By Randa Morris in Addicting
Info
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Democratic Senator Murphy of CT gave up a vacation day to
spend time with a homeless man, says he wants to better
understand the plight of the homelessness,
– Photo by Allen Appel, New Haven Independent
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A Democratic senator
from Connecticut gave up one day of his Christmas vacation to do something worthwhile
with his time. Senator Chris Murphy spent Monday, December
30th, 2013, with one of the thousands of homeless people in his
state.
Senator Murphy said that
he hoped the experience would help him to better understand what it’s like to
be homeless in Connecticut, one of the riches states in the country.
Senator Murphy posted updates on twitter, to
raise awareness about the plight of the homeless.
Part of Senator
Murphy’s agenda was to help raise awareness about the plight of
the homeless. He tweeted throughout the day, posting details about his experience. Photos
posted to Senator Murphy’s twitter account highlight specific moments, a part of the every day routine of
citizens struggling to recover from very difficult life events.
Senator Murphy at
Columbus House overnight homeless shelter. Residents of the shelter may sleep
here, but have to leave at 7:30 am, to look for work.
As seen
on Senator Murphy’s twitter page, a group gathers outside a soup
kitchen in New Haven, CT. While the temperature on this day dipped to just
below freezing, many homeless people are forced to battle sub-zero temperatures,
along with wind, rain, sleet and snow, on a daily basis in winter.
Nick lost his job and his home in 2013.
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| Senator Murphy included a snap shot of the lunch he and Nick shared. The soup kitchen was serving beans and hot dogs over rice on this day. |
Senator Murphy spent
the day with a man known only as Nick. Nick’s story helps bring a
much needed perspective to the debate. Nick shows us the human side
of poverty and homelessness. According to the Huffington Post, Nick lost his
job and his home in 2013. Like more than a million other people, his benefits
expired at the end of 2012.
According to the Huffington Post, like many of the nation’s chronically homeless, Nick grew up
with a drug addicted father, who introduced him to drugs when he was
13. Nick is in treatment for his addiction. Senator Murphy
joined Nick at an AA meeting and went with him as he visited a
drug treatment program. Society’s attitude toward drug users and former drug
users, and the prejudice that exists towards the homeless, often leaves
people like Nick with few options.
Nick and Senator
Murphy went to the library, where Nick used a computer to search
and apply for jobs online. He’s aware that not having a telephone or a
fixed address are barriers to his ability to find a job. He hasn’t lost
hope, though. At the end of the day, Senator Murphy said that
while he is impressed with Nick’s determination, he is disappointed that more
hasn’t been done to help people in difficult circumstances.
All of our elected officials could learn
something from Senator Murphy.
Senator Murphy says he
has no specific agenda for legislation at this time. His approach to the
issue is commendable, as it is one that says “I don’t understand enough
about this issue to legislate on it.” Instead of reading about homelessness, he
goes a step further, walking side by side with another human being, in order to
learn what his struggles are like.
Federal policies have helped the homeless.
At the federal level,
one of the Obama administration’s primary focuses has been to address the issue
of chronic homelessness. A
commonly held misconception is that homelessness can be fixed, if people just
get jobs.
While financial
stability is a key factor in dealing with the issue, chronic homelessness is most common among those who are affected by
other issues, besides poverty. Many of the chronically homeless have
drug/alcohol addictions or mental illness. The veteran population, who are all
too often affected by one or both of these issues, have some of the highest
rates of chronic homelessness in the country. Those who assume that homeless
people are all able-bodied men and women, with the ability to get and keep a
job, are sadly misinformed.
Statistics show the shocking truth about how
red states are hurting their own citizens.
The trend among
republicans is to treat those with addictions as ‘unworthy‘ of sympathy or compassion. This is a short sighted, narrow
view of addiction and the underlying causes, which can range from mental health
issues to physical pain. There is a strong correlation between illegal drug use
and lack of mental and physical health care. Evidence suggests that a
large number of people who use illegal drugs are self-medicating, and have gone this route because they lack
any other means of coping with physical and emotional pain.
On a national level,
the homeless population decreased 0.4 percent from 2011 to 2012. What could be
one of the most damning verdicts against the heartless policies put in
place in red states, however, is the increase in the homeless population in a large number of red states, over this same time
period.
Of the 16 states that
had a growth of more than 7 percent in the homeless population, a dozen were
red. Only four were blue. The two worst offenders in the country were Wyoming,
whose homeless population rose by 75 percent and Arkansas, where the population
of homeless people rose by 23 percent in that same period of time. Other
red states that topped the charts include Arizona, Utah, Colorado,
Ohio, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Missouri, West Virginia, Kansas and
Nebraska.
The Affordable Care Act is helping
to reduce the number of chronically homeless people in blue states.
Aside from the basic
differences in policy between red and blue states, the ACA has
been able to provide basic healthcare, mental health and drug treatment
services to the poor, in states that chose to expand Medicaid. Making these
basic services available to those who could not access them before, is one
important way that the issue of homelessness is being addressed in democratic states.
Since President Obama
was first elected, in 2008, the country has seen an overall decline in the number of chronically homeless people, as well as a
7 percent decline in the number of homeless veterans. This is also due in part
to long term housing programs, which are meant to help those people who often
fall between the cracks.
The effects of the GOP’s war on the poor are
not what republicans said they would be.
In contrast to what
the president has tried to do at the national level, republican states
have launched an all out war on the poor, seeking to pass policies that can
only increase desperation among those who already desperate to survive. Kicking
people off unemployment, refusing food to anyone with a drug problem, denying
mental health services to those who could benefit from them the most etc. These
kinds of policies have become standard in red states.
It seems logical to
expect to see the rate of violence and crime rising, in accordance with
red state social policies. Statistics on national crime data show that red states do in fact,
have the highest crime rates, with Tennessee leading the country, followed by
Alaska, South Carolina and the swing states of Nevada and New Mexico.
Florida, Texas, Arizona and Louisiana also made it to the top of the list.
Senator Murphy’s approach could work across
the US.
Connecticut, Senator
Murphy’s home state, on the other hand, is one of the states that was able to
decrease the number of homeless people living within its borders. Connecticut
also has less than half the rate of crime seen in the state of
Tennessee.
If Senator Murphy’s
approach is an indication of how the state’s representatives view the issues of
poverty and homelessness, than it makes sense that progress is taking place
there. Maybe we should require every elected official to do what Senator
Murphy did, spend one day learning what it’s like to be homeless in America.
