Homeless need our help

By MaryLee Smith and Jean Darsie

Citizens of Ballard: Some of our neighbors are in trouble. But for the grace of a higher power, it could be any one of us. They are veterans of our wars, Native American Indians, Microsoft engineers, laborers. They have families and obligations just like the rest of us, but have become ill, lost their jobs and their homes, and have been discriminated against for years. They are homeless people living in Ballard without shelter, and they need our help.

They sleep under our bridges and eat in our soup kitchens. They try to survive in tents that are being slashed, and their belongings are being burned. Most are looking for a chance to find work and a permanent, affordable place to live.

In Ballard and throughout the city, there's no room at the few shelters. There is only one public restroom in Ballard; a new "port-a-potty" that will be taken away if not used. Homeless people have to get on a bus to go get a shower (if they are lucky!) downtown.

How can anyone clean up and begin to search for a job under those conditions? Often, deep depression or worse sets in. Last year at least 44 homeless people died outdoors or by violence in King County. The average age of death among homeless people is just 48. And, the recent "One Night Count" of homeless people outside in King County rose more than 15 percent over last year.

External factors that make this situation worse include: Lack of affordable housing, the traumas and dislocation of war, lack of adequate health care resulting in illness and disability, legislation that makes it more difficult for people to recover from debt, loss of jobs, lack of adequate education, mental illness, and recently fallout from the mortgage loan crisis. We're falling into an economic downturn and recession, and the crisis of homelessness is sure to get worse.

According to the Western Regional Advocacy Project (http://www.wraphome.org), "Homelessness is a direct result of the decisions and funding priorities of our federal government... In 1976, the number of subsidized housing units funded by the Federal Government was over 400,000 and by 2002 that combined number had fallen to less than 30,000. In addition, federal funding for homeless programs and housing assistance fell from $16 billion in 1979 to less than $2 billion in 2005. During the same period, the population of the United States has increased and the total federal budget outlays rose from $1 trillion to $2 trillion.

All over the country communities are finding that housing and caring for homeless people makes economic sense. A recent article in the Seattle P-I, "Housing Homeless Saves Money," documents two programs which are together saving taxpayers about $3.2 million a year by directly addressing residents' struggles with alcoholism, mental health problems and other issues. In addition, short-term nursing and recuperative care dropped from 1,107 to zero in one year.

If you put yourselves in the homeless person's place, out in the cold, with no safe place to sleep or food to eat, how would you want to be treated, with a NIMBY (not in my back yard) attitude, or one of compassion, humanitarianism and assistance?

As concerned citizens, we've volunteered at local soup kitchens and stood silent vigil for too many homeless people who have died. In the process we have been fortunate enough to meet homeless people and to hear their stories. We believe that homeless people are the "canaries in the coal mine" alerting us to a danger that more of us may face in the future. Ballard could help reclaim our reputation as a beacon for helping those in need. We can do it if we all work together as a community.

People ask, "What can I do to help?"

In November, (State) Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson became alarmed that Ballard was experiencing an increase in homelessness especially among vulnerable populations, and realized that Ballard lacks many of the necessary services to assist people on the streets. She called together a coalition of concerned citizens, homeless advocacy groups, local government representatives and churches, and charged them with identifying resources within the community to address this growing and urgent need. You can join this group by contacting Nancy McKinney at the Ballard Food Bank 789-7800.

There is an immediate need for safe shelter. Any properties in Ballard that can be loaned or rented which could be used as emergency shelter while they await "condo-ization" would be greatly appreciated.

There is also an immediate need for such survival items as food, clothing, toiletries, sleeping bags, bathrooms, showers, laundry facilities, etc. Anyone moved to help find solutions or to volunteer or to donate toward vouchers for showers, laundry, and other essential services, please call the Ballard Food Bank at 206-789-7800 or email ed@ballardfoodbank.org.

In the meantime, lobby the City of Seattle to stop criminalizing homelessness through its policy of destroying encampments. This makes no more sense than incarcerating folks who are mentally ill. Ask the city to offer material assistance to those camps (dumpsters, port-a-potties) until shelters are available.

Advocacy is desperately needed to make helping homeless people a political priority. Lobby our state and local legislators to put more priority on preserving existing affordable housing and encourage the construction of more adequate and cost appropriate apartments and shelters; lobby our federal representatives to shift more of the budget to restoring the social safety net upon which we all depend for security. The U.S. has fallen far behind other developed countries and it's time we caught up.

Jean Darcie and MaryLee "Glo" Smith were joined by Nancy McKinney, director of the Ballard Food Bank; Nancy Rogers

and Andrea Faste, of Sustainable Ballard; Steve Grumm, pastor Our Redeemer's Lutheran Church; Rebecca Butler, social justice chairperson, Our Redeemer's Lutheran Church as part of the coalition called together by Rep. Dickerson.