Over and over, I see posts on my Facebook feed, decrying the taking in of refugees, when there are so many homeless veterans and civilians here in America. However, it doesn’t seem like that helps them much.
In 2015, on a single night, 564,708 people were homeless. This number fluctuates as people lose homes and occasionally find a home, of course. But, the National Alliance to End Homelessness says:
- Of that number, 206,286 were people in families, and
- 358,422 were individuals.
- About 15 percent of the homeless population — 83,170 — are considered "chronically homeless” individuals.
- About 2 percent — 13,105 — are considered "chronically homeless” people in families.
- About 8 percent of homeless people — 47,725 — are veterans.
This is a shame, yes. What is even more shameful is that there are 18 million empty houses in the US. The ratio of empty homes to homeless is 6 to 1. That’s outrageous. Homes are foreclosed on, and banks are left to pay property taxes for an empty house. Why not put the homeless in those houses? The banks that own these foreclosed houses often bulldoze the lots and donate the land to the city, as that is apparently easier than leaving the houses there, more economical. Regardless, people can still use that land to build affordable housing and help get people off the streets.
In Osceola County, Florida, that’s not the approach they take. In the last decade, the county has spent more than five million dollars jailing homeless people. Not for any charges of major crime, but for doing what they must do to live, such as sleeping in a public area, or panhandling. These actions are illegal, as homelessness is criminalized. In 71 cities, helping the homeless has been made illegal. Food-sharing programs have been restricted, with rules so aggressive that lack of budget or volunteer numbers extremely discourage any actions. A movement titled “Not In My Backyard” is a community cause that drives away people trying to help the homeless, because heaven forbid people try to get basic needs met within a certain distance of your precious neighborhood. Almost definitely, this includes homeless veterans.
But defending homeless veterans is only happening when the possibility of refugees coming to this country is an issue. Defending veterans in general only happens when refugees might come to the US. People think that sharing a picture of a homeless person on Facebook counts as activism. How about you actually do something about it?
Donate to Operation Blanket, an organization that gives blankets to homeless shelters in Sonoma County, California.
Donate to Friends of Boston’s Homeless, an organization that moves homeless people off the street into apartments, saving lives.
Donate to the Nashville Rescue Mission, a Christian-centered organization dedicated to helping the homeless.
Donate to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, an organization that helps homeless veterans in 48 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam.
Don’t sit around acting self-righteous, when you haven’t done anything about the issue you claim to care about so much. Refugees are trying come to the US to escape their own war-torn countries. Not to take the jobs you aren’t trying to get, not to bomb the people and places you don’t really care about. Don’t use the current homeless epidemic to justify not letting refugees into this country, when you aren’t working to solve the issue at hand.
