I Still Feel that Tug to Respond
Homelessness is complicated and multi-faceted
Today on the podcast, Sarah and Nicholas discuss the National Association of Realtors and its role in the US Housing Market.
Part of the reason this matters is that housing is in crisis in the United States. You cannot go to a major city or small town without seeing people who don't have a place to live. Sedona, Arizona, is converting a church parking lot into a safe place for people without homes to park at night while they sleep; pilot programs in Vancouver and California have experimented with giving cash payments to homeless people. There are also 'invisible' homeless people who are couch surfing, living with relatives, or sleeping in motels. We got several messages on the subject after Sarah mentioned this on the podcast a few weeks ago.
We heard about Houston's Housing First approach to homelessness. We also got this great note from Kendra to share her approach to treating people in need with dignity and the work of Settled, which is working to address homelessness in her community in Minneapolis.
Hello!
First of all, thank you for what you do. I've been listening to the show for about a year now and love it. You provide smart, nuanced conversations on important topics, and it is critical to have that in my life and in the world. I am beyond thankful to have found your podcast going into this election year.
My 14-year-old daughter often listens with me when we're in the car. I affectionately call you "my ladies" or "my girls," so she hops in the car and says, "Mom, have you listened to your girls yet today?" We pop on the latest episode and have great conversations.
I also love the outside politics segment. Light-hearted and fun and so applicable to my everyday life. Keep doing what you do!
Okay, now that accolades are out of the way. Listening to the homeless conversation, I want to share a couple of things. Â I live in the Minneapolis area and have had varied degrees of involvement in our homeless community over the last ten years. I am not heavily involved right now, but I still feel that tug to respond when I see someone on the street asking for help. I also want to be intentional about the messages I send my kids (ages 17, 14, 10). I've come to a place where I know homelessness is complicated and multi-faceted. I'm not feeling called to spend 100% of my time in that area, but that doesn't mean I can't respond to a fellow human asking for help. It can be difficult to know how to help without causing more harm, and it can be difficult to know how to help while maintaining a person's humanity and dignity.
In that spirit, we keep pairs of new socks in the console of our cars. When we see someone on the side of the road asking for help, we offer them new socks and a friendly greeting. It won't solve the problem, but it's a small response that shows care and kindness in that moment. Sometimes, we also have granola bars that can survive a hot or cold car for long periods of time, and we share those. And sometimes, I hand out a sticky note with the local resources' phone number.
Also, check out Settled, https://www.settled.org/. They are addressing homelessness through tiny home villages. It's a fascinating approach. It's not an approach that can scale quickly and solve the nation's problem immediately, but it's powerful, research-based, and very cool to learn about. Let me know if you'd like to meet the woman who started it all—I'm sure Gabrielle would love to talk to you. Or, if you're ever in the Minneapolis area, you can always visit their communities.
Thanks!
Kendra
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