Illegal to be Poor? You Betcha!

A great deal of our conversation in class today centered around being poor . . . homeless . . . basic struggling of human beings . . . and how it is often ignored by the members of our capitalist society. One of our class members, (Holla at A.C.) brought to our attention a book dealing with these very topics.

Click the link to read about "The Rich Get Richer and The Poor Go to Prison" by Jeffery Reiman

Also, check out the socialistworker to get a slightly different, more acerbic, commentary on this issue

The Homeless: Invisible Population OR Purposely Ignored

I have had some experiences with a certain client over the last couple of months which is inspiring this post. I have a client who is currently in a drug diversion program in this county . . . he came to me to be referred to the appropriate program. During our conversation, I learned that he was homeless, with no family in the state, and absolutely no resources. Now, I have been dealing with clients who have little or no resources for years, however, this experience has truly given me insight into how very little our resources connect with one another. The specific focus of this post is about homeless shelters.

In this county, we have one major homeless shelter, the Salvation Army. Otherwise, we have a couple of other resources that require upfront money. Although I was aware of this information, and have been previously frustrated by it, I have never been so smacked in the face by the inadequacies of our resources for the homeless.

This particular client had been sleeping outside for weeks when he came to me. I have placed him in the Salvation Army on several occasions. However, like any facility, they have their rules . . . and, they should have their rules. However, when someone breaks their rules, there are no other potential shelters in this area. Again, I will say, I am not faulting the Salvation Army. They are a wonderful organization who provide a great service. It is not their fault that no other consistent shelters exist in this area. It has just become blatantly clear to me in the last few months that one facility and you're out should not be the norm. This client has slept in the woods one too many nights . . . in fact, any night, for any human being is one too many nights.

I am attaching a link from a story in the Tuscaloosa news that illustrates the issue.

Rather than just talking about the problem, what can we, as social workers do about this terrible problem.