Nextdoor is an online bulletin board where residents may post anything about their neighborhood: lost cats and dogs, things they’re giving away or selling, upcoming events — or perhaps a post about criminal activity or something else amiss in their community.
But it can also be a forum for some to air their prejudices against the homeless, to vent about “those people” sleeping in “their” parks, scaring their children, and whomever they see as singularly responsible for all the trash and crime in their neighborhood.
This happened recently on a Nextdoor network in the Ravenna community, after a resident discovered seven tents in Ravenna Park. A string of hundreds of comments grew quickly, largely reflecting common stereotypes about the homeless with words like “feral,” “addicts” and “criminals.”
The few comments that offered insights or compassion were reprimanded by the anti-homeless majority. Helping them would become “a major layer of the problem,” they said. Or: “Progressives at City Hall are to too lenient.” “We’ve become ‘Freattle’ a magnet”, offering too many services. Instead, they suggested we should throw them in jail or offer “a bus ticket back to where they came from.”
These are assumptions that are formed by fear, not facts.
Recently, the city commissioned a survey of area homeless including extended one-on-one interviews of 1,000 homeless people. Dozens more were assembled in focus groups for lengthier discussions. While full results can be found online (https://goo.gl/X3CqLt) here’s what stood out for us:
Another popular misconception is that those camping outside are a hardcore “criminal element.” The survey found “little difference in the demographic characteristics of sheltered and unsheltered individuals.” Regarding any fear of the homeless overrunning our parks, the King County’s 2016 homeless count found only 24 of 3,000 unsheltered camped overnight in public parks. Most were hidden away in campers, cars, under bridges and along freeways.
Perhaps the most popular misconception is “they’re all drug addicted.” But survey results indicated only about a third regularly use drugs while 45 percent said they used no drugs at all. Focus group participants blamed police prejudices for exaggerating drug use and often confusing it with other health conditions.
These results on drug use haven’t varied much from previous studies, which go back decades. Any suggestions that current programs like LEEDS, needle exchanges and safe injection sites, special drug courts, jail diversion, counseling and addiction services have somehow attracted more folks with these problems to Seattle are way off base.
On the contrary, only dramatic expansion of these programs will make an effective dent in the problem. And it’s essential to combine these services with housing, much more, placed in our communities where people in need are located including via the proven “housing first” model for those still “wet.”
This survey and every past survey only confirms what our years of experience working with the homeless tells us - the homeless are more like us than they are not. As for any notion our city leaders (and police) coddle the homeless, try telling that to the hundreds turned away each day from overcrowded shelters and years-long waiting lists for permanent subsidized housing.
Try telling those now being victimized by a series of poorly executed police sweeps recently authorized by our so-called “progressive mayor”. He was just sued by the ACLU for giving little notice to campers, losing or crushing their belongings with heavy machinery, slashing their tarps and tents, and causing the loss of essential legal paperwork and precious family mementos.
Federal courts in LA and Idaho recently declared similar actions a violation of due process, ‘criminal’ and unconstitutional especially when there are no “concrete alternatives” for those swept from their camps. (So who are the real criminals here, parochial neighbors demanding more police sweeps and other “get tough” measures, or the hundreds of human beings with no homes routinely victimized by these actions?)
Until our local officials respond to redevelopment causing rapid loss of existing affordable housing (and put a stop to their upzoning plans that will greatly accelerate these losses) we’ll see more homeless on our streets, camping out in their cars and in city parks. The mayor, council, most press reports, even the consultants they bring in, rarely reference this direct connection.
Tragically, as the number of homeless inevitably rises, we’ll likely see more neighbors on Nextdoor demanding jail, more sweeps, crackdowns, and other non-solutions that only serve as further roadblocks to recovery and a normal life.
For some real solutions check out these https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/...
And to truly understand this human tragedy, volunteer at an area homeless program: http://www.homelessinfo.org/about_us/current_members.php
JOHN V. FOX and CAROLEE COLTER are coordinators for the Seattle Displacement Coalition, a low-income housing organization. More information can be found at www.zipcon.net.