“Real Change in the City”
Real Change in the City:
An ethnographic study of change amongst the homeless in Seattle
Caitlin Risser
Field Practicum 2008
September 11, 2008
Introduction
Any individual who visits the city of Seattle will quickly become aware of the presence of its homeless. Unlike many cities who strategically guide their homeless to certain streets or neighborhood, Seattle’s streets are all covered in men, women, and youth trying to live lives in the age of growing housing costs and increasing unemployment rates. It is not uncommon to see men with a Starbucks cup asking for money, or young boys reaching into a trashcan to pull out a meager lunch for himself. Hour after hour they are ignored, day after day they are looked down upon and it seems nothing is being done to change the situation.
Mayor Nichols declared a 10 year war against homelessness, but since then hostility against the homeless has only grown and little help has been offered. Attempts to clean up the city leave the homeless confused and hurt by the injustice being committed against them. With very few options, they gather together to make a statement and they work towards gaining a voice but there seems to be little way they can change what is already in motion.
What I saw this summer through my field research was a growing hopelessness and despair in the eyes of the homeless. They wanted to cry out and ask if anyone would help. I also found those who were doing their best to offer this hope and to be a voice in the government and among the non-homeless. It is only through the growing interactions between the homeless and the non-homeless that any real change can be made.
Methodology
Observation, being one of the key methodologies used in anthropological research was where I began my field research. Downtown Seattle is not a new location for me, so having identified key nodes to observe the homeless population, I spent many hours in such places. The first place was a park found in Pike Place Market. This park has a high rate of tourist activity and thus is a relatively easy place for people to sit and sleep for long periods of time. Another node I located was a park in Westlake Center that is full of benches and where there is a high rate of panhandling due to the high-end shopping centers located in the square. This location draws the wealthy of Seattle who are likely to drop a few coins into a hat. The third park I located was in Pioneer Square, which happens to be at the opposite end of downtown. This is not a place with a high success rate for panhandling, but it proved to be a good place to hang out for long periods of time. I chose the locations initially because of brief observation I had done of the city prior to this field research and continued to observe the homeless and their interactions with non-homeless in these places as time allowed.
During my travels to and from the city, I often walked down Third Avenue. I discovered a park just east of Pioneer Square that had a very high population of homeless who dwelled there during the day. I also discovered that along Third Ave, there are many homeless shelters and social service agencies that provide help to the homeless, this creates a high population of homeless in this area as well. Another reason why I focused on Third Ave was that the free bus lines run heavily along Third Ave and so I often found large crowds of people gathered at bus stops.
During my observation I would try to look for individuals who appeared as though they could give me an informed opinion or some key information about these parks and other nodes in the city. I had hoped to find my key informants in these areas. I spoke with several people who were able to confirm that these nodes were indeed the places that homeless people lived, most slept during the day and wandered at night when sleeping in the parks is not allowed. After talking to several individuals I gathered that those who are in such parks are unable to articulate their experience due to the influence of drugs or alcohol or due to mental illnesses. I had gained insight into the daily lives of those who lived on the streets but I wanted to interview and spend quality time with people who were willing to talk with me about their experiences. I considered this a sort of “dead end” in my research because I was no longer able to find informants who could speak with me. I needed to find another entry point into the lives and experiences of the homeless.
I decided that the best way to gain entry into this community was though the agencies that they are in contact with. I did a broad internet search for agencies in Seattle and emailed all of the contact people I could find. I discovered a biweekly workshop that is offered for those who desire to work with homeless youth in the city and I attended the next one offered. I also received a reply from Real Change, an organization who runs an employment program and advocates for the homeless in the political sphere. I had noticed their presence around the city because of their weekly paper called Real Change, which is sold by homeless on the streets. I set-up an interview with their volunteer coordinator who was able to give me a broad overview of their operations and led me to interviews with other Real Change staff. One of the main emphases of Real Change is to promote the interaction between homeless and non-homeless in the city, believing that it would improve the quality of life for both parties involved. I was able to enter into a lot of discussion about this with several of the Real Change staff as well as with their vendors.
During my observation, I had become fascinated by the reactions of the non-homeless to the homeless in the parks. Now that I had Real Change articulating this interaction and attempting to arrange opportunities for such relationships to form, I felt that I needed to begin to understand more of the mindset of the non-homeless regarding the homeless. I began to tap into my own social networks and talk to people at my church. One young woman, Rebecca, who attends Seattle Pacific University heard that I was doing research regarding the homeless and offered to talk with me about an experience she had during Christmas break of last year. Seattle Pacific offers a program to students called Urban Plunge. It is a five-day homeless experience for students, facilitated by Owen Sallee. Students live the life of a homeless person during that time as well as engage in in-depth discussions about their experiences and their changing views. After interviewing Rebecca, I also interviewed Owen Sallee, and his student employee, Lindsey Beach who is the student director of Urban Involvement for Seattle Pacific. These interviews provided much needed insights into the non-homeless perspective on the homeless.
While interviewing the Real Change staff, I discovered that each morning from 9-11am, Real Change has an open office time that they call ‘community hours.’ This is a time for their vendors to come in and get a cup of coffee, use their computers, phones, and receive their mail. Many of them just come in and sit on the couches and drink their coffee. I began going to community hours each morning and talking with vendors. I would sit down and people would talk with me about their experiences. This is where many of my interviews came from. I would use probing questions to gain access and insight into their experiences. I never had any very structured interviews with the homeless, but I felt that was somewhat appropriate because of the variance of their experiences, one to another. I was also able to attend several of their vendor meetings and observe the interactions of vendors and Real Change staff in a group setting. I was able to gain insight into many of the key values of the homeless community through these observations.
Although the information I was gaining from interacting with the Real Change vendors was very insightful, I felt I needed a better idea of what areas of the city were open to the homeless and what areas were not. Riding the bus was the best way I knew to gain this type of knowledge. For several days I rode the bus all around the city and discovered where the homeless get off and on the bus, what their interactions are like while they are on the bus, and how they interact with the non-homeless during their bus rides. From these rides I began to find new shelters are areas where the homeless congregate.
In an attempt to triangulate my data, I spent many hours at the library researching homelessness in the city of Seattle. I discovered some movements that I was not able to participate in but that give great insight into the city of Seattle and its sentiments about the homeless. There has been much news reporting on the homeless in local newspapers and on the local news.
Practicum Analysis
Homelessness is becoming an increasing problem in the major urban centers of the United States. Amongst these growing urban centers is the city of Seattle. Located in the Pacific Northwest, Seattle is often recognized for its beautiful views of mountains and lakes as well as for its iconic attractions such as the Space Needle or Pike’s Place Market. Many of its residents have found great success and have founded international companies such as Starbucks, Microsoft, and Amazon.com. Yet in the midst of the success and the beauty, Seattle is home to nearly 8,500 homeless men, women, and children.
Through the research done in this field study, I have recognized three different dynamic groups who are involved in the issue of homelessness. The first group is the homeless themselves. They live on the streets or do not have permanent forms of income or housing. The second group is the non-homeless, mostly upper/middle class who view themselves as the norm of society and who are viewed by the homeless as leading life as it should be led. Much focus on individualism and wealth accumulation among the upper/middle class distinguishes them from the other two groups. The third group, a somewhat liminal group, is the “advocates.” I have chosen to name this group the advocates because they are those who stand in between the upper/middle class and the homeless. A significant factor in the advocate role is that some advocate for the non-homeless and others for the homeless. Individuals such as those who work in shelters or who are case managers are advocates for the homeless, and the police and politicians are generally found to be advocates for the non-homeless. The interaction between these groups and an understanding of their perceptions of homelessness is the focus of this paper. Also, when referring to advocates, my study primarily focused on and utilized the knowledge advocates for the homeless, rather than advocates for the non-homeless.
Homelessness is generally defined as the inability to maintain a stable, standard place to live, a definition that all three groups would most likely agree on (those who would disagree are a small minority). Another term that is commonly used among advocates is the term “street involved” which suggests that the individual may be in transitional housing but that their relationships, social networks, and sometimes their families are on the streets. Many of the informants for this study are considered homeless, although many of them spoke with great pride of their ability to make it into transitional housing from shelter life, putting them into the “street involved” category, which can be considered a sub-category of homeless.
Common causes of homelessness
According to Laura Prichard, an advocate informant who works amongst homeless youth, some of the main cause of homelessness in the city is a direct result of a lack of skills to succeed in the marketplace. Educational influence and the influence of the parents in the home are not such that children are given sufficient life skills. The homeless often do not know how to apply for jobs or how to get into an appropriate housing situation. Even if these simple tasks are accomplished, many homeless do not have the skills to follow through with keeping a job or even have the skills to maintain their home by getting the lights turned on, etc. Notably, Prichard explained that homelessness has become a culture in the city and the number of children who have been raised in homeless situations is increasing, leaving a generation of children who know little else than homelessness. Many of the homeless who have become comfortable with homeless culture are not willing to leave it, but are comfortable to continue living in the community in which they can function and are accepted. One such informant, Mark, expressed a fondness for the life of a homeless person. He said that it gave him freedom to roam around when and where he wanted to without having any responsibilities or being a burden to anyone. He saw homelessness as a very normal way of life and that he had chosen this one from a dozen other ways to live.
Prichard also informed me that another common cause of homelessness is addiction to drugs. Many informants explained that they spent their last pennies on drugs and that even when they were making money dealing, housing was not high on the list of priorities. Steven Michael Baldwin was one such man whose problem of homelessness was perpetuated by addiction to drugs. He told me that he lived a life of crime to get his fix of crystal meth and heroine when he needed it. Many homeless hide under bridges and do drugs because there is greater concealment from the authorities and do not leave often, creating a life and a community under that bridge.
Mental illness is also a leading cause of homelessness. Many men or women cannot hold a job or get housing because they are mentally ill and have no family or friends who can help them with these struggles. The pressures of life on the streets only then enhance what amount mental illness they had when they were first on the streets. One homeless woman, Marion, explained that she had only a small propensity towards depression and anxiety, but because of the difficulty of street life, she was forced to begin to take anti-depressants and other medications to help her control the symptoms of her mental illness.
Living homeless
The homeless experience varies from person to person based on their gender, background, and amount of personal discipline or motivation. From my time observing in Seattle, the city is divided into seven main boroughs: Downtown, Queen Anne Hill, Capitol Hill, The University District, Ballard, Freemont, and Magnolia. The highest population of homeless is found Downtown and the farther from downtown, the fewer homeless individuals are found. Downtown Seattle is very similar to many urban centers whose main commercial, business, and industrial districts are concentrated to a small area that services a high population density. These areas are also centers for tourism and retail shops. The numbers of people who walk the streets at any hour of the day are much greater than in any other parts of the city. This area of the city also holds the highest population of homeless and services to the homeless.
Downtown offers many free services to encourage people to take part in the community. Such services include public restrooms, the public library, and free bus fare within certain blocks (known as the “Free Ride Zone”). The availability of goods and services in these areas allow for a great amount of diversity in the population. The wealthy are there to shop and enjoy fine dining, the middle class are there to ‘see the sights’ and the poor are there to participate in the community as they are able because of the free services. All of these factors contribute to the attraction the homeless have towards downtown.
There are some homeless who live in the parks of Downtown Seattle. One homeless man, David told me he had lived in the park for many years. In my observation, these homeless are usually middle-aged men who do not have jobs or work. They sleep and live in the park during the day and abandon it at closing to wander the city until the early morning when the park opens again. Many of these men carry large bags that contain all of their belongings. They also wear many layers of clothing no matter what the temperature. When they arrive at the park in the morning, they will put all of their belongings on the ground next to them, and if the weather is warm, they will often take off the outer layers of clothing. Many of these men sleep in the same place day after day, even amidst the goings on of the various parks in which they live. I would return to the same park day after day and find the same men and all of their belongings sleeping in the same spot. At the end of the day, they would leave the park and I would watch them return in the morning. They commonly don’t find shelters a pleasant place to be and would rather scrounge for food than wait for it in line at the shelters. Among the park dwellers, the common mentality is that there is no need to ask for help or to accept it when its offered, according to Prichard.
During my many hours of observation, I found that within Downtown Seattle, there are specific places where the homeless will most frequently be. In parks, they are generally passive and social amongst themselves, paying little attention to the tourists or local passersby. Along the waterfront, many will collect change in a cup or ‘panhandle’ for money. According to several advocate informants as well as observation, panhandling is a common practice in the city of Seattle. Homeless will stand on a street corner and ask people for money. Some will hold a small sign that describes their story and implores people to help.
One informant, Rebecca who is a member of the non-homeless but became an advocate through living life as a homeless young woman for a week, said that creativity is important when making a sign, her sign said, “Darth Vader killed my dad, need money for new spaceship.” She told me that it makes people more comfortable after they have laughed at a witty comment and they are not directly faced with your immediate problems and situation. She also said that coffee cups and hats serve as the best means for collecting money. Many seek the income from this task to get them from day to day. Prichard explained that there are rumors that people make more panhandling than having a full-time job and her guess, as a professional case manager, is that is only a rumor and holds little to no truth. It’s an extremely difficult task and for many homeless, does little other than buy a simple meal.
I attempted to survey people on the street to gain some further knowledge about the perceptions of all three groups and it was extremely difficult to even get people to look at me. To incite a reaction as large as making eye contact was a challenge, but for an individual or small group to stop and answer my simple question was a nearly impossible task. Taking this into consideration when the homeless are also asking for money on top of a simple interaction, I can only imagine that this must be an extremely difficult way to pay for a simple meal.
Because of the challenge that it is, Downtown Seattle is a strategic place to engage in panhandling because there is no shortage of upper/middle class individuals with whom to interact. Many of them are shopping or on vacation, so they face a small twinge of guilt when approached by a ‘less fortunate’ person. Also, in the state of Washington, giving money or goods to the homeless is not illegal. One informant, Gary, who is from Florida, explained that giving money to the homeless is illegal there and he believes that is why so many homeless come to Seattle, there is seemingly a great welcome. Unfortunately, Gary’s welcome was very short lived and he soon learned some of the truths about living in Seattle as a homeless man.
The Seattle Situation
Throughout my time with the homeless and advocates, as well as doing some research on the local news regarding the homeless, I found that for many years, the city of Seattle was very friendly to the homeless, allowing them to dwell appropriately and to interact appropriately with the public. One advocate informant explained that in Seattle, there are enough free meals that each homeless man, woman, or child could eat one large meal a day. Nearly all of the advocates I spoke with said that many of the local residents consider the homeless a part of the city and believe that they contribute to the city’s culture and daily life. The homeless are perceived by the local residents of Seattle to be generally respectful, cause few problems and not add significantly to crime in the city.
In the last few years, the Seattle City government has begun to see homelessness in the city as problematic and have begun to act in such a way as to eradicate it. Many homeless and advocate informants described that when they first heard that Mayor Nichols was producing a plan to end homelessness in the city in ten years, they were excited. It seemed to them that there was finally hope for the housing problem in the city and that the legislation was beginning to respond to what had long been understood as a major issue. It soon became clear, however, that local government was interested in little than ‘cleaning up the city,’ a phrase which in itself suggests that homelessness is shameful or dirty. The perception of these informants is that people don’t want to see homelessness anymore. One woman, a non-homeless woman who is also on the fringes of the advocate group because of her volunteer work, formerly worked for a large event planning organization. She explained that people who are interested in holding large annual conferences or corporate meetings in the city often change their minds because of the presence of the homeless near the areas they will be hosting guests.
Instead of enacting strategic proactive plans to help people from homelessness into housing, informant after informant told me that the local authorities have begun to treat the homeless with disrespect and to take advantage of their vulnerability. One way, that nearly all informants mentioned, is through the encampment sweeps that have happened in the past year in the city. According to Prichard, before the mayor’s plan to end homelessness was enacted, encampment sweeps were mainly reactive. The police would sweep an area if someone had called in and complained about noise, crime, or trouble in the encampments. Recently, however, the sweeps have become more frequent and seem to have been purposed to send a message to the homeless that they are no longer welcome in the city.
Steven Michael Baldwin shared his personal story about the sweeps. On Easter morning 2008, Steven and his wife were awakened by the sound of the police approaching their camp. They were told, along with the rest of those living in their camp, that they needed to collect all of their belongings and leave the camp. The problematic thing was that they were not only being asked to leave what had been their home for a few months, but they had no time to take all of their belongings with them because it was too much to carry. What was left in the camp would inevitably be collected and taken away by the police. Baldwin was especially grieved that even Easter morning was not kept sacred, but was invaded by those who seemed to hate him and his people so much. He explained that Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas are the three days of the year that many people will be invited back to their homes to enjoy the holidays with their families. Because of this, many of the camp residents were not able to collect their things and thus lost a large portion of their belongings. Baldwin agreed that the mayor needs to do something about homelessness, but he believes that without caring for the homeless, he may as well leave the issue as it is.
Real Change among the homeless
The city of Seattle, while politically not the ideal place to live as a homeless person, is a place full of creativity and desire to solve the social problems within the city in order to create a peaceful community. Many non-homeless people see the value of helping the homeless and of empowering them to make changes in their lives through various means. One such group of people is the staff at Real Change. Real Change is an organization started in 1994 by Timothy Harris. I worked closely with two of the staff members at Real Change, advocates named Polly and Natalie. Polly is the volunteer coordinator for the organization and Natalie oversees their Advocacy programs. As they explained to me, the primary function of Real Change in the beginning was to empower the homeless to make a few dollars by selling them a newspaper weekly and allowing them to sell it on the streets for a small profit. The goal was two-fold: empower the homeless, and increase awareness in the readers of the paper, primarily the upper/middle class, non-homeless. As the organization grew, expansion into other areas of empowerment and partnership with the homeless took shape. One such program is called the ‘Speaker’s Bureau’ which is made up of a dozen or so homeless men and women who are trained to travel to schools and other social groups to speak about their lives on the streets. Another similar program is one that empowers the homeless to share their stories through art, poetry, and film. So far, the developed programs within Real Change have focused mostly on creative writing and expression of the homeless experience for publication.
In addition to the paper, Real Change has developed a department that focuses on advocating for the homeless in the city. They try to examine poverty in the city and understand the root causes. Natalie, who is officially titled the director of the Real Change Advocacy Program, explained that Real Change seeks to understand the structural causes of poverty and address them rather than simply providing a solution for individuals. She is attempting to build a network of service organizations in the city and connect them with the more politically active in order to advocate all together for a ‘real change’ in the city of Seattle for the homeless. These projects are not isolated to Natalie and her team of volunteers but seek to draw in the homeless themselves in order to empower them to carry out the work they could not realistically start for themselves.
One of the greatest strengths the staff at Real Change has identified in the organization is the ability to empower people to create relationships with people to whom they are not connected naturally. These relationships are generally created across socio-economic lines. The vendor program at Real Change forces people to interact and it creates consistency in the relationship. This occurs naturally because of the rules and regulations set by the vendor program at Real Change.
The Real Change Vendor community.
Polly, advocate and the volunteer coordinator at Real Change explained to me that each Wednesday, Real Change publishes a small newspaper and sells it for $.35 per copy to the vendors. She said that there are no requirements to become a vendor save an hour orientation that is offered three times a week. During the orientation, the vendors are given an ID badge and are instructed that they need to be sober and courteous when selling. Polly said that they desire the program to be available to all homeless in the city regardless of their current situation or mental state. Often programs like Real Change vendor program will discriminate against homeless because of things they haven’t stopped doing or because they don’t have their mental illness under control. At Real Change, along with their badge is issued a vendor number that identifies them in the Real Change database. This system was created because many homeless do not wish to share their real names and are thus denied services such as Real Change. When there are issues with a particular vendor, they are identified by their vendor number rather than by their name. Real Change has between 250-300 regular vendors. Some sell as many as 1,600 papers per month and other sell ten. For some, it becomes a full-time job and for others it’s for a few extra dollars every week. Polly told me the demographic among vendors is not significantly unlike the general demographic of the homeless in the city, mostly middle-aged males who have been street involved for quite a while. There is also a high representation of racial minorities and a high rate of mental illness among vendors. I did observe this from my time in the Real Change office. Although the number of homeless who come through the office during the times I was there does not reach the 250-300 total vendors, I observed a diversity in the races of those who came in and a homogeneity in gender and age.
Polly also explained that after a vendor has begun to sell regularly, he or she may be selling steadily in one location in the city. In order to encourage vendors to maintain a location and build relationships there, as well as to minimize vendor conflicts, Real Change has developed a system called ‘Turf.’ Turf is the Real Change way of stating that a particular corner or grocery store is the selling territory of an individual vendor. If a vendor sells less than 300 papers per month, then official turf cannot be claimed. However, if a vendor sells 300 papers per month, he or she is initiated into the ‘300 Club.’ These vendors are allowed to claim part-time turf somewhere in the city. They are required to specify what hours during the day they will be selling there and if any other vendor is selling there during their times, they are allowed to ask them to leave. The second turf level is for those who sell 600 papers or more, the ‘600 Club.’ The members of the 600 Club are allowed to claim full-time turf anywhere in the city that has not already been claimed. Most of the 600 Club turf spots are not found in downtown where there is a high density of homeless and frequent panhandling, but in front of grocery stores in smaller neighborhoods where shoppers who shop there consistently notice the consistency of vendor. This is when relationships are built between socio-economic grouped individuals.
Natalie explained to me later that the average shopper of a grocery store does not want to stop and put change in the cup of a man or woman they see there only once or twice, but when their Real Change vendor is there week after week selling papers, there is a different reaction. She also explained that often the reaction comes when the vendor is suddenly not there one week. The homeless vendors told me that they often find that if they miss a day or a week in their turf spot, their customers will ask them where they were and often offer help if there was an emergency or a problem. One vendor told a story of one of his customers purchasing a new pair of prescription glasses for him because he had broken his pair. Several of his customers gave him extra money the week that he broke them and one man actually sent him to the eye doctor on his tab. This man was especially thankful for this and told me that he knows if there was no such thing as Turf, he would be unable to make relationships with these people and would not have a new pair of glasses.
Another important aspect of the vendor community is relationship building and networking that happens in the Real Change office. Each day from 9-11 AM, the Real Change office opens up its doors to the vendors who can come in for a hot cup of coffee, use of phones and computers, and the help of Real Change staff when needed. According to Polly, these hours are purposed to be helpful to the vendors. I observed that these hours have also created a small community of vendors that know each other and keep track of one another throughout the week. It seemed to me that for many of them, being in the office fulfilled a great need for interaction with people who understand their position in life and who are willing to hang out together. Much can be learned about the homeless community at large from these few vendors who come each morning to the Real Change office.
Rich and homeless.
Because my research focused mostly on the lives of the homeless and less on the experience of the non-homeless or the advocates, I learned a lot from all three groups about the values and distinctions of the homeless within the homeless community. Sub groups are formed around the idea of wealth, just as they are in larger society, however I observed that they manifest themselves through larger categories than simply money.
The Real Change vendor community is one that exemplifies the homeless community in its representation of racial minorities, gender, and age. It is also representative of the specific culture of homelessness in Seattle. Because Real Change has been such a success for many of the vendors, they refer their friends and the program continues to grow. However, because these men and women are making money through the program, he or she may not consider their money a valuable part of their influence on the homeless community.
In nearly all nations and cultures, money separates people. Those who have it are in one group and those who do not are in another. Where these truths are reflected in the homeless community to an extent, there are other means of currency or of power that distinguishes one homeless man or woman from another. One such form of capital among the homeless is one’s vulnerability, or lack of vulnerability.
Vulnerability is a valuable resource to guard among the homeless. Prichard explained that if one is vulnerable, he or she is in danger of losing possessions. Many homeless informants expressed that ‘things’ are valuable because they have very little and because they have no home in which to keep their belongings, they become often protective and careful not to leave backpacks or bags lying around. Vulnerability is a dangerous state to be in because one is at the risk of losing their possessions. Also, emotional vulnerability is a dangerous state. If one is emotionally vulnerable, he or she is risking the hurt that is daily brought upon them by rejection from the whole of society. This sentiment was also expressed by a number of homeless informants from Real Change: Willy, Steven, and Mark.
The ways this manifests in the community through action is by the protection of one’s personal story and opinion. One informant, Gary, seemed cold and asked for little help from people upon first interaction with him. After building relationships with those at Real Change, he began to open up and talk about his experiences. It did, however, take a long time before he felt comfortable and secure sharing small things about his life. He presented himself as very self-sufficient and as very cold in order to protect himself. He was also very protective of his possessions. Gary kept his bag very close to his side and never walked away from it even if he was only going to walk to the other side of the room.
Those who have severe mental illness are often tagged as vulnerable and therefore are ascribed less power by other homeless. I observed homeless men purposefully ignore other homeless men because of the shame of their mental illness manifesting. They are thought of as being slow or stupid and thus unable to work and be a productive part of the homeless population. They are those who give homelessness a bad name, according to one of the Real Change staff, an advocate. They are also more vulnerable to people stealing their stuff or to those who would seek to take advantage of them. They are often the ones who are hated and made fun of on the streets by both the homeless and the non-homeless, as I observed. In contrast to these vulnerable men and women with mental illnesses are the relatively more mentally healthy who are able to exercise good street smarts, protect their goods, and remain emotionally unattached from people and places for ease in the homeless lifestyle.
Another way of becoming rich in the homeless community is through your ability to perform physically. Many homeless spend their days and nights roaming the streets. Those who do are required to use their legs, arms and feet daily. Prichard and Polly both explained to me that health is a huge concern among the homeless and the better the health, the more power an individual has in the community. I spoke with many homeless informants who struggle with diseases like diabetes, fibromyalgia, and tuberculosis. Some of these diseases are contagious and spread throughout the encampments, leaving people unable to be transitory as they are required to in order to live homeless.
The non-Real Change homeless
Those homeless who are not Real Change vendors are often left with little to no resources on which to live. Such homeless are forced to seek help in shelters, soup kitchens, and other service organizations. The south end of Downtown is known as the part of the city that houses the most services. This draws many of the homeless to this end of the city. When walking along the streets of old town Seattle, residents and tourists come face to face with many homeless who are waiting for busses and waiting to see a case manager. These homeless are the ones with whom the upper/middle class non-homeless have the least interaction with. These are also the homeless that have the fewest skills to succeed in the marketplace. They are always seeking help from services and many never get out of the system of help that is set in place. If service organizations are not being effective, then are the services effecting change in the correct places? Perhaps a cultural change needs to take place in order for the homeless to be able to live successful lives with housing and steady provisions. The change that needs to be made is foundationally cultural and equipping the homeless men and women with the social capital that is needed to be successful is the most important aspect of empowerment, as Real Change has found.
Recommendations for Ministry and Engagement
“To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel that I may share with them in its blessings.” 1 Cor. 9:22-23
As I did my field research among the homeless in Seattle this summer, some things became very clear to me regarding homelessness and the response of the church. The first thing that I think should be considered is the heart of God for the homeless. It is clear in scripture that God’s heart beats for the marginalized and broken. One model that I found in the biblical text that points to this is Jesus’ interactions with the Samaritan woman at the well in John chapter four. She was a marginalized woman and she had been taken advantage of for her whole life. Jesus, offering her life and hope, did not simply talk about her physical needs with her but also offered to provide for her spiritual poverty. This is a characteristic of the Kingdom of God. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matt. 5:3). God cares about the homeless, not simply because they are monetarily impoverished, but because many of them are spiritually impoverished as well.
Many groups in the city have attempted to find solutions to homelessness. Some of them are providing services for the homeless such as temporary housing and meals. Others attempt to help the homeless to transition into steady jobs and homes. Still others provide counseling and free rehab. As I thought about the issues facing people, I realized that many of these services are just putting a band-aid over the real problems that lie beneath homelessness. I saw that men and women needed shelter and housing; they could find it if they tried hard enough. I talked to people who were hungry and simply needed a plate of food—they too could find a meal in the city. But I interacted with very few homeless who actually believed that they could join the world of the non-homeless. Feeding people and giving them medical care is extremely important, but it is not going to solve the hopelessness that exists in the hearts of the homeless.
In this world, hope for the homeless has a two-fold manifestation. I think that it is first the hope that people might care enough to help provide for the immediate and temporary needs of the homeless, and second that structural change would be made. The difficult thing about this problem is that there are three groups. The homeless are in crisis and only the advocates are doing something about it. One informant, Lindsey, a student from SPU, spoke with me about her experience working with students and advocating for the homeless among them. She said that she sees the middle class in three categories. The first category are those with what she called ‘formless compassion.’ This is aware of homelessness and feels a twinge of compassion for the homeless to the point where maybe they will drop a few coins in the hat of a panhandler, but there is no structured way to understand homelessness and that little thing in their heart turns quickly to guilt. The second group of people are those who don’t take any personal responsibility for the problem of homelessness. The root issues, according to this group, all goes back to deficiencies in the homeless themselves. The third category, which Lindsey pointed out is significantly smaller, are those who understand the need for help and are able to turn their compassion into action. These are people who meet with the homeless and who go to church with them.
In my perception of the problem, I think that an effective ministry strategy or engagement of the homeless, not only includes the provision of immediate needs, but also affects change in the hearts of people who are in the first two categories in order that they might join in with those in the third category. If we say or think that we don’t care about the issue of homelessness or that it’s not our problem, then I question whether or not we are really living out the realities of the Kingdom. I think that discussing this problem as a structural problem in the city is ignoring that the roots of that structure are in the hearts of people—even Christians.
One strategy that I found to be particularly effective is the strategy implemented by Real Change. Their focus on relationship building and awareness alongside providing an employment program for the homeless touches on many of the needs and issues that will tackle homelessness. After spending many hours in their offices, I am nearly convinced that they have a formula for real change, just as they are named. The one aspect that I saw lacking during my time with Real Change is the spiritual needs of people. Some shelters or kitchens for the homeless are Christian organizations and require the homeless participate in something like sitting through a chapel service before getting served food or given a bed. I heard many complaints from my homeless informants about these types of programs. I also saw that Christianity is associated with the non-homeless wealth and that it is not a very accessible place for many homeless to be. Most churches meet in places that resemble stores or restaurants that homeless would be escorted out of in the city. Such places are not contextualized to the homeless in order for them to meet Jesus.
Because of these challenges, the use of holistic relationship building is extremely necessary. If I were recommending a ministry strategy to a church or a service organization, I would recommend that the primary focus of the ministry would be to engage the homeless in holistic, sincere relationships with people who are of the non-homeless group. This brings a lot of questions to my mind about how this would work, however. Would people really be willing to step out of their comfort zones and touch those who are in need not only of money and shelter, but also of fulfilling relationships? This would take a church who is so focused on the heart of God that they are willing to take huge personal risks to do so. It feels so ridiculous to me to state that being friends with a homeless person is a huge risk, but that is the state of the situation at this point in the history of our nation and of the American church.
What would it look like if Christians who are functionally (not simply symbolically) filled with the Holy Spirit took time to go to the streets and minister to people through heart felt relationships? The God I see talked about in the Bible would be more than willing to show up and begin some real change in the lives of people, rich or poor. I think that the non-homeless upper/middle class has a lot to learn from the homeless in the city about the Kingdom of God and the way it functions.
At one point this summer, I sat in a coffee shop thinking and praying about all I had seen and heard during my research. The Holy Spirit suddenly spoke to me. He said that if all the rich people in the Seattle were to become Christians, some of the poor may as well. However, if all of the poor people in the city found Jesus, the harvest among the rich would be astounding. I cannot process the truth of this adequately, but deep down, I know that this is the reality of the Kingdom.
