San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
A well-researched toolkit that tackles homeless crisis head-on
In an otherwise divided country, polls show that 80 percent of Americans agree the nation has a homelessness crisis. In San Francisco and other major cities, the human suffering that accompanies life on the streets is unmistakable. Yet the problem runs even deeper than many of us realize.
That’s one of the core arguments in “When We Walk By: Forgotten Humanity, Broken Systems, and the Role We Can Each Play in Ending Homelessness in America,” a new book by Kevin F. Adler, the founder of Miracle Messages in San Francisco, and Donald W. Burnes (with contributing authors Amanda Banh and Andrijana Bilbija).
Led by Adler, whose nonprofit helps unhoused people reunite with family members, and Burnes, who has helped start two Colorado organizations that study poverty, the four look at homelessness from lots of angles. The writers challenge misconceptions, suggest near- and long-term solutions and call on citizens to get involved. It’s a persuasive book about a crucial subject.
As the authors explain, misleading statistics obscure the breadth of the crisis. A federal government tally, conducted on one night in 2022, found that 582,462 people were homeless in the U.S.
This is a “woeful undercount,” the authors write, that relies heavily on totals from shelters and transitional housing. If you include people living in abandoned buildings, vehicles and other locations, the real number of people who are homeless “at some point over the course of the year is likely closer to 6 million,” they write. That’s 1.8 percent of America’s population.
The writers argue that two main factors prevent the U.S. from effectively addressing the problem. For a start, service systems fail, for many reasons, to provide people with health care, housing and government benefits. “Second is the crisis in our shared humanity, how we have lost sight of the fact that people experiencing homelessness are our fellow human beings.”
The writers challenge misconceptions, suggest near- and long-term solutions and call on citizens to get involved. It’s a persuasive book about a crucial subject.
Overcoming these barriers requires accurate information, which the book has in abundance. To cite one of many examples, the authors demonstrate that the most important difference between housed and unhoused people when it comes to mental illness is that the latter are often untreated. This, in part, is due to “relational poverty” — a lack of bonds with loved ones. Adler’s nonprofit tackles this with programs designed to foster sustaining relationships.
“Most studies show that around 33 percent of people experiencing homelessness have problems with alcohol or drugs,” the authors write. Studies of addiction among housed people vary, but most find that the rate is significantly lower.
Yet those who are homeless are more frequently blamed for their perceived “personal failures,” the writers argue. “In the absence of quality systems of care or basic compassion from their local communities, people experiencing homelessness with mental health and/or substance use issues tend to self-isolate and self-loathe,” they write. This leads to “worse health outcomes.”
The book is full of enlightening numbers. About 1.8 million Americans currently live in public housing. In 1971, that figure topped 3 million. Bill Clinton’s White House “slashed funding for public housing by $17 billion, a 61% reduction.” Concurrently, prison funding rose by 171 percent, they write.
The authors suggest many remedies, among them higher minimum wages; an extension of tax credit programs for affordable housing construction; legal services for anyone facing eviction; broader eligibility for rent subsidies; and waivers allowing families to avoid “cliff Green Apple Books presents Kevin F. Adler in conversation with Andrew Keen: 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 27. Free. 1231 Ninth Ave., S.F. www.greenapplebooks.com
1440 Multiversity presents Community Connections: Key to Resolving Homelessness benefit dinner, keynote remarks by Kevin F. Adler: 5:30 p.m. Nov. 29. $85 per person. 800 Bethany Drive, Scotts Valley (Santa Cruz County). 1440.org/events
Sausalito Books by the Bay presents Kevin F. Adler in conversation with Dr. Tajah Tubbs: 6 p.m. Nov. 30. Free. 100 Bay St., Sausalito. www.sausalitobooksbythebay.com
Goodness Village presents Kevin F. Adler: 6 p.m. Dec. 4. Free. CrossWinds Church, 1660 Freisman Road, Livermore. https://gvlivermore.org
Kevin F. Adler in conversation with Shireen McSpadden: 6 p.m. Jan. 25. Free for members; $5-$10 sliding scale for nonmembers. Registration suggested. Mechanics’ Institute, 57 Post St., San Francisco. www.milibrary.org effects” — big benefit cuts that accompany small income increases.
Their proposals are helpfully specific: Shelters should be more flexible about their admittance hours, accommodating unhoused people with nighttime jobs. Communities can offer more housing with 3D-printed homes. People should consider helping nonprofits like the Suitcase Clinic in Berkeley, which helps lowincome people get medical care and other services.
The book isn’t without flaws. The writers caution against the empty uplift of “rags to riches” movies, but listing “beloved celebrities who have experienced homelessness” is equally reductive. Their appeal for housed people to get to know those who aren’t — part of their plea for a society-wide rejection of stereotypes and fear — is commendable. But it’s not helped by the assertion, based on tendentious research by Facebook, that humanity’s “degree of separation has decreased.”
And then there’s the repeated plea for readers to mention the book on social media. Four times in 10 pages is overkill.
But such missteps hardly tarnish the effectiveness of this urgent book. For those who know the subject well, it’s another valuable resource — and for readers seeking a primer, it’s a great place to start.