The only way we’re ever going to solve homelessness is by giving free housing to homeless people.
Not cots in homeless shelters. Not beds in domestic violence shelters. Real, actual, permanent housing, with a door they can lock and the freedom to come and go as they please.
It seems like a stupidly simple solution to an incredibly complicated problem, but this is the only way we’re ever going to end homelessness for good. Everything we’re doing right now is like flinging thimbles of water onto a house fire, and it’s time to call the fire department. Don’t believe me? Consider that:
Providing free housing is actually cheaper than what we’re doing right now. Even when you factor in the cost of having round-the-clock mental health staff on hand in housing facilities, giving the homeless housing costs about one-third as much as leaving them on the streets. How is that possible? People who sleep on the streets go to the hospital a whole lot more than anyone else. Being homeless is hard on your health – you are more likely to be assaulted, experience frostbite or heatstroke, or fail to manage a medical condition like diabetes. Homeless people are also more likely to get arrested for minor things like public urination or loitering, and it’s hugely expensive to arrest them, process them, put them in prison and put them through court dates. We save so much money and eliminate so many problems by just giving them somewhere to live.
It’s extremely difficult to get a job when you don’t have an address. There’s a huge amount of prejudice against homeless people, and the same people who shout “get a job!” are the first to toss someone’s application in the trash as soon as they see “no fixed address”. Having an address also makes it easier to vote, open a bank account, keep up with your taxes and obey the terms of your probation.
Homeless people waste a lot of time standing in line for shelters and services. Shelters have limited space available, and if you want to make sure you have a bed for the night, you need to be there long before the doors open. The same thing applies to soup kitchens. When your whole life revolves around being in line for vital services for hours on end, it’s hard to make much progress in getting your life together. Providing people with housing gives them more time and more flexibility to return to school, find jobs, or reconnect with family.
It’s virtually impossible to manage a mental health condition or recover from addiction when you have no permanent housing. It’s just not going to happen. Recovering from a mental health issue requires stability, routine and a safe place to retreat to, which are impossible when you live on the streets. Living rough makes it extremely difficult to show up to appointments, hang on to your prescription medications and avoid trauma. It’s more efficient for everyone involved to provide housing to the mentally ill first, and bring mental health services right to their doors.
It’s hard to make much progress in life when you can’t accumulate possessions. Think about how hard your life would be if you had no safe place to store your things. When you’re homeless and sleeping in shelters, you can only keep as much stuff as you can carry with you, and most of your energy is going to go towards keeping that stuff safe. You can’t take advantage of clothing drives, because you can’t carry too many clothes. You eat a lot of fast food, because you have nowhere to store or prepare groceries. Showing up to appointments, interviews or shifts is difficult, because you have to lug everything you own with you to ensure nothing is stolen. Having a room with a lock changes everything.
It keeps children out of the foster system. Ending up on the streets often means losing your children – if you can’t provide children with a stable home, that’s grounds to take them away. Families fleeing domestic violence can find themselves re-traumatized when children are placed in foster care due to inadequate housing. Providing stable housing allows families to stay together and minimizes trauma for children and parents, as well as foster care costs.
It preserves basic human dignity. It’s hard for most of us to imagine how humiliating and dehumanizing it is to be homeless. Imagine not having access to regular showers, or even toilets. Having nowhere to clean your laundry. Having your schedule dictated by a homeless shelter. Sleeping in rooms with dozens or hundreds of other people, with absolutely no privacy. Being chased out of businesses and public places. Enduring the crushing boredom of having nowhere to go. Being treated as less than human. It’s impossible to maintain hope and dignity in those conditions, and no human being should have to endure that.
We live in a society that treats housing like something you have to “earn” by proving yourself worthy of it, and that toxic thinking has put us in a position where we’re literally willing to spend more money to have people sleeping in the streets. It has to stop. Housing is a bare minimum requirement for human dignity, and it should be a human right. Everyone deserves a safe and private space of their own, regardless of their abilities, mental health or circumstances. No one is asking for luxury condos here – dorm-style settings with private rooms and shared bathroom and kitchen facilities have proven to be effective. This isn’t about who “deserves” housing; if you are a human being, you deserve a safe place to call home.
If you need it to exist, it’s a basic human right: food, clean water, clean air, housing, feminine hygiene products, medical care, elderly care…
so here’s what’s been going on: last month, Bird – @thulimo – was hospitalized briefly and we learned that she has a major tumor on her ovary and will need a complete hysterectomy in the (very near) future, as well as some internal bleeding. the latter has been taken care of, the former still needs ongoing care.
our insurance company is dragging it’s feet now because they’ve paid out over $20,000 so far and are reluctant to do anything else for us, even authorizing specialist visits and referrals, until we pay the remaining balance. the remaining balance comes to $2800. that’s just so far.
I simply do not have that kind of money. my paycheck pays for 90% of living expenses and in april I was involved in an accident at work where I was pinned between the inside of a mortuary transport van and several hundred pounds of decedent and casket, causing a very serious back injury (and requires a surgery of it’s own, which will put me out of work – obviously I am putting this off as long as I can). in spite of that. I’m at work every day the funeral home is open. I’m working 70-80 hours a week. simply put, the FH is not open enough for me to get any more hours, and I’m pushing myself past my breaking point as it is. I would need to save back from my paycheck for over a year to come up with the money to pay it off between student debts and the cost of being alive in this economy. Bird doesn’t have a year to wait for continued care.
I hate making this post. I hate asking for help like this because we all have our own problems, but I’m desperate. below is a screenshot of the balances due (with personal/identifying information blacked out) just to show that I’m serious and that I’m not just pulling a figure out of thin air:
I don’t even like to think about where we’d be right now without an ACA healthcare plan, or without insurance at all, it honest to god makes me break out in stress hives. I’ve already been pacing around my office so much today that I’m driving my coworkers insane.
getting to the point: i’m opening fic commissions at $1 per 100 words. you can send me a message here on tumblr to discuss details. I will write nsfw even, anything goes.
I’m also offering 10 card tarot readings for $10.
I have a ko-fi page, and $3 will get you a 300 word ficlet of your choice (and obviously a higher donation will get you a higher word count)
and if none of these appeal but you still want to help you can imagine i’m not going to say no, and I have a paypal.me account
and if you can’t donate at all but still want to help, reblogs and signal boosts are so appreciated. thank you guys so much for even reading this far. <3333
update — 7/31/2018
thank you to everyone who has reblogged and commissioned us and donated so far, you’re all blessings and I’m overwhelmed
as it stands, we are currently $2300 past due still and Bird still needs ongoing care, so I’m still offering commissions and tarot readings!
Headcanon: While the Havens itself is built on dry land, it is surrounded by tidal wetlands. The elves of Sirion can’t raise anything like the Girdle of Melian, but they can use song and their relationship with the land and the river to make it difficult for those who aren’t friendly to approach. Coming down the river to the Havens ought to be simple. But what was a straightforward river to navigate turns tricky when you reach the estuary. If you don’t know exactly which channels to take – and when, because some of the ones you need only have a few inches of water at low tide – you could get lost. That ground that looked solid when the water was low gets muddy and then disappears entirely within a few hours. (The elves can encourage the tide to come in or go out faster at need.)
Yes: I see the Havens as occupying low-lying islands in the estuary, connected by bridges across creeks and streams, and surrounded by rustling reed-beds. I don’t think they have big walls or towers. They were built by refugees in hiding: I think they were largely wooden,which is why the attacking Feanorians despite being a fairly small force by that time could do so much damage.
I also think the tide explains how Elwing escaped : she jumped into the sea, but not from a high tower or a cliff into static water: it was the tide going out that whirled her away before she became a bird.
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