September 10, 2006

Homelessness: A Growing Number Choose to Help

A call to act does not always come from a catastrophic event. Sometimes it comes from a simple moment. When Eric Canon of Forest Grove, Oregon, happened upon an Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) radio show that featured a discussion on homelessness last year, he reacted with an unflinching desire to discover what could be done to counter homelessness in his community. Now, he and others in Washington County have formed a growing interfaith committee to bring awareness to homelessness and raise funds for local shelters.Their efforts have generated both funds and compassion, culminating in a presentation before the Washington County Commissioners, Sept. 4, 2006.

By Sherry Harbert

Eric Canon, a metal sculptor, went directly to the Forest Grove United Church of Christ (FGUCC) to address the issue of homelessness with his fellow members after hearing a discussion on the subject during an Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) radio show last year. Canon discovered his church was helping more than he realized. He also discovered the problem was more than he realized. So he and a core group in the FGUCC began to study the scope of homelessness in Washington County, provide support for the services working with the homeless and attempt to help those at risk of homelessness. Each committee member crafted their compassion and faith into a working plan that hopes to counter the growing numbers of homelessness in the county. Their first effort culminated in the “Put a Face on Homelessness” forum last May at Pacific University. It drew almost 100 people from various churches, public and private agencies.

What grew out of that forum was group of people who have diligently worked to raise awareness and money for the four shelters in Washington County to bridge a funding gap of $90,000 in 2006. And much like the work of a metal sculptor, each molded their talents and energies into a movement that hopes to address the consequences of homelessness and also the social and economic elements that contribute to it.

Those efforts by the Committee on Homelessness raised more than $7,000 in the last two months from local churches and private donations. Members of the committee, along with local churches, concerned families and individuals working directly with the homeless presented their concerns and a check to the four directors of homeless shelters in the county during the regular meeting of the Washington County Commissioners, Sept. 5. The response to join in the presentation was overwhelming, according to Canon. In a brief overview following the presentation, he described the opportunity to tell the commissioners “that homelessness includes families with kids” was very moving. But, he added that the work continues.

From a core group of a few people to a now increasing number of concerned individuals, the Committee on Homelessness continues to seek financial and community support from an expanding area around the county. The committee is now an interfaith group working with public and private organizations. In an Aug. 14 committee meeting, Canon told the group that every church in the community has done something to help in this issue, but probably feels like they are alone. “But tonight, realize that we’re not alone in the outreach,” he said. The meeting drew representatives from the shelters, Community Action, The Community Housing Fund, the Oregon Food Bank, Oregonians for Health Security, numerous churches and concerned citizens.

Making a Difference

The Committee, along with members of local churches, wanted to publicly present funds to the four shelter directors at the Washington County Commissioners meeting Sept. 5, in Hillsboro. Canon, along with Ramsey Weit, Executive Director of The Community Housing Fund, Kristin Ludwig of Community Action in Washington County, and Russ Dondero, a retired Pacific University professor and longtime housing and homeless advocate, headed the presentation. The committee extended their “Bridge the Gap” campaign to the end of December to continue raising needed funds for the local shelters and plans to disburse new funds once a month. “We want to make a statement,” said Canon at a committee meeting on Aug. 28. “If this comes off, we can move some consciousness.”

Dondero, who helped launch the Oregon Housing NOW Coalition in the late 1990s with Chuck Currie, a long-time housing advocate who is to be ordained at a ceremony at Portland’s First Congregational United Church of Christ, Sept. 17, does not wince at stating his perspective. “Homelessness is not a unique situation in Washington County. It is not a unique situation in Oregon,” he said during the Aug. 14 committee meeting. “It’s a national crisis.” He said that the problem is so overwhelming that many people don’t know where to begin. “But the Bridge the Gap campaign is a start.”

Poverty’s Contribution to Homelessness

Poverty has always created a direct link to homelessness. And so those living in poverty and the working poor are more likely to end up homeless from events that financially-secure individuals could avoid. Since 1999, the poverty rates in the U.S. have been steadily increasing, but that seemed to change with the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau. According to the Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the U.S.: 2005 released Aug. 29, a rosier picture immerged with income and poverty rates in the U.S. for last year. Leading with an increase of 1.1 percent in median household income in the U.S., the report stated most poverty levels across the nation were statistically unchanged from 2004 to 2005. It would seem that one factor contributing to homelessness would be lessening. But that is far from reality in the Washington County, even though the county is the most affluent in the state.

Statistics can be both informative and contradictory, as with the report’s summary, released to the media and public, found more people were covered with health insurance in 2005 and more people went without any coverage. Sound confusing? It is. Inside the full report, the findings show that employment-based health insurance decreased, with the increase in government coverage. (Government coverage includes all state and federal workers’ plans, military health care, Medicare and Medicaid.) The number of children without any health coverage increased from 10.8 percent to 11.2 percent.

Countering the effects such information has on the public perception of poverty and homelessness is an ongoing problem for the Committee on Homelessness and other advocates throughout the nation. “If it’s not getting worse, it must be getting better” is an attitude that can have devastating results in the issue of poverty and homelessness. Ron Haskins, senior fellow of economic studies at The Brookings Institute, stated in a public forum held on Tuesday that even though the median income rose by 1.1 percent, there was no reduction in poverty, child poverty, earnings of men and earnings of women. Haskins also pointed out that “it is a very, very tough structural row to hoe” for low-income families making the transition of $18,000 to $36,000 a year to effectively escape poverty.

According to the Oregon Center for Public Policy, the 2006 federal poverty guidelines is a gross household income of $20,000 for a family of four. With that, a single-earner would have to make at least $9.62 an hour, far more than the minimum wage now required in the state.

Even for those who garnered the extra earnings last year, the 1.1 median increase was well below the U.S. Department of Commerce’s first and second quarter economic growth percentages of 3.7 percent and 3.5 percent respectively. The income increase was no match for 2005’s rate of inflation of 3.4 percent. The U.S. Department of Labor placed the inflation rate for the second quarter of 2006 at 4 percent. For the poor and many middle class, higher costs in energy and consumer goods, make it more difficult to cover basic needs.

Pat Rogers, director of the Community Action Family Center in Hillsboro, told the Committee on Homelessness that he has seen a steady increase in families asking for shelter services since January. He reported that of all the families seeking shelter, the number of children in January was 65, while the number in June was 191. “Washington County has been in a state of denial about poverty,” he said. “The level of awareness raised, if continued, could reduce some of that denial.”

From its inception, the committee has worked to draw awareness and focus on the needs of the homeless. The Sept. 5 presentation to the Washington County Commissioners was one step in the direction of bringing awareness to more in local government. Members offered ways Commissioners and the community can be involved in the ongoing need to address homelessness in the county.

For more information about the Committee on Homelessness, contact Eric Canon at 503-357-3282.

© 2006, Foreign Interest

For more information:

Community Action of Washington County: www.caowash.org

Community Housing Fund: www.thecommunityhousingfund.org

Oregon Center for Public Policy: www.ocpp.org

U.S. Census Bureau: www.census.gov

The Brookings Institute: www.brookings.edu

Contact author: sharbert@foreigninterest.com