Lompoc is in the process of evicting the homeless from the riverbed. Apparently we are faced with a serious crisis. People in the riverbed are being hurt, even killed. Something must be done now.
In the face of the seriousness of the situation the city has made the decision to clean out the riverbed by evicting all the people who are currently living there. In order to assist those evicted, they are establishing a temporary triage center at River Park. There they will have access to the kind of services that many of them need, things like mental health counseling and referrals to programs that address addiction. It is the hope that some may have family with whom they might be reunited (although I must admit this sounds a lot like what President Reagan said when he closed so many mental hospitals, suggesting that their families would take them in, but they ended up homeless instead).
I believe these efforts are not only well-intentioned, but that there will be some people who benefit from them. I applaud those who continue to work on the front lines of homelessness. However, we must also recognize that this is, at best, a Band-Aid and does little to address the bigger issue related to homelessness, namely housing.
A number of cities across the country are now following what is called the “Housing First” model. The idea behind Housing First is that when you stabilize a homeless person’s life by first providing them with permanent supportive housing, issues like mental illness and substance abuse are much more successfully addressed. The model is proving to be highly successful in many cities across the country, not only in terms of helping the homeless but also in terms of helping communities save money; housed persons are much less likely to use costly emergency services like hospitals, jails, and shelters. Housing First is currently being enacted in Riverside, California (from where I recently relocated). The number of homeless is going down. Housing First works!
Locating and building housing takes time. This will not be a quick-fix. However, it is time to stop kicking the homeless over to the next city and deal with the bigger problem. So right now we are addressing an emergency situation. But we also need to start working toward more permanent solutions right now or five years from now we will be faced with the exactly same crisis we are facing today.
Jane Quandt is the pastor for Valley of the Flowers United Church of Christ in Lompoc. Send your thoughts to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Sep 27 – Oct 4, 2018.