Symposium on Homelessness Research

March 2007

Karen Olson, President of Family Promise, joined a panel of experts on March 1 at the Symposium on Homelessness Research in Washington, DC. Only the second such event in ten years, the Symposium summarized decades of research on who is homeless, why, and how the Federal government has responded to their needs. Karen was invited to discuss family homelessness by Philip Mangano, Executive Director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. Families were a particular focus of the Symposium, since they constitute about 40% of the estimated 3.5 million Americans homeless in any given year. They are also the fastest-growing segment of the homeless population.

In her remarks at the Symposium—hosted by the United States Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Health and Human Services—Ms. Olson suggested that much of the existing research on homelessness distracted from what she identified as the main issue: the lack of affordable housing. “To discuss family homelessness without focusing on the affordable housing crisis,” she said, “is like telling the story of the Titanic without mentioning an iceberg.”

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, there’s not a single county in the United States where “a full-time minimum wage worker can afford even a one-bedroom apartment” at the Fair Market Rent determined by HUD. Yet only about one-quarter of families eligible for Section 8 subsidized housing actually receive it. For those who do get it, the wait averages nearly three years. Many waiting lists across the nation are closed, even though the need remains great.

In addition, HUD’s homelessness assistance funding favors housing for the chronically homeless—the so-called “Skid Row” individuals most in the public eye—over services for the other 90% of the homeless population, who tend to be less visible. This leaves little for supportive services for the families Family Promise and other nonprofits serve.

The actual numbers of homeless families may be even greater than official estimates, since doubled- or tripled-up families are not considered homeless under the federal definition. These families often stay with other low-income families in public housing, placing them all at risk of eviction. Karen said that these “unofficial” homeless—overwhelmingly working poor—make up about 50% of the people helped by Family Promise affiliates each year.

Karen noted that homeless families get undercounted because they have disincentives to go to shelters or be known to authorities: shelters often put up males and females into separate quarters, and families also fear losing their children. In fact, about 30% of the children in foster care were placed there primarily because their families were homeless—not because of abuse or neglect. Some researchers have noted that it would be cheaper to simply subsidize housing for these children’s families and keep them together than to pay for foster care and associated services.

This kind of innovative approach accords with Family Promise’s own commitment to finding solutions rather than merely identifying problems—a commitment Karen sought to impress upon policymakers at the Symposium.

For a copy of Karen remarks, e-mail Wendy Alexander at walexander@familypromise.org.

ELCA Synod Focuses on Poverty With a Just Neighbors Weekend

The child’s play block had the letter “K” both capital and lower case. There was artwork of a kite, a kitten, and a king. But there was an audible gasp in the room as Karen Robinson of the Presbyterian Resource Center in South Charleston, read the message on her children’s block: “In the United States, an on-duty law enforcement officer is safer from gunfire than a child under the age of 10.” The shock of that fact followed by the piercing visuals of vulnerable young children growing up in Philadelphia’s ghetto made this one of the most disturbing and motivating sessions of the Just Neighbors program presented last August in Huttonsville, WV.

Fourteen members of the Lutheran Synod of West Virginia and Western Maryland, three ecumenical partners, and two guests from other ELCA Synods gathered at Huttonsville’s Bishop Hodges Pastoral Center for the three-day event, which was sponsored by the host synod’s Church in Society committee with full support from Bishop Ralph Dunkin. Bishop Dunkin embraced the Just Neighbors concept after meeting with Pastor Craig Richter of Mountain Lutheran Church in Franklin, WV. Pastor Richter was inspired by a previous Just Neighbors event where he learned how Rachelle Ankney, a young math professor, applied Just Neighbors in her classes by challenging students to develop mathematical solutions to hunger problems. It was there that Pastor Richter conceived a three-year plan to use Just Neighbors to re-commit the synod to work with those living in poverty. He believed that the interactive, multimedia sessions of Just Neighbors would foster enthusiasm among members of his Church in Society committee for the work ahead, so he invited Just Neighbors Director Frank McCann to facilitate the program.

“This Just Neighbors event was a natural fit for me because our synod could look at the real systemic stories, consider the imbalance and injustice in the system and be faithfully creative on how to raise further awareness with regard to the issue,” Pastor Richter explained.

“There were times we were moved to tears, other times to anger...” Norma Boyer, Chair of Church in Society.

Norma Boyer, who serves as chair of the Church in Society committee and has spent her career working with state-run poverty programs, believes Just Neighbors was an enlightening experience.

“There were times we were moved to tears, other times to anger. The program helps foster understanding of what it means to live in poverty and provides concrete suggestions of ways to walk with people who are struggling.” Boyer noted.

Just Neighbors had a similar impact on Sarah Soltow, Director of Community Lutheran Partners in Shepherdstown and a Church in Society member, who plans to use it in training and creating programs funded by a domestic hunger grant from the ELCA.

“I was blown away by the statistics. Knowing that we do so little for so many in need, sort of sparks my ‘social justice anger’ and makes me want to do something,” Soltow said.

The event included an immersion experience, which featured a visit with Belinda Toms and her staff at Tyrand Cooperative Ministries in nearby Mill Creek. Tyrand Ministries is an ecumenical effort to meet the emergency needs of Randolph County’s low-income residents. Toms took participants to visit her friends and clients, John and Emily, at their home in a nearby hollow. Once they arrived, participants were moved by the eloquence of John as he shared his gratitude for what they had and his faith. The cleanliness of the home and the dignity displayed by John and Emily belied the lack of material resources at the family’s disposal. The immersion session allowed participants to interact with and experience firsthand the empathy of individuals who are on the front lines of working with those most in need. More important, the Tyrand staff exhibited the dignity with which low-wage earners deserved to be treated.

Participants left motivated and empowered to make changes in their approach to those in poverty. Soltow characterized the event as “intense, impressive and enlightening”; and is not the only participant who plans to put to use the lessons she learned. Steve Woodruff, a member of Church in Society from St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Morgantown, will apply Just Neighbors in an ecumenical setting to get his church more involved in ministry to the poor. And, after her nervous start, Boyer caught Pastor Richter’s enthusiasm and she hopes to use Just Neighbors as “the centerpiece to our social ministry program in the synod.”

The next steps for the Synod leaders include a facilitator training to be held in January, and presentation of Just Neighbors as part of the Synod Assembly in the summer of 2007.