Talking about Homelessness

I want to share some thoughts about the challenge of homelessness in Newport Beach, and in Orange County more broadly. Because of the encampment that has appeared at the OCTA Bus Station near Fashion Island, the issue of homelessness has become more urgent for a lot of folks in Newport Beach. The “Point in Time Count” that I participated in this past January actually showed that the number of homeless persons in Orange County has gone down by 17% over the last two years. So, while the number of homeless folks on our streets feels more urgent now, it is largely a matter that it has become more visible. I think it is important to keep this distinction in mind, because if our actions toward homelessness solutions are driven by optics, our efforts will be all about improving the visibility, not helping people find housing solutions. 

In the Christian community we have commitments to justice and compassion that enable us to push beyond simply treating other persons as “eyesores” or trying to maintain our property values. If there is one person without a home in a county as prosperous as Orange County, it is a matter of justice that we try to understand the root causes of homelessness and address them, as well as all of the practical matters that arise when someone’s attempt to make a home conflicts with our sense of safety or propriety. 

It doesn’t help that we often propagate myths about the struggles that homeless persons face. We often hear that homeless people come from other places to here because of our beautiful weather. While the same could be said about me (ahem!), a study by UCI and the United Way showed that almost 70% of the homeless persons in OC went to high school here. When I participated in the Point in Time Count, every person I interviewed was from here, not an import due to our fair weather. 

We often hear that it is drug use or mental illness that makes people homeless. While there are undeniably some folks who are “chronically homeless” (i.e. unable to live in a home without a strong wraparound support system), the number one cause of homelessness in OC is the disparity between wages and housing costs. And, as we’ve learned in our efforts to house people at United to End Homelessness, the lack of affordable housing continues to be the number one impediment of helping people find permanent housing. That means, simply and starkly, that those of us who are able to pay the high housing costs in OC are actually contributing to the system that causes many to lose housing and prevents many from regaining it. That’s the discomforting truth about looking at root causes - It is never an “us” v. “them” scenario. There is only “we.” And that’s where justice meets compassion.

Again, in the Christian church we have the call to justice and compassion that compels us to do more than simply react to the visibility of homelessness. But, as always, justice and compassion work is long-term, difficult, and could even require us to concede what we feel are rightly our privileges. I am thankful that we have a community committed to both justice and compassion, with constant remembrance that we all live by God’s grace. 

If you want to read more about this issue, I was quoted extensively about it in a recent article in Stu News. You can find it here.

Mark of St. Mark