The following blog is a letter that I recently sent to the Subcommittee on Homelessness and Community Relations created by the Santa Barbara City Council. The council has taken on the daunting but important task of addressing the growing problem of chronic homelessness in our community - a topic that we as Christians should certainly address. You can read the subcommittee's report and recommendations as well as get updates at http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/Government/Other_Committees/Homelessness_and_Community_Relations/. In Matthew 25 Jesus himself addresses the issue and makes one of the most compelling claims for enacting justice by claiming solidarity with the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the prisoner. It's quite a list. As followers of Jesus we must take up the cause and give voice to those who are marginalized in our community. Moreover, such a stance reminds us that to enact justice is not an abstract desire but must reflect a practical effort to extend a welcome and acceptance to those who often meet with alienation and derision. Let's discover what that "welcome" might look like together and invite Jesus not simply into our hearts but our homes - our very lives. If you wish to help take up this cause then please email me and I will tell you about current efforts aimed at ending chronic homelessness in our community. Peace to you. Here is my letter:
Dear Santa Barbara City Council Committee Members,
My name is Jon Lemmond and I currently serve as Pastor for Gospel Action at Montecito Covenant Church. I am also part of the subcommittee on homelessness for CLUE (Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice). In this letter, I am responding on behalf of both communities to the Discussion of Strategies to Address Community Issues Related to Homelessness. Please know that your work is welcomed and appreciated. Your efforts bring us closer to the goal of empowering those who are homeless to a life of greater self-sufficiency and dignity. For this, we are truly grateful.
In keeping with the stated goals of the Ten-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness we urge you to prioritize and implement the strategies that focus on intervention and prevention (recommendations 5-12). We understand these approaches to be more responsible fiscally and more effective for producing long-term systemic change. In these tough economic times, we caution everyone to remain vigilant against language and measures that serve to criminalize and alienate those who are homeless. Philip Mangano, reminds us that “the punitive approach has never worked anywhere. It’s expensive and demoralizing to everyone involved, and at best it can only hide the problem briefly.” In other words, the most effective recommendations will recognize everyone’s needs and, in turn, offer everyone justice – equal access to shared economic resources which ensures lives of dignity and respect for all.
Combining deep compassion with unflinching realism we specifically recommend that you give priority to the following strategies:
• Forty more beds annually allocated for Casa Esperanza to be made available to the most vulnerable of those experiencing homelessness: women, the elderly, and those struggling with mental illness. (recommendation #6 & #7)
• Greater coordination and cooperation between police officers and street outreach teams and increased funding for mental illness screenings, mental health staff, and restorative policing. (recommendations #5 & #9)
• Securing locations and funding for more detox beds allocated to those recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. (recommendation #8)
• Developing an education campaign (e.g. Santa Barbara Cares) about homelessness that includes current efforts associated with the Ten-Year Plan and utilizes donation boxes, in lieu of simply handing money to those on the street. Such funds could help provide hotel vouchers for those who are vulnerable as well as fund measures to move chronically homeless men and women into permanent supportive housing. Nevertheless, we caution the use of language like “panhandling” which fails to explain adequately the needs and issues of those who seek both money and connections with others. (recommendation #11)
• Formulating appropriation measures for use of the Coastal Zone Affordable Overnight Accommodation Fund to provide emergency hotel vouchers as well as aid in helping people move into more substantial, long-term housing. If the real goal is to help get those who are chronically homeless off the street, then they must be offered a place to belong, not simply be removed. We support the research and work of Roger Heroux who argues that moving people into more permanent supportive housing is both humane and a cost-saving measure that, over time, will pay for itself. (recommendations #10 & #12)
• Finally, because we desire concrete solutions rather than sentimentality we ask the council to create and implement an assessment protocol which, in six months time, will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the above stated recommendations.
We thank you for your time in thinking through this complex and important issue. We are willing to help mitigate some of the cost by pledging the financial support of our faith communities. As people of faith we pray for you in the critical work that you do to help create a more just community. We also urge you to consider a critical element of such justice: our capacity to welcome all members of our city. Jean Vanier, the founder of the L’Arche community in France, writes, “Welcome is one of the signs that a community is alive. To invite others to live with us is a sign that we aren’t afraid, that we have a treasure of truth and of peace to share.”
With warm regards,
Jon Lemmond, Pastor for Gospel Action
Montecito Covenant Church
Member of CLUE
2 comments:
A lovely letter John. Can I cosign it?
Kalon,
The letter has been sent but I appreciate your desire to speak up and encourage you to email council members to reinforce the position that punitive measures against those who are chronically homeless merely shuffle people around and create no longstanding, successful means of helping them off the street. Criminalizing the issue will only further shackle the city with soaring costs for our jails and emergency rooms while failing to help many who are mentally ill. In order to humanize the problem while crafting an infrastructure that has already been proven to work, we wish to promote time, energy and funds towards more outreach teams and measures (e.g. Santa Barbara Cares) that are compassionate and fiscally sustainable.
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