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.
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.