Thursday, August 21, 2008

For the good of the 'all'

Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don’t mean to do harm---but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves. T.S. Eliot

I borrowed that quote from my friend CZ's blog. Normally, the majority of the quotes I use on this blog can be found at ThinkExist.

I work in a sector where many, many people are trying to do the right thing. For some, that right thing is based on wanting to feel important, wanting to feel like they're making a difference in such a way that they feel different about themselves by creating a difference in the world of homelessness. Regardless of their motives, they do make a difference and then some...

Recently, there has been a lot of debate in our city about ending homelessness. Our streets are being over-run with homeless people. What's happening? They examine the issue from many angles and in the process forget to involve the agencies working in the sector in their consultations. They come up with a statement so bold everyone stands up and cheers. We have a dearth of affordable housing.

Committees are formed. Balance sheets are readied with cost projections and overage allowances. Let's spend $3.2 billion dollars and end homelessness forever, the pundits state and politicians and well-meaning citizens band together to create a plan to make it happen.

We'll house them first, says the planning group.

Sounds good.

Except -- when you start to house the hard to house. The chronic addict with a history of violence. The mentally challenged individual with a history of substance abuse. The street worker with an addiction.

To make it look better, the planners eliminate the hard to house from the planning. They don't take in those that will make the plan 'look bad' because of the risk to success. If they don't fit within the parameters of their planning and are given housing which doesn't 'stick', they will skewer the results to the side of negative.

It's all in our perceptions.

"We need quick wins," say the planners.

And the loser is... the very person they stated they wanted to help.

The goal is laudable. The reality is different.

This post isn't about living your dream. It isn't about being the best 'you' you can be. About accepting you are enough, exactly the way you are.

This post is about doing the right thing and not kidding ourselves when we stray from the path. It's also about my mini-tirade against a system that wants to give the perception that it's doing the right thing for everyone when what they're doing is the right thing for some.

I believe ending homelessness is a great goal. I believe housing first is a good idea. What I don't believe in, is passing it off as a universal concept that meets the needs of every chronic homeless person in the city -- and then forgetting to tell the public that you're only working with a narrow subset of the demographic.

For the ten year planners in our city, doing the right thing would be to support the agencies who work hard to lessen the affect of homelessness on those experiencing it today. Doing the right thing would be to acknowledge you don't have all the answers. That one size does not fit all -- no matter how hard you try to make it fit. A size 9 foot will never fit into a size 6 glass slipper without causing harm.

Okay. Deep breath. Feeling better.

It's a good question though: How many areas of my life do I give the perception of doing the right thing when what I'm doing is only partly right because I'm not considering the impact of what I'm doing upon the person or persons I'm doing it for? How many times do I try to force my opinions and solutions on someone else or on some situation because they fit my plan, or idea, of what is right?

How many times do you do it too?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Elgie,

it's like the question of 'ending starvation' versus 'feeding some people'; reality bites when we find our high minded ideals can only put so much rubber on the road; kudos to you for recognizing there is no one-size-fits all approach. Too bad Wayne Sears and Steve Snyder don't read your blog . . they should.

Mark

Louise Gallagher said...

Thanks Mark -- I'm a bit steamed today because right now I'm experiencing the ghettoization of our area of the city -- access to the shelter is cut off because of construction -- and an enclave of shopping carts, blankets and bodies is establishing itself under the overpass directly north of our entrance -- not on our property, we have no jurisdiction to move the folks -- and the police have let it ride. Their visibility in the area has been reduced to close to nothing, we are isolated, cut-off and yet, we've still got the pundits talking about ending homelessness and getting rid of shelters and making statements that we are part of the problem, versus the solution.

Ugh! Somedays, politics and posturing are difficult to swallow!

Thanks for your support.

Hugs

Louise