"An individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and nighttime residence." (http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/11302)
Artifact #2: National Alliance to End Homelessness definition
"Homelessness occurs when people or households are unable to acquire and/or maintain housing they can afford."
(http://www.endhomelessness.org/pages/snapshot_of_homelessness)
Artifact #3: CNN News clip: A night in a Homeless Shelter
"Homelessness occurs when people or households are unable to acquire and/or maintain housing they can afford."
(http://www.endhomelessness.org/pages/snapshot_of_homelessness)
Artifact #3: CNN News clip: A night in a Homeless Shelter
Artifact #4: Raising Awareness of Homelessness in Austin, TX
Artifact #5: National Coalition for the Homeless Campaign
Artifact #6: The Soloist
Artifact #7: Lyrics of What’s it Like by Everlast's first verse
We've
all seen a man at the liquor store beggin' for your change
The
hair on his face is dirty, dread-locked, and full of mange
He
asks a man for what he could spare, with shame in his eyes
"Get a job, you fucking slob," is all he replies
God forbid, you ever had to walk a mile in his shoes
'Cause then you really might know what it's like to sing the blues
Artifact #8: Simpsons – The day violence died
Artifact #9: The Tommy Taylor Show: Are Homeless People Really Homeless?
Artifact #10: WTTE:
Ohio Pandhandler Uses Donations to Buy Giant Flat-Screen TV
According to the U.S. Housing and Urban Development
Department, the United States had 633,782 people homeless on a given night in
January 2012. In a western
powerhouse where wealth and waste are ever present, homelessness continues to
be a significant concern. So what
is homelessness? And what lenses
do Americans view this concern?
In searching cultural artifacts for various portrayals of
homelessness and homeless individuals, I found a number of common themes, one
of the most popular being homelessness as not having a home, or roof over one’s
head, and utilizing government or church programs for shelter. Both the U.S. government and various
nonprofit organizations define homelessness as not having adequate housing (artifact #1 and #2). This is portrayed
through various forms of media (artifact #6 and #8) and is often connected to living in a homeless shelter (artifact #3).
Another mainstream image and artifact closely tied to
homelessness is that of an elderly gentleman, disheveled, pushing a cart or holding
up a sign, and who is often considered “crazy”. This frequently is the face and representative of
homelessness, as seen in artifact #4 and
#5’s campaigns to raise awareness,
and is also one of the main representations of homelessness in movies, TV
shows, and songs (artifact #6, #7, and #8).
Another portrayal of homelessness that is often circulated
is the idea that homeless individuals are panhandlers who scam those they beg
from. As seen in the GEICO
spoof (article #9) and the new's clip (article
#10), there is a perception that homeless individuals are not really in
need and that helping them will only make you a victim to their scams.
Although the above portrayals of homelessness are valid (a
significant portion of the homeless population do not have adequate shelter and
the majority of homeless individuals are single men), these portrayals do not
encompass the whole story.
Homelessness is more than just ‘rooflessness’, as asserted by Moore
(2003). Its definition is more
complex than not having a home and involves issues of detachment from society,
social exclusion, and a lack of belonging and other meanings tied to home, such
as privacy, security, and freedom.
In addition, homelessness consists of more than just single men, the
visible homeless (May et. al., 2007).
This emphasis of single men
often negates the voices of homeless women, youth, children, LGBTQ, and those
who live couch to couch.
It is only when we move beyond the cultural artifacts that
portray homelessness as ‘rooflessness’ and as an issue tied solely to single
men, are we able to address more than a single aspect of homelessness. It is only when we stop justifying our
apathy towards the homeless by labeling them as panhandlers and scammers, are
we able to begin constructive conversations of this issue. And it is only when we transpose
the theories of homelessness that look beyond ‘rooflesness’, and include those
who are often the invisible homeless, in both policy and practice, are we able
to begin to truly address homelessness.
Campaign: The Voices of the
Invisible
As discussed above, homelessness is a complex issue that
involves more than just ‘rooflessness’ and impacts various individuals with
differing needs. Yet, too often,
homelessness is addressed with only the visible homeless (single men) in mind
and with solutions that target only one aspect of homelessness (rooflessness). Our campaign, The Voices of the
Invisible, strives to move beyond these mainstream portrayals of homelessness,
challenging individuals to redefine their definition to include those whose
voices are often not heard, whose faces and experiences in homelessness are
often invisible. These include
women, children, youth, and LGBTQ, to name a few. As May et al. (2007) asserts,
“The naming of a social problem is
central to the responses that follow, and all such naming strategies work to
exclude and to restrict. In
seeking to identify a redistributive social policy agenda, then, it is
essential not only to recognise that women too suffer the exclusions of visible
homelessness, but that the experience of street homelessness is different for
women.” (p. 135)
A particularly invisible group of the homeless population is
that of foster children. Although having
a roof over their head, many foster children often feel homeless. Some move from placement to placement
with their belongings carried in one black garbage bag. Others feel ostracized and excluded,
labeled as children with behavioral problems and having issues at home. Still others, no matter how many placement homes they have lived in, never find a place they call home.
According to the CRS Report for Congress (2007), 25% of
foster youth experience homelessness and “youth ‘aging out’ of the foster care
system experience homelessness at a greater rate than their counterparts in the
general population, due, in part to family disconnectedness” (p. 31). In California, 65% of youth
emancipating out of the foster care system do not have a place to live (http://www.childrenunitingnations.org/who-we-are/foster-care-statistics/)
and in 2011,
104,236 foster children were waiting to be adopted (http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/cb/waiting2011.pdf).
When redefined to include people other than single men and
issues beyond ‘rooflessness’, it is clear that the homelessness of foster
children and youth is a significant concern.
Yet, despite these stark statistics, very little is done in policy and
practice to address these challenges.
It is the hope of The Voices of the Invisible campaign that through campaign posters, advertisements, flyers, etc., we can raise awareness
and educate people regarding this fragile population. These campaign advertisements are meant to challenge definitions and give voice to those once silent. In turn, we hope that this will ignite conversations and processes that acknowledge these groups in homeless policies, practices, and changes.
