Homelessness​—A Worldwide Problem

BY AWAKE! WRITER IN POLAND

“SMELLY, grimy winos​—no property, no identity, nothing!” That is a startling stereotype, but according to volunteers who work with the homeless in Czestochowa, Poland, that is just how people commonly view those who have no roof over their head.

According to a report in The Economist a few years ago, beneath the streets of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, many of the city’s thousands of street children were living in fetid passages that led to the sewers or to the city’s heating system. Though shocked to learn of these homeless children, many Mongolians concluded that the situation arose “because people are too lazy to look after their children,” the journal noted.

On the other side of the world, street children are slaughtered by death squads of self-proclaimed vigilantes. Why? A United Nations publication explained: “In Latin America many people in the judiciary, the police, the media, business, and society in general believe that street children represent a moral threat to a civilised society.” The same source noted: “An average of three street children are reportedly killed every day in the state of Rio de Janeiro.”

Homeless people “trigger fear and uneasiness in us . . . , but they are humans who feel pangs of hunger just as we do. There are many of them, and they have a real need.” So says a Web page created by volunteers who work with the homeless in Czestochowa. The same source adds: “We hope that . . . there will be people who respond to this great need.” What exactly is the need, and how great is it?

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A group of homeless children living beneath this manhole

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Jacob Ehrbahn/Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten

Homelessness​—What Is Behind It?

“WORLDWIDE there are over 100 million homeless people,” reports the United Nations. If that figure is accurate, then 1 human in every 60 or so is without adequate shelter! Still, the real scope of the problem is hard to assess. Why?

Definitions of homelessness vary from one part of the world to another. The approaches and aims of those who study the problem influence the way they define it. Their definition, in turn, affects the statistics they publish. So it is difficult, if not impossible, to get an accurate overview of the problem.

The book Strategies to Combat Homelessness, published by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements, defines homelessness as the condition of “not having an acceptable level of housing provision. It would include all states below what may be regarded as adequate” for the society in which the homeless live. Some may dwell on the streets or occupy derelict or abandoned buildings, while others might find shelter in hostels. Still others find temporary accommodation with friends. In any case, says the same study: “To classify someone as homeless indicates a state in which ‘something must be done’ for the victim of such circumstances.”

It is estimated that in Poland, a country with a population of some 40 million, there are as many as 300,000 homeless people. No one really knows how many, since they are not registered in any fixed location and they keep moving from place to place. Some believe the real figure to be close to half a million!

Since homelessness is widespread, someone you know may be affected by it. The plight of the homeless raises a number of questions. How did these people come to be without adequate housing? How do they get by? Who helps them? And what does the future hold for the homeless?

In and Out of Homelessness

Sabrinaa is a single mother from a poor neighborhood in Harlem, a section of New York City. She dropped out of high school after tenth grade. Sabrina lives with her three young children in a city-run shelter for the long-term homeless. She shares a one-bedroom apartment with her three boys​—aged ten months, three years, and ten years. The city makes such provisions for people who have no other safe place to live.

Sabrina moved out of her mother’s apartment ten years ago. Since then she has lived with her boyfriend, stayed with friends and relatives, and resorted to city shelters when things got bad. “I’ve worked off and on, mostly braiding people’s hair for money,” says Sabrina, “but for the most part, I’ve been on public assistance.”

Paradoxically, Sabrina’s problems, as recounted in Parents magazine, began when she found a good job as a housekeeper in a hotel. While she was working there, she earned too much to qualify for public assistance but not enough to cover her expenses, including housing, food, clothing, transportation, and child care. Thus, she found it hard to pay her rent, and her landlord tried to evict her. In the end, Sabrina quit her job and resorted to an emergency short-term shelter until there was room where she is now.

“It’s all been hard on my kids,” says Sabrina. “My oldest son has already been in three different schools. He should be in fifth grade, but he was held back a year . . . We’ve had to move around so much.” Sabrina is on a waiting list for subsidized housing.

To any who have absolutely no place to go, Sabrina might seem fortunate. Life in a shelter, however, is not a welcome safety net for all the homeless. According to the Polish Community Help Committee, some “are afraid of the discipline and rules of shelters” and reject the help provided. For example, those who live in hostels for the homeless are expected to work and to abstain from alcohol and drugs. Not everyone is prepared to comply. Hence, depending on the time of year, homeless people may be found sleeping in train stations, stairwells, and cellars, as well as on park benches, under bridges, and in industrial areas. Similar scenes are repeated the world over.

One book on the subject lists many factors that contribute to homelessness in Poland. They include job loss, debt, and family problems. There is a shortage of housing for the elderly, disabled, and people infected with HIV. Many homeless people have mental and physical problems or problems of addiction, particularly to alcohol. The majority of homeless women have left​—or have run away from—​their husbands, have been thrown out of their home, or have a history of prostitution. It seems that behind every case, there is a sad story.

Victims of Circumstance

Stanisława Golinowska, a specialist in socio-economics, says: “Here [in Poland] there is no genuine case of homelessness by choice. . . . Rather, it is a result of various failures in life, which have led to breakdown and loss of the will to live.” Homelessness seems to befall people who, for various reasons, feel unable to deal with their problems. Some, for example, have been released from prison, only to find that vandals have wrecked their home. Others have been evicted. Many have lost the roof over their head in the wake of natural disasters.b

One study found that nearly half the homeless surveyed in Poland used to be part of a family and lived with their spouse, though often the family had problems. Most were thrown out of their home or felt compelled to leave because of extreme hardship. Only 14 percent freely made a decision to leave.

After spending time in a shelter, some are able to become self-sufficient again and find their own accommodations. For others, the situation is more difficult to resolve. In part because of mental or physical illness, substance abuse, lack of incentives to work, poor work habits, lack of adequate education, or a combination of factors, they become chronically homeless. In the United States, some 30 percent of homeless people are in and out of what one nonprofit organization calls the “homeless system”​—a system that includes shelters, hospitals and, sadly, prisons. Those who are chronically dependent on the system are said to utilize as much as 90 percent of the national resources dedicated to the problem.

Help for the Homeless?

Some shelters offer services aimed at helping people to break out of the homeless life. Individuals may be helped to obtain public assistance, financial help from other sources, legal aid, support in reestablishing links with family, or the chance to learn basic skills. Centers for young people in London offer advice on diet, cooking, healthier lifestyles, and work placement. Counseling aims to increase self-respect and motivation and to help people achieve greater independence so that they can find and keep a home of their own. Such provisions are certainly praiseworthy.

Not always, however, do shelters offer the homeless the help they feel they need most. Jacek, a homeless person in Warsaw, explains that life in the shelters does not equip residents to deal with the outside world. He feels that the residents, by associating and conversing almost exclusively with one another, tend to develop “a warped pattern of thinking.” He says, “The shelter that isolates us from the outside world becomes like a children’s home for adults.” In his view, many residents have “malfunctioning minds.”

According to one Polish study, loneliness is the most painful emotion the homeless experience. As a result of financial problems and low social standing, the homeless tend to consider themselves worthless. Some turn to alcohol. Jacek says, “Seeing no hope for change, many of us slowly lose the conviction that there is anything we can do to improve our plight.” They are ashamed of the way they look, of their poverty and helplessness, and of the simple fact that they are homeless.

“Whether we talk about the pavement dwellers in Bombay [Mumbai] and Calcutta or the rough sleepers in the streets of London, or the Street Children in Brazil,” says Francis Jegede, who specializes in population issues, “the condition of homelessness is too grave and pathetic to imagine, let alone experience.” Then he adds: “Whatever may be the cause or causes of this phenomenon, the question one keeps asking is why is it that the world, with all its wealth and wisdom and its technological know-how, seems incapable of dealing with the problem of homelessness?”

It is evident that all the homeless need help​—not just physical help but also the kind that can soothe their hearts and lift their spirits. Such help can empower people to face and overcome many of the problems that contribute to homelessness. But where can the homeless find that kind of help? And what hope is there that the tragedy of homelessness will ever be eradicated?

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The Results of Abject Poverty

Hundreds of thousands live on the city streets of India. Past estimates have found some 250,000 pavement dwellers in Mumbai alone. Their only shelter may be a tarpaulin tied between poles and neighboring structures. Why do they live here rather than in relatively affordable housing near the city’s outskirts? Because they work​—as petty traders, hawkers, rickshaw pullers, or scrap collectors—​close to the city center. “They have no choice,” says Strategies to Combat Homelessness. “They are simply forced by poverty to spend nothing on rent that could be used for food.”

Some 2,300 men, women, and children live in Park Station, Johannesburg, South Africa. They sleep on open railroad platforms, using scraps of blankets as beds, or in cardboard shacks. Most have no work and have lost hope of finding any. Thousands live in a similar fashion throughout the city. They lack water, toilet facilities, and electricity. In such conditions disease spreads fast.

The reason for the homelessness of these two groups of people and many others like them is simple​—abject poverty.

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Failings of Modern Society

The book Strategies to Combat Homelessness, published by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements, identifies a number of shortcomings of the present social, political, and economic system when it comes to providing homes for all. Included are the following:

● “The main issue with respect to homelessness remains the inability of governments to devote significant resources towards the full realisation of the right to adequate housing.”

● “The existence of inappropriate regulations and inefficient planning systems can . . . cause havoc with housing supply for the poor majority.”

● “Homelessness is a sign of the inequitable distribution of housing costs and benefits in the community.”

● “The crisis of homelessness is the culmination of policies that have either ignored or misdiagnosed the adverse impact of economic shifts, the lack of affordable housing, increased drug abuse, and other physical health and mental health problems of those who are the most vulnerable in . . . society.”

● “There is a great need to modify the training of professionals who deal with vulnerable people. Homeless people, particularly street children, should be regarded as unutilised but potential assets rather than burdens to society.”

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A mother and her two daughters begging, Mexico

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© Mark Henley/Panos Pictures

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A former railway station was converted into a hostel for the homeless in Pretoria, South Africa

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© Dieter Telemans/Panos Pictures

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Left: © Gerd Ludwig/Visum/Panos Pictures; inset: © Mikkel Ostergaard/Panos Pictures; right: © Mark Henley/Panos Pictures

Homelessness​—What Is the Solution?

“GIVE a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” This saying illustrates the truth that simply filling an immediate physical need may be of limited value. It is even better to help people learn how to solve problems and address their own needs. Many people need to be taught life skills or even an altogether different outlook on and approach to life.

Jehovah’s Witnesses are convinced that the most effective way to help with homelessness is to teach people the best way of living. This means applying the best advice available​—that provided by man’s Creator. Who is better qualified to give such counsel? His advice is helping people to avoid many of the problems that lead to homelessness. It is also helping sincere people who have the problem to overcome it. Of course, reading the Bible will not, in itself, make all the problems we face vanish. However, the Bible can help people to eliminate costly vices, to regain a measure of self-respect, and to lead a more dignified life.

Many people have lost their home as a result of substance abuse, a life of crime, financial problems, or family breakdown. The Bible gives practical counsel on all these matters. Applying such advice has already helped millions of people to change their outlook on life​—and indeed change their whole personality—​for the better. Application of Scriptural counsel alone, of course, may not resolve all the problems associated with homelessness. In the short term, natural disasters, ill health, widespread poverty, addiction, and the like are problems that frequently call for other kinds of assistance. While Jehovah’s Witnesses do all they can to help individuals who are suffering from the effects of such afflictions, they recognize that only mankind’s Maker can resolve those problems once and for all. Will he?

God’s Original Purpose

There is good reason to hope that homelessness will soon end. On what basis? Consider: Jehovah God provided a good home for the first human pair. God placed them in a paradise, where they had all they needed. Had they followed their Maker’s guidance, they would have extended that Paradise to all the earth. Their offspring would have enjoyed abundance and comfortable homes. Each member of the human family would have been able to rely on the love and cooperation of everyone else. That was God’s original purpose. He has not changed his mind.​—Psalm 37:9-11, 29.

Furthermore, whatever God intends to be will be, without fail. (Isaiah 55:10, 11) The Bible prophesies that a time will come when everyone will have his own home and material plenty. Granted, before that is possible, all human society as we know it now will have to change. Such a change will be brought about by divine intervention in mankind’s affairs. That is what Jesus had in mind when he told his disciples to pray: “Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth.”​—Matthew 6:9, 10.

Under the just rule of God’s Kingdom, obedient mankind will see the fulfillment of this heartening prophecy: “They will certainly build houses and have occupancy . . . They will not build and someone else have occupancy; they will not plant and someone else do the eating. . . . The work of their own hands my chosen ones will use to the full.” (Isaiah 65:21, 22) Simply put, no one will be homeless.

Jehovah’s Witnesses are striving to provide people with the spiritual help they need right now. They desire to give others the loving attention that Jesus recommended. (Matthew 22:36-39) The same concern for others moves them to come to the aid of those who have lost their homes as a result of natural disasters.a

Realistically, the Witnesses understand that it is not possible to help everyone. Jacek, from Poland, who lives in a shelter for the homeless, acknowledges regarding the homeless: “Some are aggressive or are under the influence of drugs. Others have an aversion to religious topics, thinking that God is not interested in them. But there are those who respond favorably to God’s Word.” Jacek himself, for example, has done so. He has begun to learn more about what the Bible really teaches.

Another homeless man who reacted positively is Roman, an AIDS sufferer who until recently lived on the street. “When I arrived at the Social Services care unit, I did not know that Jehovah’s Witnesses met nearby,” he recalls. “Soon they started a conversation with me in the street and explained that the cries for help of the homeless do not go unnoticed by God. They also invited me to one of their meetings.”​—Psalm 72:12, 13.

How was he affected by what he heard? “I learned that I can live forever in Paradise on earth and that I am precious in God’s eyes. Surrounded by new, caring friends, I stopped focusing on my predicament and started changing my personality. Out of love for God, I gave up smoking and in prayer made a pledge to him that I would walk the path of righteousness.”

Roman made fine spiritual progress and was soon baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. With the help of fellow believers and the authorities, he was able to move into suitable accommodations. Roman joyously exclaims: “Indescribable happiness has taken root in my heart. I have drawn close to a loving God, who restored purpose to my life. He gave me a wonderful family of brothers and sisters and also a home!”

A Future for the Homeless

Jehovah’s Witnesses strive to show empathy to all their neighbors, including the homeless. They are anxious to share Bible truths regarding a better future​—truths that even now can transform lives.​—John 8:32.

“That which is made crooked cannot be made straight,” says the Bible. (Ecclesiastes 1:15) Yes, despite the best intentions of volunteers and the authorities, such deep-rooted social problems as homelessness and poverty are difficult to eradicate. The Bible assures us, however, that soon, under the rule of God’s Kingdom, all obedient people will enjoy perfect living conditions.

[Footnote]

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A refugee mother from Somalia holding a food ration card

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© Trygve Bolstad/Panos Pictures

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Above all, homeless people need a hope for the future

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Under God’s Kingdom no one will be homeless