More money and building have not significantly reduced homelessness in Spokane or elsewhere.

• Spokane spends about $5.6 million in federal funds each year on homelessness.
• Catholic Charities in 2017: “In the last 17 years, McCann said Catholic Charities has built nine affordable housing projects, at an estimated cost of more than $100 million, much of which supported by the tax credit.”
• Catholic Charities in 2015:  “Our goal is by 2019 we will have a unit for every chronically homeless person in Spokane.”

Spokane Point-in-Time Count

The graph below shows that the number of people in Spokane who are experiencing homelessness has not changed significantly since the 10-year plan to end homelessness began in 2005.

Seattle

Seattle Under Siege – “The Seattle metro area spends more than $1 billion fighting homelessness every year. That’s nearly $100,000 for every homeless man, woman, and child in King County, yet the crisis seems only to have deepened.”

Seattle is Dying – “What is happening in King County and on the streets of Seattle isn’t about dollars. It’s about human lives. How could this be the right thing to do? How could watching human beings live and die in filth and degradation and madness be right?”

Shortage of affordable housing

November 2015 – Seattle declared a state of emergency because of the homeless situation, allocating $5 million for homeless intervention.

September 2018 – Seattle spent $86.7 million on homelessness in the first nine months of 2018, including $4.3 million to build and maintain tiny house villages.

Portland

“Portland’s homeless situation, while it is dire…I’m not making any excuses, it is dire. The reality is our homeless situation is not as severe as it is in Seattle, San Francisco, LA or other cities up and down the West Coast. … We don’t believe camping in a tent is a humane alternative to living in a warm, dry place with access to water, access to showers, access to laundry and access to social services that can actually help people get out of homelessness.” – Mayor Ted Wheeler, Portland

Tent City USA – a KGW8 investigation into the increase in tent camping in Portland.

San Francisco

San Francisco is a city of great culture, diversity and wealth. They have spent millions on solving the homeless crisis, but it only seems to be getting worse.

Convention Pulls out of San Francisco, Citing Unsafe Streets

The opinions expressed on sites linked here aren’t necessarily those of UGM, but we believe in the value of respectful dialog from multiple perspectives. We hope this compilation of resources is helpful as you think carefully and strategically about your response to homelessness.

When Helping Hurts

Research by the Chalmers Center finds that alleviating poverty involves much more than feeding and sheltering people. We often misdiagnose the problem or treat the symptoms instead of the underlying problem, and our help can actually be harmful.

Chalmers Center approach to poverty

When Helping Hurts free video series

The Story We Tell about Poverty Isn’t True

In this Ted Talk, Mia Birdsong says to end poverty, we must start with empowering the poor by acknowledging their skills and capabilities.

Institute for Faith, Work & Economics

The IFWE is a Christian group dedicated to understanding the relationship between faith and work. Many of their blog posts are thoughtful reflections on fighting poverty as a lack of social capital rather than material assets.

Made in God’s Image

We All Have Gifts

Why Relationships are Key to Helping the Poor

Poverty, Inc.

This documentary argues that the traditional approach to aid is a model of paternalism – rich countries looking down upon and “rescuing” developing countries – and has done more damage than good in many cases. The same concepts apply to domestic poverty.

Books

Love Your Neighbor: Restoring Dignity, Breaking the Cycle of Poverty by Kathryn Feliciano
Toxic Charity by Robert Lupton
When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert

Real People.

• People who are homeless are people first.
• All people are created in the image of God with inherent value.
• God loves the poor and calls us to love them too.
• Loving people who are poor and homeless means wanting the best for them – not mere survival but meaningful, purposeful lives.
• We are all broken. We all need healing. We all need relationship.

Real Change.

• Effective compassion must recognize individuals as the main players in their own stories.
• Real care for people requires that we help them address the underlying causes of their homelessness. Providing food and shelter is a critical first step, not a long-term solution.
• Compassion without accountability creates dependency and enables self-destructive behaviors.
• Relationships are key to ending poverty.
• Compassion plus accountability (in relationship) leads to real change.
• We must be humble as we work with the poor, asking ourselves: What’s working? What’s not working?