Dubuque: Masterpiece or Malfunction on the Mississippi?
How your community deals with homelessness will determine the answer.
Dubuque, IA, the “Masterpiece on the Mississippi,” stands ready to become the “Malfunction on the Mississippi.” This tenacious city, teeming with religious tradition, appears to be ready to follow the faulty path of urban mega-cities and southern states when it comes to homelessness — ban it, make them uncomfortable, move ’em on, issue citations, arrest them, and do whatever it takes to rid the streets of visible homelessness.
It won’t work.
I’ve spent time in Dubuque and was “mentored” by a BVM Sister from the Motherhouse on the cliff of the Mississippi. For the past 35 years I’ve been immersed in the world of homelessness. I ran large shelters in communities similar to Dubuque (Joliet and Aurora, IL). I created and ran the first sanctioned tent city in the nation. I’ve written 2 books plus contributed to college textbooks on the topic. I’ve addressed audiences from Congress to Columbia University School of Social Work. I’ve spent the past 17 years living in my small RV-van chronicling family homelessness in the US, mostly in non-urban communities. I’ve spent time in a number of communities across the country speaking to staff, community leaders and people experiencing homelessness. I’ve also lost 3 members of my family to death from addictions, 2 of whom died on the streets. So, I have cred and skin in the “game.”
Let me respectfully and briefly point out pitfalls in your city council’s proposed approach (from the Telegraph Herald article 9/8/22) :
- “They need to move this problem along.” “This problem” isn’t just one thing, unless you’re referring to homeless people in general as a problem. Women and men on the streets don’t share one problem, other than the lack of a place to live. And one-size-fits-all attempts don’t move this “problem” along.
- “Get the individuals shelter and resources.” If getting shelter and resources was that simple, we wouldn’t have homelessness anywhere in the country. Ms. Steger could describe some of the challenges she encountered trying to help people.
People on your streets have myriad barriers to escaping homelessness, trauma being a huge, common experience. The article, “The Trauma of Homelessness Doesn’t End Under a Roof,” points out basic realities that I wish I knew when running a shelter.
In addition to physical/mental health problems, practical obstacles exist. Lack of affordable rental housing plagues our country. Credit problems, incarceration, steep down payments, past utility bills, and a host of other issues make it almost impossible to get folks off the street. - Resources — ask those who run human service agencies if they’re waiting for “customers” and have the tools needed to meet their needs. If they do, Dubuque is indeed a masterpiece!
- Second responder will help people in crisis connect with resources. See #2.
- “Cleaning up camps” is a euphemism for throwing out people’s possessions, their world (albeit often messy). When that happens, invaluable documents — identification, family contact info, etc. — get lost, personal belongings are destroyed, medications trashed, and the owner gets pushed deeper into non-existence. Where would you put your precious belongings if you had nowhere to live? Uprooting people in the camps accomplishes nothing, and often makes things worse for them and their city.
- Other communities success with this approach — where? And what do you mean by “this approach”? Because cities of all sizes are struggling with very similar issues, trying these allegedly successful approaches, and the problems worsen. Few can legitimately claim a modicum of success.
I’m sorry to be such a downer, but I want to save you time, resources and effort while intervening to prevent life from being even harder for those with no place to live.
Let me point out another little-known painful reality. Most adults living on the streets, or otherwise homeless, experienced homelessness as children, sometimes from infancy. In the process, they’ve likely experienced trauma which comes with a host of life-changing (not for the better unless they receive help) physical and mental health issues. People have reasons for not being able to function successfully. They need the kind of help that rarely can be found.
I have been shocked in my work with adults and kids to learn of the scope of prior experience of homelessness and the impact that has on the person. That’s one major reason I’ve devoted much of my adult life focusing on the issue of family homelessness (www.hearus.us). I am ashamed to admit how little we knew about trauma when I ran shelters. Having kept in contact with several moms and kids from the shelters I ran, it pains me to see the detrimental impact their earlier years has on them now. This impact strengthens the argument for caring for the needs of vulnerable families before all of the ills of homelessness befall them.
Yes, you need to address homelessness in Dubuque.
Doing it with a more holistic, compassionate, realistic approach would yield better results — for those you help, for those wanting people have a place to live other than the streets, and for your fine community’s reputation. Do it right. Be the Masterpiece on the Mississippi.
