Homelessness in Kansas City - A Crime or Natural Disaster?
Most emergency assistance organizations treat hunger or homelessness as a natural disaster by providing much needed relief to people in need. "It is a tragedy that poverty continues to increase in the United States, now one of the wealthiest nations in the world," stated Rev. Larry Snyder, President, Catholic Charities USA. Yet each organization clearly underscores the need to permanently solve the problem, showing we need to address the problem as if it were a crime, not a natural disaster.
Leading service organizations in Kansas City articulate the central need to eliminate hunger, homelessness, or poverty, not just to relieve the condition. The Homeless Services Coalition works to "eradicate homelessness in our community." reStart, a homeless shelter, focuses on "ending homelessness in our community." Harvesters food bank "feed[s] hungry people today and work[s] to end hunger tomorrow." United Services Community Action Agency's goal is to "eliminate poverty among the people of Jackson, Clay" counties in the area. And Heartland Habitat for Humanity in Kansas City, Kansas "exists to eliminate poverty."
Crime investigations typically look for a motive and a responsible person; they investigate the cause in order to "solve" the crime. In the case of poverty eradication, the work to treat the victim is stellar, yet the focus on identifying the cause and solution sometimes takes a backseat.
Police Raid on Homeless Camp Challenges KC to "Do the Right Thing"
A unbelievably insensitive raid on a small camp where homeless people reside has led to debate about homelessness in Kansas City, coincidentally one month before the Homelessness Marathon, a national live radio broadcast, which will spotlight homelessness here (see below for event details). A series of recent events reveal the attitudes toward and treatment of homeless in Kansas City.
On Thursday, January 13, Kansas City Missouri police officers raided a homeless camp near Paseo and Independence Avenue, less than three blocks from Hope Faith Ministries, the largest day center in Kansas City. The center provides services for 1000 poor and homeless people everyday. An article in the Kansas City Star written by Mike Hendricks documented the police raid.
Two members of the raided camp were jailed for 14 days after the incident, which was an insult to their dignity. While these two men were able to get support from Hope Faith Ministries in Kansas City, others were not as fortunate. On February 1 a Kansas City TV news program reported on the freezing death of a man, speculating the man was homeless. Another report documented an earlier death in the cold on December 12, 2010 and another death in Springfield, Missouri on December 27, and another report of the death of a KC homeless man on January 7, 2011.
Mike Hendricks wrote a lengthy follow-up article on February 4 providing a different perspective than his original report. It's likely that several letters sent to Hendricks, including the one written by Jeremy, must have encouraged him to dig deeper into the problem of homelessness in Kansas City. The February 4 article also highlighted the callousness some cities take towards homeless people:
Last week Jeremy Alderson released "Why Not Do The Right Thing?," a white paper on homelessness in the US, which offered frank advice, provided a critique of "ten year plans" and "housing first," challenged the treatment of homeless in the U.S., and suggested formal establishment of tent cities. Most of all, the article is a deeply compassionate appeal on behalf of homeless people to open dialog and urgently act on the issue.
Homelessness Marathon Starts February 23 and Originates from Kansas City
Leading service organizations in Kansas City articulate the central need to eliminate hunger, homelessness, or poverty, not just to relieve the condition. The Homeless Services Coalition works to "eradicate homelessness in our community." reStart, a homeless shelter, focuses on "ending homelessness in our community." Harvesters food bank "feed[s] hungry people today and work[s] to end hunger tomorrow." United Services Community Action Agency's goal is to "eliminate poverty among the people of Jackson, Clay" counties in the area. And Heartland Habitat for Humanity in Kansas City, Kansas "exists to eliminate poverty."
Crime investigations typically look for a motive and a responsible person; they investigate the cause in order to "solve" the crime. In the case of poverty eradication, the work to treat the victim is stellar, yet the focus on identifying the cause and solution sometimes takes a backseat.
Police Raid on Homeless Camp Challenges KC to "Do the Right Thing"
A unbelievably insensitive raid on a small camp where homeless people reside has led to debate about homelessness in Kansas City, coincidentally one month before the Homelessness Marathon, a national live radio broadcast, which will spotlight homelessness here (see below for event details). A series of recent events reveal the attitudes toward and treatment of homeless in Kansas City.
On Thursday, January 13, Kansas City Missouri police officers raided a homeless camp near Paseo and Independence Avenue, less than three blocks from Hope Faith Ministries, the largest day center in Kansas City. The center provides services for 1000 poor and homeless people everyday. An article in the Kansas City Star written by Mike Hendricks documented the police raid.
The next day Jeremy Alderson, founder and director of the Homelessness Marathon, responded to the article, warning about the danger of the raid taking place in the coldest time of year.“They had well-established, long-term, permanent buildings on parks property,” Schulte said. They were felling trees with a chainsaw, digging latrines and lighting campfires to keep warm, the flames fueled by tall stacks of wooden pallets scrounged from nearby businesses.
There are not enough beds in KC to shelter all of the local homeless people even if they like the conditions in the shelters. Thus the question of whether or not the campers would have been "better off" at the Union Mission or anywhere else is completely irrelevant . By the way, I gave a speech yesterday to the executive committee of the KC Task Force on Homelessness in which I recommended that they find a way to care for ALL of KC's homeless . That is not being done currently, and people are forced to fend for themselves.
Unsheltered homeless people have a shockingly high mortality rate. Bulldozlng an encampment in the middle of winter is a form of life-threatening assault that should be prosecuted not condoned.
It is questionable whether or not the KC police acted lawfully. Fresno, California had to payout a $2.35 million dollar judgment for destroying the property of homeless people in a similar raid on an encampment. I do not know if this issue has been adjudicated yet in the courts in KC , but it is not "open season" on homeless people . Even illegal campers have rights, and there is no indication that the rights of the campers were respected by the police.
There is a broader moral question here . Our Declaration of Independence speaks of the unalienable right to "life." This is something countless American soldiers have died for and countless others have worked, organized and fought for . Should the KC police department be empowered to callously deprive people of the very right that is at the core of our nation's founding, and for no better reason than that maybe somebody complained?
Two members of the raided camp were jailed for 14 days after the incident, which was an insult to their dignity. While these two men were able to get support from Hope Faith Ministries in Kansas City, others were not as fortunate. On February 1 a Kansas City TV news program reported on the freezing death of a man, speculating the man was homeless. Another report documented an earlier death in the cold on December 12, 2010 and another death in Springfield, Missouri on December 27, and another report of the death of a KC homeless man on January 7, 2011.
Mike Hendricks wrote a lengthy follow-up article on February 4 providing a different perspective than his original report. It's likely that several letters sent to Hendricks, including the one written by Jeremy, must have encouraged him to dig deeper into the problem of homelessness in Kansas City. The February 4 article also highlighted the callousness some cities take towards homeless people:
“I can’t say it’s reversed the trend,” said Maria Foscarinis, executive director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, a party to the Fresno case. “If anything, it’s gotten worse. The overall trend is that the criminalization of homelessness continues.”The article went on to outline "housing first" efforts in "Denver, New York, Seattle and many other cities are trying this with good results." A subsequent February 8 article by Hendricks and an editorial in the Kansas City Star focused on homelessness in Kansas City and criticized the police raid.
In San Francisco, it is illegal to sit or lay on the sidewalk. Dallas fines do-gooders who feed the homeless anyplace other than soup kitchens and other designated spots.
Last week Jeremy Alderson released "Why Not Do The Right Thing?," a white paper on homelessness in the US, which offered frank advice, provided a critique of "ten year plans" and "housing first," challenged the treatment of homeless in the U.S., and suggested formal establishment of tent cities. Most of all, the article is a deeply compassionate appeal on behalf of homeless people to open dialog and urgently act on the issue.
Homelessness Marathon Starts February 23 and Originates from Kansas City
Starting Wednesday, February 23, 2011 at 6:00 pm CST the Homelessness Marathon will once again focus on homelessness with a unique approach: handing the microphone over to people that are homeless. The Homelessness Marathon "is an annual 14-hour radio broadcast featuring the voices and stories of homeless people from around the United States The Homelessness Marathon features live call-ins all night long via a national toll-free number."
The theme of this year's broadcast is "Why Not Do the Right Thing" with attention to raising awareness about the causes and solutions to homelessness in the U.S. The radio broadcast starts February 23, 2011 at 6:00 pm Central Standard Time and airs for 14 hours until February 24 at 8:00 am CST. (Note: The marathon is not a fundraiser or running race.)
With the assistance of broadcast partner KKFI 90.1 FM the 14th Annual Homelessness Marathon will originate from Kansas City, Missouri and air on over 100 U.S radio and TV stations. For more information: http://homelessnessmarathon.org
The theme of this year's broadcast is "Why Not Do the Right Thing" with attention to raising awareness about the causes and solutions to homelessness in the U.S. The radio broadcast starts February 23, 2011 at 6:00 pm Central Standard Time and airs for 14 hours until February 24 at 8:00 am CST. (Note: The marathon is not a fundraiser or running race.)
With the assistance of broadcast partner KKFI 90.1 FM the 14th Annual Homelessness Marathon will originate from Kansas City, Missouri and air on over 100 U.S radio and TV stations. For more information: http://homelessnessmarathon.org
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