Down and Out: Arizona's Homeless

They are working families with children.

They are former veterans who served us.

They are not drunks and drug addicts.

They are people like you and me.

The latest statistics on the homeless in America paint a disturbing truth that few of us really want to hear. Because they hit awfully close to home – and to the fact that any of us, due to an unanticipated medical problem, sudden job or housing loss or even an unexpected jail term, can easily wind up on the street.

According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness (see the Web site  at http://www.endhomelessness.org), there are 600,000 homeless families and 1.35 million homeless children in the U.S. And the diminishing availability of affordable housing accounts as a primary factor casting folks on the curb – literally.

The alliance claims that another 650,000 prisoners will be released onto the street this year, only adding to the homeless statistics. Unable to get jobs due to a prison record and/or lack of housing, most will have nowhere to go.

In Arizona, more than 8,000 people in Phoenix and 1,300 families in Flagstaff are homeless. We wonder how many more remain uncounted.

It doesn’t take much to lose your home. Just ask any of the working families seeking shelter at the Royal Inn in Flagstaff, where owners Kent and Lynette Bybee have launched a program offering them a chance to get back on their feet.

We’ll be highlighting her efforts in Part 2 of our coverage on the homeless in Arizona. Here, in Part 1, Traci Robertson comments on the current situation in Flagstaff and Richard Aberdeen addresses the sad plight of homeless veterans.

Visit the Arizona Coalition to End Homelessness Web site at http://www.azceh.org for more information.

Part 1 - Street Talk

By Traci Robertson

Does Arizona have a serious homeless crisis? Before we answer that question, let’s take a look at some general statistics.

According to the McKinney Act, 60 percent of homeless women are single parents. While 60 percent of Americans have a substance abuse problem, 40 percent of the homeless do NOT abuse drugs, medications or alcohol. They aren’t all drunks and addicts as we tend to think.

There more than 500,000 war veterans currently homeless in America, representing more than one-third of the total homeless population. Approximately 25 percent of the homeless people become mentally ill because of their situation, and one out of six homeless people attempt suicide.  

The Old Testament admonishes us to “house the homeless.” (Isaiah 58:6). What are we doing about that right here in Arizona? It’s not quite what Isaiah had in mind.

A tale of two cities

In its 2006 annual report “A Dream Denied: The Criminalization of the Homelessness in U.S. Cities,” the National Coalition for the Homeless named two Arizona cities among the “Top 20 Meanest Cities in America” for homeless people.

Flagstaff came in at No. 10 and Phoenix at No. 17. Shame on us.

According to the report, both of the above cities failed to make available, or only minimally provided, social services and affordable housing. Furthermore, both cities enacted the actual outlawing of the very status of homelessness by criminalizing activities such as sleeping in cars on city streets.

In essence, city leaders have made it illegal to be homeless in Flagstaff and Phoenix Arizona. And they have provided nothing in the way of resources or social services to help needy homeless people.

The Flagstaff City Council made camping or sleeping in one's car within city limits illegal in 2005, with a fine of $2,500 and/or six months in jail for violators. That leaves 1,300 families with nowhere to turn.

Conversely, the city of Flagstaff has not provided a homeless shelter, thwarted by other financial priorities and citizens who scream loudly that they don’t want one near their homes and/or businesses. Arizona cities should be looking at ways to empower and not enable our homeless population, making criminals out of destitute working poor families.

Anywhere else but here

A friend of mine recently noticed a homeless man walking on the side of the road in Sedona who was approached by a policeman in his patrol car.  The next day my friend saw the very same man on the side of the road in Flagstaff. We could only speculate that perhaps the Sedona policeman gave him a ride to Flagstaff. 

A NIMBY response, perhaps? Hmmmmmm. Certainly Sedona doesn’t want the homeless to tarnish its rosy image for tourists and “Main Street” small-town appeal.

The NIMBY (not in my back yard) mentality has to go. The homeless ARE in our back yard and ignoring them won’t make them go away. We cannot, as a state and as a society, continue to drive our homeless out of town in the hopes that they become another city’s problem. 

The next homeless person could be you.

A haven for the homeless

Two private citizens in Flagstaff purchased the Royal Inn on Route 66. While they could have run a typical motel, instead they turned the Royal Inn into a place where the homeless could come and receive a room, food, job counseling, psychiatric care, housing counseling, substance abuse treatment and reentry into the mainstream culture.

They also provide much needed services, such as a place to receive their mail and get telephone calls from prospective employers and family members while enjoying a warm, inviting environment designed to help them become contributing members of society. 

At the Royal Inn, where I help out occasionally, I have met children and parents who were temporarily residing there.  Last Christmas, Lynette informed me she was housing 50 people while outside the temperatures dropped to a minus 6 one day. Where would they have found the necessary warmth to stay alive?

Many of the families I have met are people who came to Arizona with $5,000 to find a place to live and obtain employment, only to discover it wasn’t enough for the extremely high cost of living and low wage base. 

We cannot ignore the fact that it is possible that a young mother or child might be the next to freeze-to-death statistic during a long, bitter cold night in Flagstaff while waiting for someone to give them shelter. All demographics show that homelessness is on the rise and not on the decline in Flagstaff and Phoenix.

Taking responsibility

If our city governments won’t or can’t come to the plate with solutions, private businesses (like the Bybee's) and private citizens must take on the challenge. 

We can do so much better than we are currently doing.  We can attend City Council meetings and speak on behalf of the need for homeless shelters.  We can send e-mail and letters to city, state and national representatives from Arizona.  We can raise funding and ask private business to partner with us to be a part of the solution to the problem. Above all, we can refuse to embrace the NIMBY state of mind.

Last Christmas my daughter Emma took a handful of homeless children from the Royal Inn to a movie on her meager pizza parlor salary.  She asked the children what they wanted “Santa” to bring.  One little boy wanted a bike. Another little girl wanted a Barbie, and so it went.

But one little girl sat silently in the back seat until Emma prompted her to answer. Her reply: “I just want my very own house.”  The happy news is that four months later she and her single father HAD their very own apartment, with him obtaining a job and her enrolled in school – thanks to the Bybees, not our city leaders.

Everyone deserves a second chance

Not all homeless people are dunks and drug addicts.  Plus, consider the fact that drunks and drug addicts need a chance at life just as much as you and me. 

Many homeless people are moms and kids and dads. Their lives and futures mean something to me. Flagstaff alone has 550 homeless children. There is no such thing as a throw-away child.  I care what those children have the potential to become and contribute to society. 

There should be a law against making it illegal to be homeless. For now, let’s all agree that we will do something, no matter how small, to ensure a safe, warm, secure, vibrant and productive future for those less fortunate than ourselves.

Kent and Lynette are unsung heroes in my book.  If you would like to help them in their endeavors, e-mail lbroyalinn@yahoo.com. 

Traci Robertson is a published writer of articles for local and national publications on a variety of subjects. She is currently working on her first book, Critical Heart Conditions, and lives in Flagstaff where she advocates for the homeless and many other worthy causes.

E-mail TRobertson@SedonaObserver.com.

Coming Soon!

Homeless in Arizona, Part 2

The Royal Treatment

"Getting their digs on Route 66"

Finally, Flagstaff's homeless receive

a Royal welcome

Flagstaff's homeless find a regal welcome at the Royal Inn as one couple opens their motel doors and hearts for the city's have-nots. Join us as we travel to Flagstaff to meet Kent and Lynette Bybee, owners of the Royal Inn, and the people and families they are rescuing off the streets of one of the "Top 20 Meanest Cities in America."

But don't wait for our story to find out how to help the homeless. Now you can send contributions to INN TRANSITIONS, a new nonprofit support service that provides transitional housing for working poor families on the street.

Send donations payable to Inn Transitions, c/o The Royal Inn, 2140 E. Route 66, Flagstaff, AZ 86004, or e-mail lbroyalinn@yahoo.com.

In 2006, approximately 196,000 veterans were homeless on any given night, up from an estimated 194,000 in 2005.

Estimates of the total number of veterans who are homeless tally about half a million; this figure does not include their spouses and children, who may also be homeless or severely impoverished.  An additional 500,000 veterans pay more than 50 percent of their income to cover rent.

In the United States, veterans comprise 26 percent of the homeless population, while they represent only 11 percent of the adult civilian population. In Tennessee alone, there were approximately 2,800 veterans homeless on any given night in 2006.

Housing costs to blame

According to Operation Stand Down Nashville, while factors such as lack of income, physical health, physical disability, mental health, trauma and substance abuse all contribute to veteran homelessness, veterans are primarily homeless due to the lack of affordable housing.

Homeless veterans include a significantly growing number from current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Many suffer from severe post traumatic stress disorder and severe sleep deprivation.

Often, those who have never suffered from PTSD and the inability to sleep are unaware of how big of a toll such a problem has on preventing these veterans from being able to hold down a steady job and function well on a regular basis.  

Many veterans have lost civilian jobs due to extended tours in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere and, upon returning home, find it very difficult to support themselves and their families.  Many veterans who are not currently homeless are in danger of becoming so.

No excuse
Regardless of religious, political or other persuasions, there is no excuse for the citizens of the United States to allow even one veteran, or one veteran's spouse or child, to be homeless.

Americans who sit idly by and make no attempt to address and alleviate the problems of poverty and the plight of homeless veterans, in particular, demonstrate a severe lack of patriotism and a severe lack of personal responsibility, respect and dignity.

Do Americans who ignore the plight of homeless veterans really support the troops?  Why are there homeless veterans in America to begin with?  

Let me know what you think.

Richard Aberdeen, a Nashville writer and musician, created The Aberdeen Foundation, a nonprofit human rights organization that helps the sick and poor. He is also the founder of Freedom Tracks Records, an independent label dedicated to producing music of social and political conscience. The former Prescott resident has authored three books, with a work-in-progress titled Fixing America in 500 Words or Less.

Visit http://www.AberdeenFoundation.org and http://www.freedomtracks.com/500/title.html  for more information.

E-mail richard@freedomtracks.com.

SOURCES:
National Alliance to End Homeless: http://www.naeh.org
Operation Stand Down Nashville: http://www.osdnashville.org

"Fox attacks

homeless vets"

http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/http://bravenewfilms.org/74259/  

Read this fascinating report about Fox commentator Bill O'Reilly's callous remarks on homeless vets at the above link. It notes that, as former military trained for survival, these men have learned to adapt to homelessness as a means of survival.

The article also mentions U.S. Vets in Inglewood, Calif., the largest nonprofit organization dedicated to helping homeless and at-risk veterans by providing temporary housing, counseling and employment assistance.

Visit www.USVetsinc.org for more information.