Homeless In Martinez

As I flipped through this week’s pages of the Economist, I ran across a story about Victory Gardens making a comeback. Apparently our new Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack will be planting a People’s Garden and opined that he envisions these gardens at each of his department’s offices around the world.

This story took on a bigger meaning for me on Tuesday when I ran into our downtown Starbucks for an afternoon coffee. As I was pouring cream in my coffee I caught snippets of conversations coming from a table of locals near the door. The overall tone of the conversation had to do with the notices we all received in our water bills alerting us to the probability of a water conservation program being enacted. One comment in particular tied into the Economist’s article as one of the men reminisced on how far removed we are from our agrarian roots.

In light of our recent drought warnings I don’t know how feasible veggie gardens would be, but it had me thinking about the concept of community gardens as a means of addressing some of the issues cropping up regarding our homeless population. Then I took a look at the literature available at this week’s city council meeting and came to the conclusion I wasn’t thinking big enough. And by big I’m not meaning the lofty goal of the County to “cure” homelessness within ten years.

For the record the only thing I think government is capable of curing is its insatiable appetite for more government. It occurs to me that given the global brain trust that has been trained on the issue of homelessness and its causes, if there existed a cure, it would have surfaced long ago. However, there are examples of NGO’s (non-governmental organizations) creating exceptional lives from those in our communities who were once labeled; convicts, addicts, illiterates, homeless and changed them to; chef, truck driver, teacher and contractor.

The Delancey Street Foundation in San Francisco is just that organization. From Delancey’s website (www.delanceystreetfoundation.org); “[R]ather than solving one issue at a time (e.g., drugs or job skills) we believe that all aspects of a person’s life interact, and all people must interact legitimately and successfully with others to make their lives work.”

I don’t believe a shelter should be seen as a right or a gift, there should be something required in return. Delancey’s motto of “each-one-teach-one” would appear to support the premise that the human spirit responds and rebounds when the focus is taken off ‘me/mine.’ Nor do I believe that by providing shelter alone, the attendant issues raised in an earlier council meeting magically disappear. One of the criticisms of the available shelters is a high occurrence of personal crimes. Building a new shelter will not teach proper boundaries, self-respect or respect of others, it merely provides a forwarding address.

And while laudable, I don’t believe the underlying causes of homelessness are cured simply by providing permanent housing. I would strongly encourage those who are seriously interested in making a change take a long hard look at Delancey Street Foundation’s model and seek their guidance in replicating it.