Unhomed

 

Po Boy Views

By

Phil LaMancusa

Do it

Or

Don’t

 

“Yes, the strong gets more, while the weak ones fade; empty pockets don’t ever make the grade… God bless the child that’s got his own” Billie Holiday

The Buzzed Buddha sits atop a neutral ground concrete slab on Esplanade Avenue somewhere off Dauphine Street, New Orleans; she could use a bath. She waves at the passing cars with her scepter of a tall PBR nestled in brown paper, grinning like a Cheshire. The tribe that she belongs to line our streets and they are wherever you look and however much you’d like to avoid seeing them, they’re here. 69% are locals that have lived here over 5 years or from birth (UNITY.gno.org).

Over fifteen hundred (Fox8live) uneasy humans in The Big Easy (and counting) are considered ‘unhoused’ a term used with pathos rather than the brutal fact of them being, in fact, homeless (without a home). They litter, beg, freeload, hustle, survive and anesthetize themselves as best they can, however they can, to relieve the helplessness of their condition; some are families. Many sleep outdoors.

Broken dreams, broken hearts, broken promises, broken homes; poor education, poverty, poor choices, poor spirits. There’s nowhere to run from your problems when you’re homeless, there’s no place for you to run to; unless it’s to something, anything, to deaden the pain. Living without a home could certainly lead a person to excesses.

Bad decisions, bad timing, bad conditions, bad loves and bad luck; 22.6% of NOLA citizens live below the poverty level (US Census 2025); and that’s not automatically counting the homeless in that group. So many are so ‘food insecure’ (HUNGRY!) that buying food most times trumps paying rent… or doesn’t. We have services here the help with food, clothing, school supplies, rent assistance and health care. Most of these programs are being cut by The One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by the people in government that you voted into the majority (Ballotpedia.org) to serve us. Head Start programs also are in jeopardy of being defunded (NYT.0rg)

3%-4% of this city’s adult male population (1in25 - 1in30) are under active correctional supervision as is 7%-10% of women (prisonpolicy.org); meanwhile, unemployment rate in NOLA is 5.5% (BLS.gov)

Louisiana ranks 49^th in the country for childhood poverty (Mississippi is 50^th) that’s 24.8% of the population (neworleanscitybusiness.com). In New Orleans 26-29% of kids are in that number, and that’s children under the age of 15 (axios.com/local/neworelans). Almost 82% of kids now graduate from high school here (Yay!); up from 54% before Katrina (NOLA-PS Data Dashboard). 49% of NOLA households live below the ALICE threshold (WDSU Ella Wales) meaning that they’re not considered poor but could not survive a major income shock (i.e.one paycheck away…) All of this means what?

It means that New Orleans, Louisiana and America have and has failed miserably in options for a large percentage of our population--for generations. Our society has not provided a purpose driven life for many of its citizens.

When you see ‘them’ in traffic intersections holding a square of cardboard “anything helps, God bless” you easily turn a blind eye. “It’s their own fault” you might say. “They could do better if they wanted to; look at me, I’m alright; there’s help for them if they want it; ah, they’re just bums, what can you do with people like that? They’d probably just spend it on drugs.”

What makes ‘them’ different from ‘us’? What influences ‘Life Satisfaction’? What defines ‘Purpose’? --to me, Purpose is a personal, emotional, and spiritual feeling of security and worth. Science, studies and surveys cannot track causes for impedance of personal meaning; we only see the positive results of its absence. ‘Housing first’ doesn’t get to the root of mental illness and/or the intersection of systemic abuse and scars that have led to homelessness.

The rationale that a person can be cured of facing a life and future as futile and less than meaningful with a hot lunch and a ‘Praise Jesus’ is a myth and a feel-good assuagement for folks who naively believe that they’re making a difference to someone who lacks: strong family and community ties; steady work and financial health; access to health care and safe neighborhoods; and, creative outlets like art, music, and local traditions.

“Addressing homelessness with a roof over head and a bed to lay on does nothing to solve the problem; it treats the symptoms and ignores the disease; this approach does not work” says HUD Secretary Scott Turner. He goes on to advocate for treatment both medical and mental, citing that “homelessness in this country is up 80%”.

Doing the math, it appears that just a little over half of the NOLA population is doing alright while the rest can go suck eggs (r/etymology). The common overall view, as I see it, is that those (that can be chronologically documented as) less fortunate than the ‘rest of us’ are vagrants and not victims.

Here’s what you can do. You’re sending cards out anyway for the holiday; set aside those throw away bucks: money for that pack of cigarettes, extra drink, the quarters you’ve been hording, money from your next tattoo fund etc. and write a check.

There’s a place right here in town that gives free resting space, case management, showers, toiletries, phone service, laundry, food pantry, morning snacks and hot lunch to our city’s indigent. Saint Joseph Rejoin/Rebuild Center 1803 Gravier Street NOLA 70112 We need to support places like this; Just do it.

“We live on a planet well able to provide a decent life for every soul on it, which is all ninety-nine of a hundred ask. Why in the world can’t we have it?” Jack Finney: About Time