A New Perspective: Learning from People who have Experienced Homelessness
I confess: growing up I thought people experiencing homelessness were lazy and should “just get a job.” My perspective was shaped by my upbringing and internalized beliefs. I no longer hold this misconception.
As the primary communicator and fundraiser for CATCH, a grassroots nonprofit working to end homelessness in the Treasure Valley, I engage with people on all sides of the socio-economic spectrum. Through this work, I have identified that there is more than just a financial divide between our housed and unhoused community members, there is a lived experience gap and subsequent empathy gap. I believe this can only be bridged for those who are willing to listen, lean into discomfort, and change their perspective through effective storytelling and education.
Consider these three perspectives I have gained by listening to stories of resilience from people who have experienced homelessness.
First, homelessness is complex. According to our data, domestic violence is the leading cause of homelessness in Idaho, and in Ada County, 60% of people experiencing homelessness have income; one in four people experiencing homelessness are over the age of 62; and 65% of people experiencing homelessness report having a disabling condition of some kind. As a client shared with me: “Not all people experiencing homelessness abuse drugs or alcohol. Not all people experiencing homelessness are violent, a vast majority are not.” When someone lacks the basic safety of stable housing, they are operating out of survival mode. It takes a lot of physical and mental energy to even survive. As another client shared with me, “experiencing homelessness is experiencing trauma.”
Second, not everyone can experience homelessness. As Jeannette Curtis shared in her Idaho Statesman guest opinion, “ultimately, homelessness is about poverty, which is not just a lack of money, it’s also a lack of resources.” If my partner and I experienced a housing crisis when our rent went up $300 a month, we could have relied on our savings, network, and marketable skills. These are resources not available to everyone, especially members of our community who experience generational poverty. “I was born into homelessness and my family has been without a stable home for generations,” one mother shared with me. “My goal in life right now is to break the cycle for my children.” The well-intended myth that “homelessness can happen to anyone” attempts to humanize the experience but falls short by not acknowledging or holding systems of inequity accountable that allow people to live without the basic human need that is housing.
Third, kindness and language matter. When I asked a mother and father who experienced homelessness with their three children about how people treated them, the mother said: “People see us as less than human. We bleed too, and kindness matters.” The father added, “they throw bottles at you. They call you every name you could think of. We’ve heard it. We know what that feels like. That’s a pain worse than death.” One of the most practical things you can do is smile, make eye contact, and grant those experiencing homelessness the same level of dignity, respect, and humanity that you give to others. Regarding language, our nonprofit uses people-first language, which essentially puts the person before their experience or disabling condition. Rather than saying “the homeless” or “homeless person,” we prefer and encourage others to say “people experiencing homelessness” or “people living homeless.”
If you are interested in joining our coalition to end family homelessness in the Treasure Valley by 2026, here are a few places to start! With summer temperatures breaking 100 degrees, the CATCH Our Path Home Outreach team is seeking donations for summer including water bottles, sunscreen, and gas cards to help sustain people experiencing homelessness in our community. Additionally, our organization is in need of CATCH 22 monthly donors to help us continue operating at our current capacity. We anticipate losing $750,000 in COVID-19 relief funding in September 2023.
Stay cool, contribute to your community, and allow yourself to embrace new perspectives.