I think it is time to share with you our mission in the Diocese of Olympia, and how all parishes are such a big part of that mission.
I’m Don Fornoff, task force co-chair, and a member of Church of the Ascension in Seattle. The task force first met in November of 2018, with 12-15 people answering a call by the bishop to address this long-term and quite difficult issue. There were a few successful feeding and sheltering programs in service to the unhoused and I speculate that he hoped to coax a growth of outreach throughout the diocese. Our discernment work found affordable housing to be the greatest need; we also found a variety of other parish programs supporting community outreach. More later about our mission to extend and broaden that support.
It is good to know the church and other faith communities are and always have been doing outreach. I believe we always will be, because of what it means to follow the way of Jesus. We are builders and we must continue to be builders. The task force mission continues, to advocate for affordable housing, advocating for caring issues in Olympia and locally, and to emphasize our collective mission to educate, do outreach, and to care for others as Christ would have us do. This is how we organize in our 21st century world, much more now than in Jesus’ time, but the problems are defined in the same way – serve the poor, the unclothed, the destitute, the unhoused in true spirit, to love God, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
First, I’d like to outline some issues about what it means to be unhoused and why it comes to be that it happens to so many folks. I hope pondering these issues can lead to better outcomes through positive action.
To deal with homelessness, we are compelled to treat the causes. These causes are common, even as numbers vary in any one area and at any one time.
- 6 in 10 of all people live paycheck to paycheck.
- Of these, cash reserves are alarmingly low, mostly below what it would take to pay for a car repair or a minor medical bill.
- 1 in every 4 may have slipped over the edge into becoming homeless.
- 3 in 10 are caused by rent increases.
- 1 in 10 have unexpected health issues, often-times complex, insured or uninsured.
- 1 or 2 in 10 have job loss.
- Domestic abuse and even child abuse may be part in a few situations.
- And yes, some drug abuse causes homelessness. However, it is the economic issues that are most prevalent.
It means that all causal reasons must be addressed case by case for each unhoused individual or family, taking care to pay attention to and be prepared to provide support to get people into stable situations. That support is called ‘continuum of care.’ Which is consideration of all things going on in that person or family’s life.
Chronic cases deserve a look. It has been cited that 6 in 10 people who have moved off the streets have been homeless for a long time, too long being itself a failure. Another long-term effect comes from racist policies. Despite being under 10% of the total population, 5 in 10 unhoused are people of color or indigenous.
There is good news! Tiny home sponsors tell us 9 in 10 of those placed in permanent supported housing are still there after a year. This is the result of affordable housing and proper supportive services or continuum of care.
In a UW alumni magazine from a couple of years ago, Ken Lombard of BRIDGE Housing Corp. debunked a few myths about the unhoused. BRIDGE is a lead builder of the St. Luke’s build in Ballard.
- All unhoused people prefer to live outside. He says media outlets can find 1 or 2 people who like living in a tent. The truth- if offered, most readily move inside.
- Homelessness is a byproduct of addiction. Based on exhaustive studies of homelessness in relationship to many cultural and physical causes, it all comes down to the cost and stability of housing, according to Professor Greg Colburn’s study.
- Affordable housing hurts property values. In truth- thanks to good design, property values have increased in neighborhoods with new affordable housing.
Remember- advocate for affordable housing, educate, do outreach, and continue to advocate locally.
Submitted by Don Fornoff, Co-Chair of the Bishop’s Taskforce For the Unhoused