There are not that many homeless people, but those few are persistent in putting themselves in our faces, sleeping in our city doorways, panhandling on our streets. Wrong.
Young people are attracted to the homeless lifestyle. Wrong.
Older homeless people are addicts or people with mental issues. Wrong.
We could go on with the misconceptions. But by now, if you’re not interested in the truth, you’re probably jiggling up and down with eagerness to tell us that some people DO live in doorways, DO panhandle, DO enjoy the homeless lifestyle, DO have drug addictions, DO have mental issues.
Sure.
But this tiny fraction of an entire population of people who are homeless mischaracterize a serious and growing problem. The price we pay for that mischaracterization? When we don’t understand what we’re dealing with, we can’t fix it.
And where should we ultimately look for a solution to homelessness? To creating the political will to build more affordable housing for the lowest wage earners. Of course, this might not be the first idea offered by a person who is homeless.
For more about understanding homelessness, read in Huffington Post: 5 Things People Get Wrong About Homelessness
Here’s practical example of how far off the rails a poor understanding can go. Consider the CEO of the Greater Victoria’s Chamber of Commerce in British Columbia. There is no reason to doubt she is anything but intelligent, dedicated, and honest. Yet, in an opinion piece in the Victoria Times-Colonist she presents a set of misconceptions about homelessness that undermine what is otherwise a perceptive article about affordable housing. Try: To A Business High Priest At The Altar Of Affordable Housing: A Little Research, PLEASE!
