Help for the Homeless: A Cot and Three Hots?

"Of all the people I noted down, I really helped none....I did not find any unfortunates who could be made fortunate by a mere gift of money."

More than 100 years ago, Leo Tolstoy made the rounds in Moscow searching for the truly needy, attempting to determine how the homeless and poor might best be helped. Tolstoy’s frustration and uncertainty from a century gone by is mirrored in American policy today.

For decades, policymakers, agency directors and non-profit foundation managers have issued one explanation after another attempting to explain the disconnect between fifty years of directing massive resources toward solving poverty and homelessness with the growing number of individuals and families experiencing perpetual pauperhood. In our rush to analyze why some of our public reform programs work and others don’t, what we cannot seem to face honestly is the reality of human nature.

Human beings need motivation. In general, we blossom or wither depending upon the consequences we experience. Providing the typical "cot and three hots" (a bed and three meals) generally ignores the deeper issue of human motivation. And while funders and caregivers temporarily feel better giving money and time to help the homeless, policies that ignore the reality of our human condition are usually a Pollyannaish approach to reality.

Motivation is always the issue. Think for a moment about the three primary categories of homelessness. First are the individuals who only need opportunity—a better job, help with a down payment, temporary medical assistance, childcare, etc. People in this group often lack a reliable support structure such as family and friends. These people do not necessarily need to be reformed or rehabilitated: they only need a chance to succeed. Providing properly motivated individuals with an opportunity to succeed is never counterproductive.

Second are people who have developed unnatural dependencies through government entitlements and, as a consequence, have been demoralized by bad habits and resultant antisocial behaviors. These individuals need the motivation of accountability and consequences. Changes in their lives such as settling down in a marriage, the unexpected death of a loved one, "getting religion," etc., can sometimes provide the necessary motivation for change. But providing further monetary awards to satiate the bad habit of dependency is little more than an additional millstone around their necks.

Some individuals are genuinely dependent, such as the old, the infirm, and the very young. The people in this third category cannot avail themselves of opportunity and are motivated by dire need. These are the people to whom public and private society must lend a hand. A country that does not tenderly care for its genuinely needy citizens is narcissistic indeed.

Reducing the homeless population requires a different strategy for each category, making the broad-brush approach ineffective. Additionally, those who wish to solve the problem by citing the number of homeless and multiplying that number by a livable, publicly-supplied subsidy, forget to mention that homeless statistics are frequently distorted. According to federal and state experts, no reliable, systematic way exists to count homeless people. This population is, by definition, exceedingly mobile with a high turnover rate. Additionally, definitions of what constitutes homelessness vary. Some agencies count every person in a shelter bed, on the street, or in a vehicle on any given night. Others use aggregate, annual counts.

Circles of need overlap in the homeless population. Some individuals are alcoholics, drug abusers, or both. Some are mentally ill. Some are young, some are old. Some are single, some are heads of households.

So how do we solve the sorrow of homelessness? We begin by looking at motivation: providing opportunity for those who have simpler needs; providing accountability and consequences for those who have developed unnatural tendencies of dependence; providing direct and sustained assistance for those who face grave need.

And who should do the providing? Ultimately, the private sector, including faith-based organizations in each community. We must immediately transition government out of the business of providing sustained assistance to those who only need opportunity, or for those whose greatest need is accountability.

But the private sector also must face the motivational needs of human nature. Guilt and misplaced mercy are no substitutes for true compassion. Moving the homeless off America’s streets into a shelter of their own will require imagination, determination and courage—all qualities which can be found in abundance in communities all across our land.

Prepared by Lynn Harsh, Senior Research Analyst

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org