Pia K. Hansen: Answer to homelessness isn’t simple

There was a perfectly round melted spot in the thick snow on the top of my car. It was there because that’s where I left my hot coffee cup, briefly, as I unlock the car door.

This was an ordinary Wednesday morning in early December. On the way to work, I usually stop by my neighborhood coffeehouse.

As I walked in that morning, an acquaintance walked out. He used to live in the neighborhood, and we’d chat casually over coffee whenever we ran into each other. Last I knew he had moved, and I hadn’t seen him in almost a year.

So we hugged and said hi, and I asked how it was going.

Not going so great, he said. Actually, he was living out of his van.

My jaw dropped. Last time I saw this man, he had a house, a job and a family.

Out of your van? I asked, afraid to ask specifically what happened.

Yes, but things are looking much better now, he said, adding that he had a job interview lined up that afternoon.

I stared at my coffee friend. I thought of his kids. It’s not easy to come up with something to say to homelessness when it’s standing right in front of you.

I’m so sorry, I said.

He told me he had been doing fine, as middle class as it gets, but he slipped through the cracks. Lost his job and didn’t have much of a safety net.

He had just gotten evicted from the shelter. Most shelters limit how long you can stay.

He left with a small cup of coffee in each hand. I waved. I thought of the 6,024 homeless people that were counted in Spokane in 2005.

No one should be homeless. Not my friend, not your friend; it’s just not right.

And don’t tell me people choose to be homeless just so they can mooch off the system. Why? Because there isn’t much of a system to mooch off, that’s why.

Can you get by? Sure, for a period of time, but you can’t get rich off social service programs in this country, and that’s fine – the programs shouldn’t replace employment, just help you through a rough spot.

Think of your own safety net for a moment.

How would your financial picture hold up in the face of catastrophic illness or job loss?

I’m sorry if this isn’t helping your holiday spirit.

“It’s money. It always comes down to money,” said Amy Jones, human services assistant for the city of Spokane. “Money for employment training, for transportation, for child care, for medical help, for education, for housing.”

The main funding for the city’s homeless programs comes from the federal government in the form of HUD grants. How much funding depends on how many homeless people are served.

“I anticipate there are more homeless out there than we count,” Jones said, which shouldn’t come as a big surprise to anyone. But she has no way of knowing. She just knows that the homeless programs are underfunded.

“The biggest misconception about homeless people is that they are lazy and should just go get a job,” Jones said. “It’s just not that easy. What if you don’t have a place where you can shower and brush your teeth? What if you don’t have clean clothes? What if you don’t have money for gas so you can get to an interview?”

I hear business owners say they are desperate to hire in a variety of positions from unskilled to skilled, but that either no one applies or applicants have such unstable living circumstances that they can’t keep the job.

I’m a big believer in helping people help themselves, even if that means putting a roof over their heads for a while, taking care of their kids or making sure they get into a training program so they can develop and maintain some marketable skills.

That would be money well spent, instead of waiting for disaster to strike and then trying to patch people’s lives back together again.

I haven’t seen my acquaintance since that morning, but I hope he got the job.

That would sure help my Christmas spirit.