arcadia Wash, Alamo Wash, Alvernon Park, Swanway, Venice and 2^nd street, an area in Thunderbird Heights, and at various other midtown locations - alleys, washes, and parks. That’s just Ward 6. It’s happening all over town. Our TPD homeless protocol staff are worn out just rousting the same people from one spot to another. They understand the city policy is not working - and is dehumanizing to the people involved. And they don't set the policy - M&C do that.

I also don't want to leave the impression that all of the homeless people I've approached were willing to take part in what I've been writing. There was the guy outside the ward office who was pretty animated in expressing how upset he was at the demeaning manner in which people treat him, and he was 'not interested in being in your newsletter.' There was the rather young girl who crawled out of her tent at Arcadia and asked for assistance. Then an older guy crawled out and said they weren't interested. Our HCD team moved onto another tent looking for 'clients.' There was the guy who was so strung out that he couldn't coherently share his story - and he asked me to leave because he was feeling ill. I also didn't wake people up when I found them passed out in an alley or in a wash to see if they'd like to take part. And this is a shot of the place a guy is staying - when I explained to him what I was doing he said, "I'm not homeless, and no thank you."

My writing these, may have been beneficial to many of us, who previously hadn't taken the time to listen and hear the stories of the lives behind the people who are camped out around the city. It has been for me, and yet it has not moved the needle a bit on the city policy of allowing controlled camps in select areas in which we'd provide police and social service resources to support people. Until M&C affirm a policy that will even allow that on a pilot basis in some locations, we'll simply keep having police and code enforcement staff out moving people and cleaning up after them. And we’ll have situations like this where the camps are uncontrolled, and lacking services.

Here's another reality - we can disallow camping in some areas based on public health and safety needs. Inside a wash, or even on the banks of a wash when it is considered a 'resource area' to preserve vegetative resources or wildlife habitat. But in alleys and other public easements, we can roust to clean, and once the health issue is gone, people can return. That's the frustration our homeless protocol team experiences.

I'll keep pushing for the city to adopt controlled camps where we offer a porta-john, water source, some security/safety element, and regular stops by social service providers who will attempt to get the people into the resources they need. We need low or no-barrier shelters for people with pets, partners and who simply are not going to pass a drug screen. We need to get trauma treatment, drug treatment, mental health treatment - all to the people we're now just moving around to new spots in the city.

Controlled camps are not a solution any more than Housing First/Housing Only is. But right now it's not even a tool because M&C have disallowed it as a matter of policy. This is a map showing where our homeless protocol team has encountered camping around the city. It’s important to recognize that many of the green dots exist as a result of our moving people from one area, and they simply end up in another one nearby. That’s a policy decision that is doing nobody any good.

Click here to View the More Informaion About City Of Tucson Steve K's Newsletter - June 13, 2022