Sue Lani Madsen: An existential crisis of our own making

There is an existential crisis threatening to overwhelm the livability of American cities, and it’s not climate change. It’s homelessness. And while we argue over how to adapt and how much influence our activities have on the physics of climate, we are fully responsible for policies behind and around homelessness. A compassionate people must not adapt to stepping over human feces on downtown sidewalks and accepting families living in cars as normal.

There is not a single cause for homelessness nor a single solution. Least visible are those with income from work or other legitimate sources who are priced out of housing. They may not be visible on the streets as they hunker down in their cars or couch surf with friends. One out of every 25 students in Spokane County experienced at least one period of homelessness in 2019, according to Joe Ader of Family Promise. He was speaking at a meeting of the Commercial Property Owners Council, with members from neighborhoods throughout Spokane but particularly downtown. Chud Wendle has been leading the group, modeled on Spokane’s existing neighborhood councils “to assist city agencies in determining priority needs.” For Family Promise, the priority is homeless families. The children in these families are the most likely future street homeless and “a lot of what we see today is what we didn’t do 10-15 years ago,” Ader said.

Every step we take which increases the price of decent housing lands on the working poor, the disabled and Social Security dependent the hardest. Increased property taxes, increasingly ambitious energy codes, higher land development costs and growth management boundaries restricting supply all lead to fewer new houses.

Every new house for a family moving up frees up an existing house for a current renter eager to start building wealth, and that development has stalled. In an interview last month, Darren Watkins of the Association of Realtors described how a path to homelessness in Spokane differs from other communities. Losing a house or apartment is frequently the first step to a cycle of homelessness in a frozen market with a vacancy rate below 1%. “It is absolutely paramount that we have more housing in the Spokane area. Every major social ill facing Spokane right now is tied to housing,” Watkins said.

After the priced out, there are people who are pushed out and facing barriers to re-entering the housing market. They include addicts ready to accept services and reach for recovery, those with a prison record, or long-term unemployed. And without stable housing, it’s difficult to land and keep a job. The “pushed out” are the prime targets for a second chance with the housing first model and intensive mentoring to get their lives back on track.

Family Promise offers shelter services to anyone pregnant or caring for a child. Their program walks alongside families for the first two years back in permanent housing, the most vulnerable period to return to homelessness. Long term mentoring improves chances of success for their guests from a 50/50 tossup to better than 90%.

The Bridge Housing Program announced last week by Mayor Nadine Woodward will offer similar targeted support, giving people tools to succeed.

Meanwhile, there are the health and safety hazards created by those euphemistically called the “service resistant.” These are the visible homeless, the ones who persistently make poor life decisions whether due to lack of skills, denial of mental health issues or clinging to addiction. Their activities make life unsafe and miserable for both the housed and the houseless. And for themselves.

At Wednesday’s CPOC meeting Johnny Perkins, Spokane’s new city manager, described the new strategy. Staffing for cleaning, security and outreach is doubling, outreach teams will be more robust to include service providers as well as law enforcement and will work seven instead of five days a week.

“We want to be compassionate and no one deserves to live on the street … but at the same time, we need to enforce the law,” Perkins said. “This mayor has actions speaking louder than words, and we’re implementing them.”

Changing the housing climate is essential to solving the existential challenge to urban quality of life, but it will take time to make a meaningful difference. Coming alongside anyone ready to accept help is the right thing to do, with compassion for the essential worth of every human being. And meanwhile, streets need to be cleaned, trash picked up, graffiti covered up and laws enforced in the interest of public health and safety.

A livable, walkable, beautiful and safe community will take an all-of-the-above approach. The mayor’s strategy looks promising.

Contact Sue Lani Madsen at rulingpen@gmail.com.