The Wake

Illustration by Ben Alpert

U.S. Congress defines homelessness in a fairly straightforward way: “Any adult whose primary nighttime residence is a supervised, publicly or privately-operated temporary living accommodation, including emergency shelters, transitional housing, and battered women’s shelters; or whose nighttime residence is not meant for human habitation, such as under bridges or in cars.” This definition also extends to youths.

Since 1991, Wilder Research has conducted a study of homelessness in Minnesota every three years. Their most recent study was published in October 2006 and found that at least 9,200 people were homeless each night in the state.

In summer 2006, Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis began the Campaign to End Homelessness. During a 100-day planning period, county and city officials, and community leaders created Heading Home Hennepin, with a goal of preventing homelessness.

Cathy ten Broeke took over as Coordinator to End Homelessness for Heading Home Hennepin in late 2005. After eight years working as an advocate and director at St. Stevens Homeless Shelter in St. Paul, ten Broeke traveled the country researching homelessness for the National Movement to End Homelessness before being hired by Hennepin County.

Ten Broeke and Heading Home are working on two key areas to help end homelessness. One part of their work involves what she calls ‘inreach.’ Instead of waiting until people have already lost their home or found themselves on the street, Heading Home goes into institutions where people are at risk, and helps educate them about how to find and keep affordable and acceptable housing. The other component of the program provides support for those already on the street. The program aims to make available 5,000 new housing opportunities in the next 10 years.

“It is a proactive approach to homelessness,” ten Broeke says. “It’s about what it takes to move from managing homelessness to preventing homelessness.”

One of the greatest sources of homelessness is the fact that public systems, like jails, foster homes, and hospitals, are allowed to release people into homelessness.

“Once people leave the system they are just gone,” ten Broek says. “We try to go into institutions to work with people early.”

Though the United States has seen times of widespread homelessness (the Great Depression for one), it was not considered a major problem until as recently as the 1980s. But, since then, the number of homeless has risen dramatically. Housing costs have exploded, federal housing supports have gone down and the number of single parent households has grown. Other factors that have contributed to the recent rise are growing illegal drug use and the movement to deinstitutionalize the mentally ill.

This movement came about in the 1960s. Most institutions at that time were in rough shape; the facilities themselves were not always up to snuff—they were undignified places to be,” ten Broeke says. They tended to serve simply as a place for those with mental illnesses to stay. Until new psychiatric drugs and therapy techniques were introduced, mentally ill patients weren’t always receiving any productive treatment.

Many people were being held in institutions against their will. Finally, in 1967, California introduced the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, which put a halt to involuntary institutionalization, and eventually became the standard that other states followed. While these efforts have their roots in basic human rights, some negative consequences have arisen. In Minnesota, over half of those reported homeless in 2006 had a serious mental illness, according to the Wilder report.

“Unfortunately they (deinstitutionalization policies) didn’t create alternatives, so people ended up on the street,” ten Broeke says. “The answer isn’t to commit people, but it is hard for some to get by without supports.”

Like those with serious mental illnesses, youths and children can struggle to support themselves alone. Ten Broeke says that 70 percent of homeless youth were in foster care at some point. Heading Home hopes to reach out to children at younger ages in order to educate them about their futures and make sure that they don’t end up without a job or a home when they turn 18.

The Wilder foundation has found that affordable housing in the Twin Cities has become very difficult to come by. According to their Web site, the generally accepted rule is that housing should cost no more 30 percent of one’s income. When this percentage goes over 50, housing is considered to be a heavy burden.

The median income of homeless persons who were employed in 2006 was $800. Compare that to what is called the fair-market rent price (set annually by the federal government), which was $707 for a one-bedroom apartment in 2006. That would leave only $93 for all other monthly costs, and would leave those without employment on the streets.

New housing opportunities must be created that are not only affordable, but offer services to those with special needs.

“We are no longer accepting shelters as the solution,” ten Broeke says. “People rely on it as a permanent housing option, but there are better options.”

According to ten Broeke, another major hurdle faced by homeless people is that many of the services set up to help them are spread throughout the city. “People have to go all over town to get connected. It becomes a full-time job,” she says. For this reason, Project Homeless Connect was initiated in 2005. Twice a year, the project brings every possible service for the homeless into the Minneapolis Convention Center for two days. Here people can get medical care, haircuts, clothing and housing help, among many other things.

The events are almost completely privately funded, as local organizations pitch money, time, staff, and supplies. To run the events The Convention Center’s Kelber Catering provides food for all the guests, a number that is expected to exceed 2,000 on April 28.

Ten Broeke is hoping for 1,000 volunteers to staff the event. As of April 1, they were about halfway there.

“We have had wonderful support from students in the past,” she says. “They work one-on-one with the guests and serve as navigators to help them find the services they need. It is a great opportunity to learn about and interact with homelessness.”

Volunteers must be 18-years-old and attended a training session prior to the event.

Project Homeless Connect can be reached at projectconnectmpls@gmail.com.