Homelessness Prevention

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Vincentian Spotlight: Jim Dodd
Vincentian Spotlight: Jim Dodd 1200 1200 SVDP USA

FEW WEEKS BEFORE HIS RETIREMENT, JIM DODD SAW AN INTERVIEW ON TV THAT CHANGED HIS LIFE. It was the executive director of St. Vincent de Paul Cincinnati discussing hunger and poverty at Thanksgiving.

His eyes still well up as he recounts the moment he comprehended the suffering of people within his own community. “When you encounter situational poverty, you learn quickly that but for the grace of God it could be me in their shoes,” he says. “The loss of a job . . . a health emergency . . . things like that happen all the time.”

Jim made a gift and started working in the food pantry. Shortly thereafter he became a Vincentian.

Seventeen years later, his understanding of the ministry has changed. “Like many Vincentians, I started out just wanting to help people,” he says. “But soon I figured out that it was actually helping me grow spiritually.”

That spiritual growth stems from loving one’s neighbor. “As a Vincentian, we strive to see the face of Christ in those we visit. Well, sometimes that’s a hard thing to do!” Jim says. But the encounter must not become “transactional.” Jim recounts stories of helping a woman re-draw her mortgage to stave off foreclosure, and of working with a mother who’d become homeless with her three daughters to find stable housing and support.

The problem of poverty isn’t going away, Jim admits. But by supporting SVdP’s future efforts through legacy giving, Vincentians can ensure that struggling neighbors will receive the personal support they need.

IN RECENT YEARS, DODD HAS SERVED AS TREASURER OF THE NATIONAL FOUNDATION, PUTTING HIS PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE INTO HELPING SVDP BUILD A CHARITABLE GIFT ANNUITY PROGRAM — A WAY FOR VINCENTIANS TO INCREASE THEIR RETIREMENT INCOMES AND LEAVE A LEGACY GIFT THAT SUSTAINS AND GROWS THE MINISTRY OF SVDP.

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SVdP National President Featured in National Catholic Register
SVdP National President Featured in National Catholic Register 398 398 SVDP USA

“To address the homelessness crisis, we must encounter those on the brink.” So writes SVdP National President John Berry, in his latest op-ed for the National Catholic Register.

Here’s an excerpt:

“To understand why prevention programs are so critically needed, we must first understand why so many people are becoming homeless. According to Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, the number of Americans experiencing homelessness has risen almost 50% over the past eight years. 12 million people are “severely cost-burdened,” and thus at risk of becoming homeless themselves. That massive increase can’t be attributed to drugs or mental illness (even if those ills affect the most visibly homeless). Instead, its main drivers are brute economic factors like skyrocketing housing costs and inflation. “A great river of poverty is traversing our cities and swelling to the point of overflowing,” Pope Francis said in his 2023 message for the World Day of the Poor. “It seems to overwhelm us, so great are the needs of our brothers and sisters who plead for our help, support and solidarity.””

Click here to read John’s full article.

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John Berry: How Can We Help Families on the Brink of Homelessness?
John Berry: How Can We Help Families on the Brink of Homelessness? 1080 1080 SVDP USA

Helping families on the brink of homelessness saint vincent de paulThe Supreme Court’s ruling in City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson calls fresh attention to the nation’s homelessness crisis. In its decision, released last week, the Court ruled that local ordinances with civil and criminal penalties for camping homeless on public land do not violate the Eighth Amendment’s protections from cruel and unusual punishment.

But neither the use of legal force to clear homeless encampments nor the adoption of a permissive attitude towards them will move the needle for the millions of Americans living on the brink of homelessness. If anything, viewing the issue in terms of criminality serves to obscure the underlying causes of why people become homeless.

When you see someone sleeping on a park bench or begging on the street, your mind likely gravitates towards a simple explanation: Drugs. Alcoholism. Untreated mental illness. Shiftlessness. A life of crime. The impulse is understandable. We want to make sense of the world—to be able trace effects back to commensurate causes. To reassure ourselves that nothing so terrible will ever happen to us.

But reducing homelessness to addiction and mental illness fundamentally misunderstands the problem. Yes, many of the most visibly homeless—those camped out in public—are in the throes of mental illness or substance abuse. But they aren’t representative of most people struggling to avoid homelessness today.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the charitable organization I lead, works alongside the poor and marginalized in over 1,000 cities across America. Many of the people we work with are facing eviction or have nowhere to stay. And do you know the demographic profile typical of those on the brink of homelessness?

Single-parent families. Or, more precisely, “a single custodial adult raising minor aged children.” Not a drug-crazed criminal or a shiftless welfare bum. It’s men and women trying desperately to juggle child care with keeping a roof overhead.

Many such people at risk of homelessness today would have been, in simpler times, “the working poor.” But as families and communities have broken down, the burden of providing has shifted onto frailer, lonelier shoulders. And as inflation continues to wreak havoc on families’ budgets, more and more single-parent families stand on the brink of homelessness. One car wreck, hospital stay, or layoff can dislodge a family from a home and put them out on the streets.

Now, do these people come with flaws and baggage? Of course they do! Broken relationships, trauma, illness, substance abuse—you can find the full assortment of failings, bad luck, disaster, and wounds. But recognizing sources of suffering doesn’t allow us to sweep it dismissively under the rug.

Consider two examples drawn from homelessness prevention programs in mid-sized U.S. cities.

Eric heads a family of five, whose lives were upended when their landlord told them he “wanted to move in a different direction” and gave them 30 days to move out. In a hot real estate market, Eric couldn’t find a new place quickly enough. So his family started bouncing between hotels and sleeping in his truck, trying to make it through while saving enough for a security deposit on a new home.

Elena is 29 years old, the single mother of an eight-year-old son. Both her parents were addicts, and she’s struggled her whole life with severe ADHD and anxiety. The father of her son is abusive, and Elena’s landlord refused to renew her lease after she called the police during an incident when the father attacked and beat her. When she was hospitalized with heart troubles shortly thereafter, she lost her job, too.

The stakes are incredibly high for families like Elena’s and Eric’s. Studies show that living unhoused or at risk of homelessness leads to heightened levels of stress, hunger, sleeplessness, lack of safety, and illness. For children, it means delayed early development, reduced school attendance, and increased risks of behavioral, academic, or psychiatric disorders.

In short, “brink of homelessness” is a recipe for long-term, multi-generational disaster. That’s why homelessness prevention programs are such a good long-term investment for communities to make.

When you work with the unhoused, you quickly realize that there are a million different paths to becoming homeless—and thus no ready-made solution for it. “Tough love” or more stringent law-and-order policies aren’t what most of these families need.

Nor is it sufficient to just place homeless or at-risk families in new housing. Families like Elena’s and Eric’s need support as well as a roof overhead. That support can include everything from assistance with transportation and child care to job searches, mental health counseling, financial literacy, parenting skills, addiction recovery, and health care.

Homelessness prevention programs can succeed insofar as they are personal and flexible. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for single parents or grandparents struggling to stay afloat when a crisis hits. They might need help finding a job or repairing a car. They might need child care or a trip to the doctor’s office. They might need help paying a utility bill or working with a landlord to keep eviction off the table.

But solutions can be found. And they save lives. But we must look through a lens of compassion, not criminalization, to see what’s possible—and to see who most needs our help in avoiding homelessness today.

 

Read John’s original piece in Newsweek.

John Berry is the President of the National Council of the United States, Society of St. Vincent de Paul—a 90,000 member faith-based volunteer organization that provides support to people in need at over 4,000 locations in the United States. 

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Society of St. Vincent de Paul Statement on Supreme Court Decision in Grant’s Pass Vs. Gloria Johnson
Society of St. Vincent de Paul Statement on Supreme Court Decision in Grant’s Pass Vs. Gloria Johnson 552 552 SVDP USA

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul expresses concern regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson. By ruling in favor of the plaintiff, the Supreme Court has signaled that local governments can make it a crime for someone to live outside and unsheltered if they have no home.

“Reasonable people may and will disagree about this decision, but the fact of the matter is it doesn’t get to the heart of the homelessness crisis,” said John Berry, National President at Society of St. Vincent de Paul. “Neither stricter nor more lenient criminal laws sufficiently address the problem — which has vastly more to do with skyrocketing housing costs and inflation than it has to do with how local governments regulate homeless encampments.”

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul currently maintains a network for homeless prevention through rent assistance with an outlay of over $60 million. These programs typically involve home visits, personalized resources, engagement with landlords, crafting a “Stability Plan,” and financial assistance in making rent and paying utilities. These programs usually work alongside local governments, putting homelessness prevention ahead of policing in addressing the roots of homelessness.

“These temporary assistance programs work — and produce long-lasting effects while reducing the economic and social strain of homelessness on cities, towns, and counties,” said Berry. “But more than dollars, homelessness prevention programs like ours save lives and dignity. While City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson helps call attention to the severity of our homelessness crisis, we must work together to restore stability and dignity to neighbors living on the edge of homelessness.”

According to a recent study conducted by Notre Dame’s Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO), persons who received an average of $2,000 in emergency financial assistance were “81 percent less likely to become homeless within six months of enrollment and 73 percent less likely within 12 months.” In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision, the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul will continue unabated to pursue positive outcomes like these across the country.

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Poverty Awareness Month — Homelessness
Poverty Awareness Month — Homelessness 940 788 SVDP USA

Written by: Sandy Figueroa
St. Boniface Conference in Elmont, NY
African American Task Force Representative — Northeast Region

When we hear the word homelessness, what does our mind’s eye see? People living in the streets in urban cities or sleeping in malls in the suburbs and rural areas. We see people who may have been successful and fell into the downward spiral of addictions. Rarely do we even think that the homeless are employed, but their salary cannot pay the rent for an apartment or even a trailer in a trailer park.

When I take the subway, I carry change to give to those who are begging in the streets. Yet, I know that’s not doing one thing to help our brothers and sisters secure decent housing. And, I know that after a while, many people stop trying and become resigned to living in the streets and are grateful for the handouts of those who have.

My Vincentian eyes tell me that I can and must do something. I can advocate, which I do by sending e-mails to my government representatives. I can join larger organizations and work on homelessness and demand affordable housing. And above all else, I must and can pray.

Yet, what if one of my sons or my mother was homeless, what would I do? Vincent challenges us by stating that if we saw someone in need, would we just stand by with our arms folded and do nothing.

Poverty awareness week/month reminds us as Vincentians, we must pray, advocate, and act for those whose income does not stretch for food and shelter. We must demand and remind our representatives that many of us working may only be one pay check away from homelessness and hunger.

We see the face of Christ of those in most need. Would we stand by and let Christ or our son or our mother live in the streets, the malls, or the subways? By this will all people know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.

Reflection
Excerpt from: Encyclical Letter – Fratelli Tutti of the Holy Father Francis on Fraternity and Social Friendships

The parable then asks us to take a closer look at the passers-by. The nervous indifference that makes them pass to the other side of the road – whether innocently or not, whether the result of disdain or mere distraction – makes the priest and the Levite a sad reflection of the growing gulf between ourselves and the world around us. There are many ways to pass by at a safe distance: we can retreat inwards, ignore others, or be indifferent to their plight. Or simply look elsewhere, as in some countries, or certain sectors of them, where contempt is shown for the poor and their culture, and one looks the other way, as if a development plan imported from without could edge them out. This is how some justify their indifference: the poor, whose pleas for help might touch their hearts, simply do not exist. The poor are beyond the scope of their interest.

good morning america
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From Homelessness to Housing: Sarah’s Hope Family Shelter at St. Vincent de Paul in Baltimore
From Homelessness to Housing: Sarah’s Hope Family Shelter at St. Vincent de Paul in Baltimore 1100 621 SVDP USA

It’s a story that’s all too familiar in the ongoing pandemic: struggling to pay their bills, a family loses access to affordable housing.

Good Morning America recently profiled Alisha Carter, a Baltimore-area postal worker who lost her home during the pandemic. She and her five daughters lived together in their car for a time — until they were connected with Sarah’s Hope Family Shelter, a comprehensive 145-bed shelter in Baltimore City serving families who are experiencing homelessness.

St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore provided the family with a safe place to live, as well as the supportive services that could help them move from homelessness to housing.

Now, the family has a new home, and more importantly, they have hope.

To watch the story, click here:

To learn more about how you can support the work of St. Vincent de Paul Baltimore, visit their website.

Since its founding in Paris in 1833, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul has grown to 800,000 members in over 150 countries with 1,500,000 volunteers, including nearly 100,000 Vincentian volunteers across the U.S.

Vincentians understand that service to a neighbor in need is an encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ, and are aware that poverty, suffering, and loneliness are present for millions in our communities. Our work is unique in that Vincentians offer tangible assistance to those in need on a person-to-person basis, including intervention, consultation, or direct financial or in-kind service.

To find the St. Vincent de Paul Council or Conference nearest you, and learn how you can help them serve neighbors in need in your community, visit our Assistance and Services page.

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