In his introductory remarks for the October 4 Stanislaus Alliance Homeless Workshop at the Salida Public Library, Stanislaus County CEO Jody Hayes lamented that we live in a time when people can see a body lying in the street and pass by without even considering helping out.
Like Hayes, many people today wonder how society has become crueler, cruder, and less caring for others, especially with regard to homeless people in dire need. While there are multiple reasons, some are easier to identify than others.
Fear and Loathing
The spectacle of a body lying on a public sidewalk elicits different reactions from different people, especially if the body is easily identified as a homeless person. Well-dressed people are far more likely to receive immediate help than people in shabby or dirty clothing. Homeless people prompt conflicting reactions ranging from compassion to revulsion.
For many, homeless people are disgusting because they’re dirty, malodorous, and sometimes on drugs. It’s easy to associate homeless people with needles, crime and violence, all of which stimulate fear and loathing.
Research into brain functions has shown that we often experience conflicting emotions about people in need, ranging from empathy to disgust. Add the fear factor, and it’s not hard to understand why the same people who would help a well-dressed business person might also avoid a homeless person in the same dire straits.
Time Pressure
Even upper middle class people today find themselves hard-pressed to keep up with the demands of work and family, let alone membership in church and charitable organizations. People who might otherwise stop and help a person in distress are often too busy.
Judgment
It’s widely believed that homeless people deserve their fate, either because they’ve made bad decisions, engaged in immoral behavior, or committed crimes. Even disabled people in wheelchairs are often scorned and ignored as unworthy of sympathy or help.
Alan Davis, an amputee who sat in a wheelchair in the same soiled clothing for over a year near downtown Modesto, often received small change and food from passersby, but never got true assistance until homeless coordinator Frank Ploof arranged to have him admitted to Modesto’s Outdoor Emergency Shelter (MOES).
Davis’s case is not unusual. Kenneth “Pops” Yarber, also wheelchair-bound, spent almost twenty years on the streets of Modesto, mostly around 7th and I Streets. He finally got into MOES after Modesto Police Sargent Mike Hammond found a place for him and ordered him off the streets. Both Davis and Yarber were likely judged as unworthy of help.
Loss of Community
In a nation featuring bitter political divisions, it’s not surprising that many communities have become divided and dysfunctional. Wealth inequality is an especially divisive factor.
Robert Sapolsky, winner of a MacArthur “genius” award and a specialist in the biology and neurology of the brain, has argued persuasively that wealth inequality makes people “less kind.” As people separate into isolated social and economic enclaves, it becomes harder and harder to share experiences and points of view. The result is that on issues like homelessness and poverty, it’s much easier to assign blame than it is to think rationally about how to solve the problems.
Julia Orlando, the featured speaker at the Homeless Workshop, emphasized repeatedly how difficult it is to end homelessness. She also stressed that ending homelessness is a matter of “political will.”
Ultimately, despite recent illusions that political will is a top down dynamic, political will must be generated from the people—one more reason to come together and find the common ground that provides the foundation for communities and the greater good.
Great article, Eric.
I do believe when people have too much stress inn their own lives, they find it difficult to concern themselves with others’ problems. Our world has become a stressful place. Maybe if we could detach for awhile and focus on what really matters, we could find the energy to help others.
Agreed. I found this blog because I feel guilty about passing a homeless mother and child today in front of Walgreen. I was so stressed from a 10-hour trip, in pain, and hungry I felt like I didn’t have time to help. I was so miserable. I now feel terrible because I’m sure their situation was worse than mine. I plan on driving around tomorrow to see if I can find in the same area to help.
In Oakdale , as in Modesto, there are food pantries and shelter options, but it does require the homeless to seek help. In Oakdale, for example, the rescue mission purchased a house (from donations from the community) to allow the homeless a place to take a shower and even store their possessions and seek help. One small requirement- they have to do some chores. The purpose of that, is to teach them to work for what they receive……there are options for the homeless, but they have to want to ask and be willing to walk a few blocks too. Self service, delivery of services to your corner of the world is not yet available.
We project onto the homeless what we would do if we were homeless. We would seek out help and be willing to do chores and/ or follow rules in exchange for working our way out. I believe many in the homeless community would follow this route. But there are many that are too mentally ill to comprehend this. They are in a world and mindset that we can’t possibly imagine. I would be in favor of doing street outreach to these people. The downside to this is trying to get them into facilities for treatment and we don’t have many of those in this country.
YES THANK YOU GOD YES
Thanks. Eric, for further educating us about our need to MAKE time in our lives to help people without shelter. Informing ourselves by reading this brief article is a good way to improve the chances that we will take positive action when we see someone in need. We can also commit to helping the organizations that serve them.
Many people think that the “social safety net”, the government system of programs designed to mitigate hardship, has no holes. The thinking is that anyone who seeks aid will receive it. Add to the government programs all of the non-profits like the Salvation Army and Rescue Mission, and the perception is that plenty of assistance is available. After the average citizen pays his taxes and makes his donations to his favorite charities, his conscience is clear. He often feels no further obligation to help.
Mental Health issues seem to be the greatest barrier to providing assistance. Unless one is a professional in assisting homeless individuals, personal safety is the number one consideration in trying to decide whether to help someone lying on a sidewalk. Not knowing the mental state of someone is a big deterrent to providing direct assistance. Calling the police to do a welfare check is a more likely outcome.
Many of the homeless are obviously insane as they yell at demons only they can see. No doubt they are possessed by schizophrenia and are a danger to society. In the past, we confined them at Modesto State Hospital for their own good, and the publics. The majority of the homeless do not need homes per se, they need to be institutionalized either for drug addiction or insanity.
No offense but if they have demons don’t you think this is a job for…JESUS!GOD!HOLY SPIRIT POWER AND DELIVERANCE….:) SHOW LOVE AND PEOPLE WILLLLLL HEAL!THEY DON’T NEED TO BE LOCKED UP!THEY NEED LOTS AND LOTS OF LOOOOOVVVEEE.to help with that pain that makes them insaaaaannnneee.Being out here could just about make anyone go crazier than they were…
That just goes to show that you don’t have a clue and probably a little brain too.
You may not have noticed, but you are clearly a bad man.
You have justified the act of abandoning them by marking them as bad people.
one: they are not all metally instable, they often resort to drugs to help them cope with the stress they face.
two: the fact that you have “all” the answers for what “seems” to be done is incorrect and downright prejudice.
Ive once had it all, lost it all, i never undetstood the good times untill i went through the bad times, im living in my car, finally got one it took me about 2 years of recyling cans and plastic bottles to purchase. When i get my life back on solid ground ima focus on helping other homeless people, they need help, love and compassion too. And money dont mean sh%÷, when we die gods judges us from our character as a human not our bank account!!!
Thank you. It doesn’t justify it but it does explain it. I don’t understand how anyone can think homelessness was a conscious desirable choice for these people. Even if they are mentally ill it’s all the more reason to help. A much better use of tax dollars would be to help Americans. The military does not need trillions of dollars to bully the world into agreeing with the U. S. ‘s poor decisions.
It is not easy to be homeless; there is a lot of continuous judgment and shame involved. People in general assume and look the other way. There are different levels of homelessness. if you do not have a working space, and a home base to build your life up as well as to protect yourself – that is all you are doing every day is protecting yourself, dealing with the weather, and trying to survive. Good luck with trying to build your life up additionally. Then, eating healthy food and having a fulfilling and empowering routine and way of utilizing your gifts and/or skill-sets to advance your career or steps toward a career are extremely challenging.
I have been both not homeless, and homeless. In general without family helping you – you are on your own. Thankfully, God does care about the homeless – and His Scriptures will reign for the homeless in the end when He comes back to judge the living and the dead. The homeless tears will be wiped away and He will hold them in deep love for those homeless. (edited)
I do help when I can but my family lives below poverty level though we own our home and have no car anymore. We are retired and my husband is chronically ill. The best I can do is hand them some cash, if I have it, and direct them to assistance and services if they are not already aware. There are, I think, As many types of homeless people as there are people in general. Some want to work, some are lazy, some are mentally ill, some are scam artists, some have just lost their jobs due to lay-offs. Some are the salt of the earth. Some are old or disabled. Some are criminals. I feel for even the scammers. We need to consider how they became that way. Yes, some homeless made bad decisions. Don’t we all? We are just luckier.
Maybe we need to feel bad for the criminals and consider how they may have gotten that way. I don’t say let them hurt others but I say Let’s have some compassion. I am cautious, I admitt. Some homeless will take advantage if you show them kindness. Some are ungrateful. After all I am handing them a buck or two on my way to buy a cart of groceries. But we have to eat and live and I am sometimes scraping to get the groceries myself. Yes, I am cautious. But I listen to their problems many times. We need more money, education, housing, jobs that are suited to a person’s interests and talents. Any work can be noble but most people donot want to work serving burgers all their lives. Homelessness is a huge issue and very much misunderstood by the self-righteous who say ” Just go get a job” or proudly tell you all the troubles they have overcome. Not everyone is strong, reslient or just plain lucky.
People are selfish and only care about things that affect them personally