Conflict to Complexity

In non-violent communication training, we are taught to look at the underlying need in a conflict. Sometimes, people need respect, or to be heard. Sometimes they have a tangible need (food, money, etc). Other times they just want to be left alone. The main point of clear communication is to seek the basic need, and address it if possible.

Of course, if you have ever watched a verbal conflict unfold, you would rarely see two humans listening to each others' innermost needs and doing what they can to accommodate. You are way more likely to see two or more people swirling around unnecessary details, pointing blame and demanding terms. Often, this leads to a "compromise," where a system is developed to replicate justice.

For example: two roomates clash over the dishes not being done. They yell at each other for a while, roomate "A" feeling like he is being taken for granted (he does most of the cleaning), and roomate "B" feeling pushed into a corner (she does not want to do the dishes 3 times per day). After some time, they come up with a "chore check list" for everybody in the house (including roomate "C" and roomate "D," who were not even part of the discussion). Lets say for the sake of argument that they never address the underlying needs expressed in the orginal conflict; Roomate "A" still feels unheard and disrespected, because he wanted some gratitude for the vacuuming he has been doing for months, etc.

This house now has a set of chore rules for no apparent reason. The underlying need has not been fully addressed, and the issue is likely to come up again. Perhaps another set of rules will be developed, or the rules will be modified. More conflict leads to more complexity...

Despite this being a fictional conflict, I believe that this sort of stuff happens in real life all the time. So many laws and policies and rules that are based on neglected needs that never got addressed anyway. How many intake procedures, admission criteria, and eviction policies are based on silly little conflicts that never got resolved? Is it really fair to subject the most vulnerable homeless people to endless red tape because so and so at the intake desk didn't feel like her job was important enough?

If you work with the homeless, take a close look at your policies-- are they all necessary? Remember that these folks are having a hard enough time trying to stay alive... they don't need the extra burden of complexity. We need resources that are instantaneous, light on conditions, and for gods' sake, simple to access.

Specific Help

I am still working to get people off the street, and I have been recently blessed with a position that allows me to help more directly. For the last year, I have been a type of outreach worker/case manager for homeless and addicted people. I have taken people to detox, supervised visits with clients' children, taken people to the gym to work out, visited landlords, assisted with applications, and whatever else. It's a very effective method because my help can be custom-tailored to each client. Every person I work with has different specific needs, and the systematic approach will not work very well for those who are "slipping through the cracks." Only when you take a client to fill out a rental application do you realize that the person is illiterate, or terrified of elevators, or something else. There is no quick and easy fix to homelessness, because each homeless person is a complex riddle that can only be unravelled through patient trustbuilding and loads of one-on-one time.

There are still some general themes and similar problems that many street people share, such as a history of trauma, or addiction. How each person copes or does not cope with these issues, however, can only be discovered through understanding the whole person on an individual level.

I am happier in this job than I have ever been, despite the difficulty. I am impressed that society is finally starting to understand the human component to addressing homelessness. This is not a problem that can be medicated away, or ignored. We are starting to learn that simply connecting with those who are lost is a solution in itself.

Now if we could just get funding for trauma counselling... hmmm....

Dipping his Toes...

Apparently, a young fellow by the name of Steve Wood spent a week living on the streets of Philadelphia, to get a greater understanding of street life for an upcoming article he is writing for his school paper. After spending a week, Steve said he became disappointed with the homeless, because they have a "sense of entitlement," and they have expectations for the City to take care of them.

I suppose it is good that he is trying to understand. It is good that anybody is trying to get a grasp of the reality of street life. I suppose I can overlook his ignorance when he says he "lost patience" with the street folks, who in his opinion "make their own bed."

Of course Mr Wood feels that they make their own reality. He certainly makes his own reality, choosing to dip in and out of homelessness on a whim. Unfortunately, he is not factoring in the sheer amount of abuse that homeless people experience, most of them from a very early age.

Steve, let me tell you what happens when you get physically, mentally, or sexually abused from a young age. Because you are so small when it first happens, you learn to cope with abuse from a powerless position. You come to understand on an instinctual level that when people hurt you, you can't do anything about it. By the time you reach adulthood, you're left with a screwed up sense of what "choice" means, and a bitter view on the topic of justice. Because you've been lied to over and over again, you cannot trust others, and thus you cannot trust yourself. You fear becoming an abuser, so you begin a slow form of suicide to prevent yourself from harming others.

That's just one tiny piece of the puzzle. Now let me add another piece. Imagine yourself lying at the bottom of a cliff after having fallen. You are in such excruciating pain that you dare not move. A fellow comes along and says "I'm a first responder, I'm going to get you some help!" The guy takes off running. Several hours later, you are still waiting, unable to move. Another person comes along, gives you a drink of water, and says "Help is coming soon!" That person leaves. Several hours pass. It is getting dark. Tell me you wouldn't have some anticipation of help at this point. What on earth could be taking them so long? Don't they understand how much pain you're in?

Steve, people get dissapointed when Cities, Governments, Churches, or other "helpers" don't live up to their expectations-- it's human nature. Apparently, even the homeless don't live up to some people's expectations. I suppose you wanted them all to be weeping in gratitude over the bowl of soup they received at the soup kitchen, but reality has betrayed you. A lot of homeless have been in crisis for years and years, and they are sick of governments declaring new programs and strategies for assistance only to be left out in the cold.

Yet, I will forgive your resentment. I know from experience that street life makes you cranky. You were resentful towards people who were enjoying their coffees... that's pretty irrational. Those coffee drinkers did nothing to you, why would you be resentful, unless you were simply suffering, and needed a place to project that frustration? You may have also dumped some of your frustration on the homeless. Hopefully, once you have a nice warm shower and sit down at the computer, you will be in a clear enough head to see that these people have been through enough, and probably don't need another negative opinion.

Victoria Homeless Needs Survey Counts 1,115

Victoria Cool Aid Society - News Release - March 2, 2007 - The Homeless Needs Survey, which was held from February 5-9, has identified 1,115 persons in the Capital Region who were homeless or unstably housed.
An enumeration was conducted though a count in facilities which provide shelter to people who are homeless on Monday, February 5. The survey was conducted throughout the Capital Region from February 6-9, 2007, with questionnaires about housing needs completed by persons who were homeless or living in unstable housing. The questionnaire was conducted by over 200 volunteers indoors at over 40 social service provider locations and outdoors using the Salvation Army’s Beacon Bus.
“The Homeless Needs Survey will provide detailed and helpful information to over 60 participating service providers in the Capital Region,” said Kathy Stinson, the Executive Director of Cool Aid. “As well, the full research results will be shared with all levels of government and other community partners to help us better meet the needs of individuals and families who are inadequately housed in Greater Victoria.”
“The purpose of the survey was to gain a deeper understanding of what people who are homeless or unstably housed feel they need to find and maintain housing,” said Researcher Jane Worton of the Community Council. “We are grateful to the 815 people who completed questionnaires. They have shared personal information with us in order to help us provide better supports for the thousands of inadequately housed people in our community. We now have a wealth of good data to build action upon.”
“According to 2001 census data, 22,205 households in the Victoria Census Metropolitan Area were inadequately housed,” said Jane Worton. “We were able to interview 372 individuals in this situation – and this will provide the most detailed data ever about this large group in our communities.”
Making up just 2.8% of the local population, Aboriginal people, including First Nations, Metis, Inuit and Native, comprised 25% of those interviewed.
Only 11% of those interviewed were from outside BC, with the vast majority being from the Capital Regional District (73%) and elsewhere in BC (16%), often as close as Duncan and Vancouver.
The Homeless Needs Survey found people were homeless or unstably housed in all parts of the Capital Region. Although just a sample of the total number of people who are inadequately housed, the geographic distribution of interviewed individuals follows:
73% in the four core municipalities including –
• 496 people from Victoria (61%)• 48 people from Saanich (6%)• 24 people from Esquimalt (3%)• 6 people from Oak Bay (1%)• 22 people from an unspecified core municipality (3%)
4% in the Western Communities (33 people)
3% on the Saanich Peninsula (22 people)
4% on Salt Spring Island (32 people)
16% did not provide their municipality (132 people)
Rural and outlying communities were particularly under-represented due to the few number of survey locations and because social service providers in more sparsely populated regions often do not see their clients as frequently as those in the more urban areas.
Homeless counts frequently note underreporting of families who are homeless. The information from the Homeless Needs Survey will be complemented by the rich information gathered through the Burnside Gorge Community Association’s recent Homeless Families Outreach Project, using interviews with 432 families who were homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
A more detailed demographics report is enclosed. The full research report for the Homeless Needs Survey will be released in late March or April after a full analysis can be completed.

Hey Hey, Ho Ho, blah-blah-blah has got to go!

Perhaps we are too intellectually overwhelmed with poverty and homelessness. It’s the only explanation I have left to offer when I consider the disparity between need and funding for homeless services. I don’t believe in maliciousness, and I think I’ve said that before. Even the tighty-righties that would like to enlist all street people in the military or develop some new form of slavery really have the best, if not foolish, intentions in mind. More liberal (if that word hasn’t been wrecked already) counterparts still espouse the same classic strategies and values: research, protest, research, lobby, research, suck-up-to-the-media, blah blah.

What these two political groups seem to have in common these days is a lack of action. Let me give you an example. In a recent budget for British Columbia, $27 million was earmarked to “help keep 300 emergency shelter beds open all year-round.” A fund of $38 million was also included to finance supportive housing projects, including 600 shelter beds, transitional housing and permanent housing. Sounds nice doesn’t it? 27 million… 38 million… except for the fact that in Victoria BC alone, we may have well over 1000 homeless people, and only few hundred shelter beds to assist them. This budget money would be enough to partially address the issue in Victoria, but the figures given are to cover the entire province!

So what’s going on? A 2004 report by the CBC finds:
“The combined service and shelter costs of the homeless people ranged from $30,000 to $40,000 on average per person for one year (including the cost of staying in a homeless shelter). In contrast, the combined costs of service and housing for housed individuals ranged from $22,000 to $28,000 per person per year, assuming they stayed in supportive housing.”
(http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/main_nowayhome_cost.html)

It seems really simple when you look at these figures. Build enough supportive housing, and save millions of dollars. It would work for the fiscally-prudent (ha ha) conservatives, and it would work for the image-conscious liberals. Considering the fact that we’ve had this information for the last 4 years, one has to ask: what are the funders waiting for? Homelessness is a big media issue right now, so shouldn’t the politicians be lining up for photo-ops with token homeless people, and cutting ribbons to open massive supportive housing projects?
I guess it gets down to intellectual debate, because we have all seen or experienced the ghettoization of large housing projects built decades ago, and nobody wants to create another Regent Park. http://www.thestar.com/Unassigned/article/177861 Not being an engineer, I’m guessing that people sit around tables and try to come up with housing designs that everyone will agree on with little success. Who knows? I imagine that administrative delays are eating up 30% of the time allotted to solutions development, and insurance companies and legal firms are bogging things down. Every now and then, some new academic research comes along and undermines or contradicts the previous research (as researchers are taught to do).
It makes me think that the general public needs a still firmer resolve on the matter. Not that I want to see another police-escorted and carefully organized rally event (hey hey, ho ho, blah-blah-blah has got to go!), but perhaps we need a bit of inspiration…

Staff Consistancy

When you work with people in crisis, they ask for everything at once, and get upset in the blink of an eye if you don't provide it. These days in Victoria, it's hard not to upset at least a few street folks a day, because the place I work at (the needle exchange) has limited resources. Sometime we have food, and sometimes we don't. Sometimes we have blankets, and sometimes we don't.

And people don't believe you when you say that there is nothing to eat because no donations came in today. They think that you have some secret stash of food in the back office that you are not sharing because you are too lazy to go and get it. Alas, the negative effect of lazy or otherwise incompetent workers in this field. I have worked beside people who will lie to homeless people to avoid having to go into the back room to pull out a warm jacket, or will lie simply because they don't know how to say no.

There are also many workers who don't know how to get resources, or are overwhelmed--who simply cannot process all the requests. I have tried to be the person who goes "the extra mile" with clients, and I haven't always lived up to my own standards.

I won't be too hard on other workers here, because we all have our moments of weakness, but it sure is frustrating to deal with people who have been lied to and don't trust you simply because you're on the opposite side of the counter. It would be nice if all social workers were equal in their approach; if we could somehow "clone" the perfect social worker.

There is the other side as well: there are workers who will do so much for the clients that all other workers seem to pale in comparison. This is the person who gives cash or rides to people, who has more access to resources, and gives them freely, sometimes breaking the rules to do so. I have found myself being this person at times, but I have learned through experience that this behaviour creates a good cop/bad cop scenario, and so I have moderated my approach to be more in line with the general ideas of the team.

The answer to all of this inconsistancy is of course effective communication (hmmm... it seems that the answer for a lot of things is communication). I have worked in about 10 different agencies that deal with homelessness and addiction, and I notice that the more successful ones (i.e. the ones that see the best client relationships) are the agencies that communicate often, and communicate effectively.

Antimisinformationism

What is happening out there on the street? Do those of us who sit on various commitees and work in social agencies actually know what is happening out there with the homeless and addicted? I have sat in focus groups where one person said something, and that one statement somehow became an accepted fact at the committee level. One guy at a focus group says "We are tired of people talking to us," and the report for the focus group says "They are tired of people talking to them." The committee then makes a motion to "talk to people less," and the misinformation continues. The newspaper then reports that the committee says people should be talked to less, and the local politicians, wanting to have an "ear to the ground" then use the misinformation to create "non-talking" policies. And this says nothing about the contorting of the message that happens as it gets passed through different people. I'm convinced that very few people in this country have an idea of what is happening in the sub cultures that surround them.

Yet we, in our ignorance, are still forced to take actions on a regular basis. Such is life: we never know what the future may hold, but we are forced to act as though we do. To combat this difficult situation, our society has come to rely on the scientific method to give us a "reasonable" view of reality. If enough academic reports point in a certain direction, we can make enough assumptions to proceed. For the homeless, we apply social science, a smattering of sociology, social work, psychology, cultural geography, anthropology and economics. Ethical guidelines are developed, and legions of volunteers and academics rush out to get the scoop on street life.

Science has a difficult time with humans, however. For example, how do you prove what percentage of homeless people suffer from some form of mental illness? You could try and get a sample population and survey them, but the crisis situation that most are currently in will cause certain traits which may appear to be mental illness. Furthermore, how do you get this sample? Do you invite homeless people to volunteer (which will only gather certain types of people) or do you force people to participate (and if so, how?).

Perhaps the whole idea of "studying the homeless" should be discarded in favour of a more humane approach. I suggest we give what is needed while gathering what information we can in the process. For example, a reasonable homeless count can be done by tallying all of the people who use social helping agencies in a given area (so long as the list of agencies is very wide ranging and complete). Accurate records of client situations can be recorded by staff of foodbanks, soup kitchens, and emergency shelters. There is currently no national database or method for doing this, but I think it is time to initiate one. And when I say a national information database, I don't mean that we should bombard the homeless with technical questions, I simply mean we can ask them a few open-ended questions occasionally, and the staff person asking can interpret and record the results anonymously. For example, most people who come into emergency shelters tell their story to the staff member who does their intake. The staff can, after finishing the intake, visit an online database and fill out a basic form.
This data would accumulate, and eventually would give a somewhat accurate picture of what is happening.

Nevertheless, any attempt to get a glimpse into a sub-culture will produce a limited result, and we should keep this in mind. For this reason any study or data collection carried out with homeless people be done in conjunction with the handing out of tangible resources like food, shelter, etc. We cannot ensure an accurate reflection of reality, but at least we can make sure our time, and the time of clients, is not completely wasted.

My Story 5: Meeting Dad

When I was 12, my mother told me that my sister and I had different fathers, and he wanted me to visit him for a week in Prince Rupert BC. I thought it was a neat little trip. I took an airplane for the first time in my life, and spent a week having fun with this somewhat quiet guy and his wife May. He took me up the mountain on a gondola, swimming in the local pool, and he even let me push the gas pedal as he drove around town. I returned to Vancouver after a week and my mother said I would be going to live with him permanently. She figured, probably correctly, that he could offer me a better life than she could.
So I moved to Prince Rupert, and became a part of my Dad's working-class life. There were just the three of us, and it started out great. I stopped drugs and crime, and became a pretty normal 12 year old, playing guitar and hanging out in video arcades when I wasn't at the little lake down the street with the other kids in my neighborhood. There was a huge leap in my grades at school, and I realized for the first time in my life that I was good at this "school stuff." I also took on my first helping role. There was a young kid at my school with an acute form of epilepsy that needed someone to walk him home each day. I was eager to volunteer, and I was his helper for about a year, until we moved to another side of town.

Filming Homeless

I guess a few street people attacked a camera man while he was filming them getting busted by the police the other day. Recently, our little town has been discussing homelessness and downtown drug use like crazy, but this new development should turn up the volume a notch. I can just see the letters to the editor that will trickle in over the next week or so, which will no doubt complain about the "culture of privilage" amongst drug users and homeless. Such violent acts, though provoked, can become symbolic of what's going on out there. Unfortunately, symbols are also gross over-generalizations, and the public just doesn't have the time to sift through the data to find out whether or not street people are violent by nature.

They are not naturally violent, in case you are wondering. Even the most hard core cocaine addict on a bad run is highly unlikely to attack. In fact, the most violent drug is alcohol, not crack, cocaine, heroin, or crystal meth, and alcohol is not used exclusively by homeless folks.

The attack does highlight the sensitive issue of filming or taking pictures of homeless people. We are a culture of documentation-- if there is an issue, we want to record it, film it, preserve it, and have at least one reality TV show about it. That gets really tricky with street people because the culture of the street says "no questions, no pictures, and certainly no bloody films about my life please." It makes sense doesn't it? These are people at the lowest point in their life. They don't want these images to be burned into their consciousness, or anybody else's consciousness. Cameras have a way of freezing people forever, and if I was going to be frozen in time, I would certainly not want to be remembered as a homeless drug user. When people are at their worst, the camera is a weapon of mass destruction.

Now the camera man might have been a bit surprised when the homeless people approached him demanding the tape. His culture tells him that the "truth" must be told, and he believes he is helping people by documenting their struggles. Perhaps the story was going to be about how difficult street life is, or a glimpse into police behaviour with the homeless. He may not see exactly what message he is sending these folks by filming them without asking. While most of us in Canadian society would be indifferent or even excited by the idea of being on the six o' clock news, these folks were not.

Cultural values are clashing between street and non-street people all the time, and it seems as though the gap is getting wider. So why is it happening, and what can we do to reduce the conflict?

These things happen because we humans are not educated about each other. If the street folks knew that the reporter had their interests in mind, or at least that his intentions were not malignant they may have been fine with the shots. If the reporter had any idea that the people he shot would be so offended, he might have reconsidered the filming. The camera man does have more access to educational materials, and more experience in dealing with humans in front of his camera, so one would expect his sensitivity. On the other hand, everybody including street people knows that violence is a horrible option which solves nothing and creates problems for everybody on both sides, so I see fault in both parties here.

I am going to make another gross generalization here, but I think it will help: street people need to be informed about who can be trusted. I don't think the press is particularily damaging to the homeless for example (another generalization) and as such, each news story that is done should be understood for what it is. Too often, reporters are seen as part of "the system," and are not trusted. Consequently, the true story of homelessness is not reaching the mainstream population with the full force that it could be. Politicians, social workers, businessmen, and other professionals all have tools for dealing with the media, and homeless people need those tools just as much, or perhaps more. Each reporter comes with a unique challenge, and street people need to know about their rights and the impact of their dealings with the media.

I will add that the press needs to be informed about street culture, which is perhaps not taken serious as a culture because of its internal diversity. Because people are homeless for so many different reasons, it is hard to quantify cultural norms of street people much less learn about them. Still, there are some basic lessons to be learned, such as how to use a camera without getting punched. I think explaining the purpose of the shoot, and clearly spelling out what happens with the film might help, for example.

Essentially, I believe conflict like this can be avoided with a bit of understanding on both sides. I hope that this incident has not tarnished anyone's view of the homeless, because like airplane passengers, there are always a few that do not handle the stress of life very well.

Bandaids

Boy, what a tricky situation Victoria has gotten into. There are not enough emergency beds for the homeless here, and the street population is growing steadily. While 40 new shelter beds will be added soon, and 50 permanent housing arrangements are in the works, these simply will not address the sheer number of homeless that huddle in doorways, or set up tents in park bushes. As we face a cold and wet winter, we have some tough choices to make as a city. I have heard the line that we can’t “warehouse” people by setting up massive dormitories where people sleep on the floor, but the reality of an increasing street population is making this band-aid solution more and more attractive. A 6 week temporary shelter for 40 people at a local church basement was opened, and within 3 weeks, that shelter was turning away 27 people. Furthermore, I know from my work with people at the needle exchange that a large portion of the homeless would not even go near the shelter, so the homeless problem is far beyond even the most conservative estimates.

While it is true that we cannot put our all of our resources into temporary solutions, we also cannot dismiss the immediate needs of homeless. The Toronto “Streets to Homes” initiative was developed to take drastic steps to reducing homelessness in the city. One of the strategies employed by the city was to limit or move away from the distribution of sleeping bags, blankets, and other essential gear, because the overall goal was to house people, not to enable them to sleep on the street. Agencies were permitted to distribute sleeping bags, but only after pursuing all other shelter options.

While this sounds great on paper, unless an immediate option for the sleeping bag recipient is provided, the risk of death from exposure is much higher. One writer called this particular idea the “Streets to Graves” approach.


While it seems from a surface investigation that nobody was denied a sleeping bag in Toronto, it does concern me that people are considering the removal of basic supports as a viable part of dealing with homelessness. Of course those basic supports should not be necessary in an ideal world, but if even one person dies as a result of some administrative rule made in a cozy boardroom, then the whole plan is flawed on an ethical level.

Caution is the approach that I am suggesting here. Perhaps there is a growing frustration with what appears to be a growing problem, and some are suggesting that the agency supports currently in place are enabling rather than helping. While I think the help on the ground needs to be complemented by permanent solutions and long range strategies, the grave situation that we face dictates that we cannot afford to lose any supports whatsoever. We must remember that even the slightest change in policy can have catastrophic effects on the extremely vulnerable members of our population, and act with due sensitivity. I know first hand what it’s like to sleep absolutely rough with no blankets, and believe me, it’s more about survival than sleep. I remember sitting on the side of the highway one autumn night. My friend and I were hitchhiking between London and Toronto Ontario, and it started snowing unexpectedly. We could not get a ride, and having nothing on but jean jackets, light clothes, and running shoes, we hit the ditch and built a small fire. We fell asleep more than a few times in those 6 or so hours, and luckily, one of us woke up each time and stoked the fire. If I had died there, what a waste it would have been. Basic support programs prevent tragedies, plain and simple. Despite our desires for longer-term solutions we must not forget the harsh reality that many people face. Bandaids might not cure the complete illness, but we have to stop the bleeding somehow...