ShelterFirst Houseless Fundraiser
Sept 2020
Our houseless friends in South Bend have always been denigrated, demonized, and abused. Homelessness is a situation that nobody wants to be in, but in this economic crisis it’s a situation that many people are only one paycheck away from experiencing. That is why we’ve always made it part of our mission to help the homeless whenever we can. And we now have a real way to make meaningful change in the lives of many of our friends who used to be on the streets.
For many years in South Bend, homeless folks have been pushed from one location to another but never told where they can go. The shelters are often full, and they are not equipped to handle people with addiction issues or serious mental health issues. South Bend is one of only a handful of cities of its size without a low barrier shelter or safe haven program. Plans to build a low barrier Gateway Center have all failed due to the NIMBYism (not in my backyard) from the Common Council and neighborhood associations.
In 2017, thanks to the generosity of donors, some local nonprofits were able to purchase tents for some of the people living on the streets to protect them from the elements. The number of people living on the streets was down, but their visibility was up because tents are harder to ignore than a sleeping bag, so people started complaining. Most people want to pretend that homelessness doesn’t exist. So they complained to the city, and the city, under former mayor Pete Buttigieg, posted an eviction sign telling the people who had chosen to place their tents on city property near the Main St. train underpass they had just 48 hours to leave. A few were able to get into shelter, but several were left with nowhere to go. The city’s response? It brought bulldozers to destroy the remaining tents and property of those experiencing homelessness.
NIA supported and participated in protests asking the mayor to help, but there was no response. Now those individuals with no tents were forced to find doorways and abandoned buildings to sleep in until the weather amnesty shelter opened in December. And things were mostly OK for a few months, until the amnesty program shut down on April 30. Apparently, the idea is that homeless folks only need shelter during the winter when the weather is cold, and the rest of the year, they should be fine living outside.
So for a number of years now, from May until November, people experiencing homelessness have been forced to shuffle from the streets to shelter to abandon buildings and back to the streets. They try their best to stay out of the way on abandoned city property while remaining close enough to the soup kitchens and shelters waiting for an opening so that they can work on getting their life back together again.
Occasionally people will notice the tents, and inevitably people begin complaining. The city’s response has consistently been to post eviction notices, giving the homeless just a few days to move along. Three times in the past year, Mayor James Mueller has sent the police to evict the homeless and arrest anyone who refuses to move. Two of our NIA members were arrested while assisting a homeless individual who had no place to go. A local pastor had allegedly offered to allow some tents in his yard but told the homeless that they would only have 24 hours to stay there. Some of the homeless were uncomfortable going to this church because of issues that have happened in the past. Some were uncomfortable going to the church because of the pastor’s anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. And some were just tired of constantly having to move.
Put yourself in their shoes for a minute, having no friends, family, or support systems. Having lost your job, and then falling behind on bills, and then getting behind on rent, and suddenly you lose everything you had. It happens to millions of people every year. So now you’re living on the streets. Trying to find some way to stay dry. Having to show up at exactly 6:00 a.m. at the shelter for your chance to eat breakfast, again at exactly 11:00 a.m. for your only chance to eat lunch, and again at exactly 6:00 p.m. if you hope to eat dinner—but you don’t have stable electricity for an alarm clock or a charger. Having to walk across town to the one place that will let you take a shower and use the restroom. Fighting to stay sober despite local dealers taking advantage of your desperation in wanting to forget your trouble for a few hours. Unable to get a new job because so few people are willing to hire someone who’s homeless. Doing odd jobs and under-the-table work, even lowering yourself to beg if you have to just to make a few bucks. Discovering that the shelters have waiting lists and criteria for entry that you may or may not be able to pass. So you find some out-of-the-way place to sleep, only for the cops to tell you to move on.
And that’s what’s happening to our houseless friends and neighbors today. They have been evicted from the empty city lot they called home yet again. After having just been kicked off the church property, just as they feared, the homeless moved to a nearby empty lot of an abandoned former BMV building. However, after being there less than a month, they found yet another eviction sign.
But this time things were different. Community volunteers gave up on the city, and they stopped waiting for the Coalition of Care to step up. They came up with their own plan to house the homeless. The plan they are calling “Shelter First” follows the latest research on homelessness that says the best way to keep people out of homelessness is to move them into housing first and then wrap them with the support and services they need to be successful. This lets them stop focusing on day-to-day survival and instead focus on becoming self-sufficient once again.
Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor and the contributions of many other caring individuals, the volunteers working with the homeless were able to come up with enough money to put 57 homeless folks in hotels and provide them three meals a day. They’ve also been connected with therapists at Oaklawn and counselors who can help them work on a housing retention plan to help them get employment, health care, and their own apartments. Some are already getting back on their feet and moving into apartments.
And we’ve been told there’s an opportunity for our members and community to step up and help if they can. Most of us have experienced the first-world problem of having to move. And the thing we always complain about is how many boxes we have to carry. But imagine if you had no boxes to carry. No dishes to put away. No cups or plates or forks or knives or pots or pans. When you move from the streets into housing, you don’t magically find the cabinets are automatically full. So we would like to help fill some of those needs.
The first step toward self-sufficiency is being able to cook your own meals at home, and we want to be there to help them with that step. Northern Indiana Atheists would like to purchase kitchenware, toiletries, cleaning supplies, food storage, and other items that are in high need for our formerly homeless friends. Please donate what you can to this special cause. While it may not seem like much, you will be helping transform lives and solve homelessness in a city that has given up on the homeless and criminalized their existence. Thank you for donating what you can.
WHAT DONATIONS WILL BE USED FOR AND VARIOUS WAYS TO DONATE
Our members and our community stepped up and raised $483 to help with an immediate need of our houseless friends in the ShelterFirst program. The first step towards self-sufficiency is being able to cook your own meals at home and we are going to help them with that step. We worked with with advocates to put together self-sufficiency kits consisting of silverware sets and microwave safe plates, bowls, and cups! Thank you all for your participation and your ongoing support!
