Homelessness in the US - 1 Million People

I was shocked and taken aback when recently I heard that over 1 million Americans are homeless every year.  The first time I heard it I didn't believe the number.  But in recent weeks I've heard this number repeated over and over.  How can the richest country in the world accept that a million people don't have a place the eat or sleep every day?

This number was unacceptable to me so I had to find more information.  The National Coalition for the Homeless reports the number of people homeless at one time is around 750,000⁽¹⁾.  No matter, three-quarters of a million people without a place to live is still gigantic.

The National Coalition for the Homeless details how it compiles the information it collects.  Homelessness includes children who live in a house with another family, perhaps relatives or close friends⁽²⁾.  The numbers also include children in the middle of a move from one place to another.

The National Coalition for the Homeless reports data from the Department of Education that 92% of children included in the homeless count lived either with family or friends, in motels or other housing, or in some kind of public or private shelter⁽¹⁾.

These numbers are quite encouraging.  The vast majority of people who need help are receiving it.  Their families and their communities are stepping up to the plate and reaching out to them.  Many of these families are simply in transition while they are looking for more permanent housing.  Very, very few people are actually sleeping in a car or on the street itself.  We have not turned our back on those in need, even though there is always more we can do.

The National Coalition for the Homeless reports more than 30% of the counted homeless have some kind of substance abuse problem and 26% suffer from serious mental illness⁽²⁾.  These are serious issues and there are a lot of outreach groups trying to help people who need it.  Some of these groups report they need more financial assistance and cooperation from those who need help is also an obstacle.  Many or most who are reported as chronically homeless, which is people who aren't simply in transitional or temporary housing but constantly find themselves in that position, have serious mental illness or drug addictions⁽³⁾.  There is data that suggests more can be done to improve this and that interventions can effectively reduce these numbers.

We have government programs designed solely to help people obtain housing.  One of the largest programs, HUD, has a stated mission to "create...quality affordable homes for all."⁽⁴⁾  With a budget of $50 billion⁽⁵⁾, I had a difficult time finding anything on their website that suggests they build any homes at all.

As a big fan of any organization that creates new things,  I went to a proven organization with a track record of building homes, Habitat for Humanity.  It's reported that Habitat for Humanity builds homes in the US for an average of $46,600⁽⁶⁾.  At that price, if the entire budget of HUD for just one year were given to Habitat for Humanity, they could build 1.07 million homes and have 300,000 more homes than homeless individuals.  Since many people classified homeless are families not individuals, and most people classified as homeless actually have a place to live, this would probably create nearly a million vacant homes.

So you can count every person in a given year who at one point or another is temporarily in the middle of a move or some kind of transition or even short-term in a shelter and come up with a staggering 3.5 million Americans with around 1 million children⁽¹⁾.  Or you can realize that for most Americans needing help, their families and communities are reaching out to them and that an independent organization such as Habitat for Humanity can create far more homes than a government agency ever will.


Footnotes

1. http://nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/How_Many.html
2. http://nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/who.html 
3. http://www.endhomelessness.org/section/issues/chronic_homelessness 
4. http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/about/mission
5. http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=2012BudgetFinal_03_07_Web.pdf 
6. http://www.showmehabitat.org/myths.php

I Donate to My Cause - Not Yours

In the February 9, 2011 Standard Laconic, Pat Morgan argued that North Carolina should not deny government assistance to anyone testing positive for drugs. He argues that those receiving welfare benefits who are on drugs would be much worse off if they did not receive such benefits.

Helping those who are on drugs to better themselves is a noble cause and not one that I would tell anyone is unworthy. And if this is something Pat Morgan is passionate about, then he should support it vehemently. There are many causes that I am passionate about. I want to help the poor, families having trouble buying food, and those struggling in education.

Sadly, I have a limited budget, like most Americans. I can't donate nearly as much as I want to for these causes. Most of my donations end up going directly to my church, which has excellent programs to support many of these things that I care about.

But I never ask for government to make you donate to my causes. If the things that I am passionate about are justified, I may be able to make an argument to convince you to send a donation as well. But I would never ask anyone to make you donate to these things. Because if I make you donate to the things that I care about, then you may not be able to donate to the things that you care about.

This is the situation that Pat Morgan believes you should be in. He sees providing welfare for drug addicts as a better cause than any cause you currently support. He believes it so much that he wants the government to take from your limited budget and give it to this cause. It should supersede any other donations that you are making, enforceable through the tax code.

The assumption is also that whatever government assistance is provided is done so in an efficient way, without fraud, that will produce results. But a government program or a law is incapable of dealing with such a complex issue. No government program can determine if assistance is helpful or wasteful. Only people can do this. That's what makes voluntary donations so much more effective than mandatory donations. People can donate to the programs that they can see are obtaining the outcome that they most desire - not that Pat Morgan wants.

This is the problem with most government well-intentioned assistance programs. If Pat Morgan knows of some unlimited funding source, he should access this to support all of the causes that everyone cares about. Most families have to make a decision about what they will forgo in order to donate to the things that they value most. But any government social program removes some money from all of our budgets, leaving the things we care about hanging.

Don Davis Sues Campaign? or Voters?

You all voted wrong, you just don’t know it yet. Well, that’s what Don Davis is trying to say. You see, when you lose an election in your district for the State Senate seat 45% to 55%, it obviously means that your constituents just didn’t know how to vote properly. Don Davis has done a lot of hard work get to the State Senate and he obviously deserves the position, whether the voters think so or not. Former Senator Don Davis is so serious about this charge, he wants a court to declare that indeed you did vote the wrong way.

The 2008 election was to bring a shiny New Economy and retire our broken system that led us into a deep recession. 2 years later, people don’t seem to be doing any better than they were before and many are worse. That’s explanation enough for the 2010 election. The people tired of business as usual, and the Democrats got shellacked. Don Davis would have been better off running as an Independent than a Democrat.

It still wouldn’t have mattered. Don Davis’ ideology was just too different for the 2010 mood. He’s in favor of a lot of government intervention including everything from plastic bags at certain stores to outdoor time at child care centers to making the state fund local political campaigns. This may have sounded good to people in 2008, but today it strikes a raw spot.

Half of the election mood was soreness over Obamacare. Many people probably don’t know Davis’ position on this, but since he’s a Democrat, he gets blamed anyways. I asked him about his position on this at a Meet and Greet event in Hookerton before the election. I wanted to know why North Carolina hasn’t joined the other 26 states suing to stop Obamacare. He answered that he thought Obamacare would be good for some people and anyways it’s up to Attorney General Roy Cooper to file any lawsuits. And I answered, “But you’re my representative. What are you going to do?” Sometimes I think candidates forget that they represent their constituents and not the Democrat or Republican parties.

According to reports, the lawsuit is complaining that Louis Pate’s advertising stated that it was paid for by Pate and alleges that some of it was paid for by the Republican Party. As if anyone can tell the difference? Most people in Greene County have never even heard of Pate. They didn’t vote for him because he bought ice cream for his grand children or even because he was a republican, he won because he was not a democratic incumbent. Adding the word Republican all over his campaign messages probably would only have helped him gain a better advantage. The painful truth is that Don Davis’ base didn’t see anything worth turning out to vote for, and anyone in the middle easily swung to the Republicans. The message that the American people have received over the last two years is that while many Republicans may not be right of center, practically all Democrats at the state and federal level are surely left of center.

Ultimately, Don Davis is acting like a sore loser and the role is well beneath him. Sometimes voters do make mistakes. Many voters have claimed they made mistakes in the 2008 elections. That’s why in the United States of America, we have regular elections. If the voters did make a mistake in 2010, it’s no big deal. Don Davis just needs to come out swinging in a couple more years and he’ll regain his former position.

Really, what troubles me about Don Davis is not the 2008 or the 2010 elections. We live in an area that is one of the poorest in the state. Don Davis has achieved success much greater than a large portion of our community. I don’t begrudge any of this against Mr. Davis, I congratulate him. I really think Don Davis has a lot to offer our local community on a more personal level by helping those less fortunate to one day rise above and enjoy the same kind of success that he has experienced. He can implement of bunch of state programs as a Senator, but this can never come close to the impact of one-on-one work with the actual people. I would go so far as to say that this would be a greater position of honor and dignity. I’m sure that Don Davis is quite capable of providing the kind of leadership our community certainly needs.

Perdue's Budget Cuts Teacher Jobs

Governor Bev Perdue's proposed budget will eliminate teacher jobs by forcing cuts at the County level, avoiding having her name associated with these job losses.

Governor Bev Perdues proposed budget takes serious fiscal action to correct North Carolina's projected deficit, which is what is needed to correct our state's more than $2 billion budget shortfall.Governor Perdue has promised not to teacher jobs or teacher assistants in her plan. However, she has moved some education costs such as buying school buses and workers compensation to the Counties so the state won't have to pay this any more. This will almost certainly result in lost teachers' jobs but Perdue would be able to blame the Counties and claim immunity.

The education portion of the budget is about 21% so it seems almost certain that education budgets must be cut to balance it. However, today in the news are protests in Wisconsin over teacher jobs that are scaring politicians across the country. Ultimately, Governor Perdue just doesn't have the courage to put her name on the teacher job cuts she knows are coming.

The budget proposed by Governor Perdue is ultimately a bill that will cut teacher jobs, but Perdue can blame the Counties and attempt to save her political image. This plan is likely to raise a stink in each of our 100 Counties and leave Governor Perdue smelling like a rose.