One of my many missions as the Execute Director at Seeds of Hope was to engage with those who repeat what have become widespread myths about those living in poverty, especially those who are living without housing. These beliefs are usually due to lack of exposure to the realities of poverty; sometimes, however, there is an unwillingness to learn, and instead just stand in judgement. And because I still see these myths perpetuated online in local social media, I thought I would revisit what I have learned from 14 years of working with the most vulnerable in our community.
The Myths:
- Belief: Those who are unhoused are flawed individuals just experiencing the consequences of bad decisions – such as homelessness, abuse of substances, or mental health crisis.
Reality: My experience taught me that in most instances, the gateway to homelessness, substance abuse, and mental health struggles is untreated trauma, especially as a child. And when one experiences trauma without the opportunity to heal, coping behaviors and their outcomes can be the result. Rather than judging these individuals as flawed, we should understand that they are wounded and coping in the only way they can.
- Belief: “Those people” are just lazy and need to get a job and stop living off the kindness of others.
Reality: How can someone who has no access to a bathroom, shower, or clean clothes interview for a job, even the most entry-level hourly positions? How can someone without a cell phone receive phone calls about job interviews? How can someone with significant untreated mental health challenges hold down a job?
- Belief: Some people prefer to live outside.
Reality: No healthy person chooses to live outside, sleeping on the ground in tents (if they’re lucky enough to have one) in 10-degree weather, or go for weeks without washing, or face the hostility and ridicule of some members of the community.
- Belief: Those who receive support from service organizations have a sense of entitlement and show no gratitude for that assistance.
Reality: We experience gratitude every day, often for what feels like such simple acts of kindness. Sometimes desperation for help can come across as aggression, but most of us have no idea of the level of despair some of our neighbor’s experience.
- Belief: There aren’t enough resources to take care of people who won’t care for themselves, so we have to dedicate those resources to worthy causes. If we dedicate them to “those people” there won’t be enough for those who “deserve” it, or for me if I need it. This is known as the myth of Scarcity.
Reality: The United States is the wealthiest nation in the world. There are enough resources to care for everyone – the unhoused, the food insecure, the addicts, those struggling with mental health, the veterans, the immigrants. It’s a false narrative that those receiving assistance are in competition for those who really need it or from those of us who pay taxes. There is enough for everyone. We just need to open our hearts to choose how to care for each other. This is the philosophy of Abundance.
As a person of faith, I continue to believe in the basic goodness of God’s children. I pray that in time we will listen to our better angels and have the wisdom to seek meaningful solutions and the courage and will to adopt them.
Where the river meets the sea…
Celtic Priest 