How Prejudice Affects Those Experiencing Homelessness!

“Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible.” – Maya Angelou

Whether people want to admit it or not: Homelessness, poverty, and the need for housing are severe problems in Auckland and Chicago. In response to what I've seen and experienced, I've been writing a post about 7 Differences and 7 Similarities between the 2 cities I've lived and worked in. After realising writing this will be a long journey, I've decided to post each "difference" and "similarity" as separate posts. 

He'd been working, a 10-hour shift of hard labour, he didn't have a home, so he lay on a park bench to get some shuteye. A lady was walking her dog past this man, when she loudly proclaimed, "Stay away from this vile man". In another act of callousness, again voiced loud enough for him to hear, she proclaimed how she didn't want her pet to get a disease from him. This fella told me about this incident years later, how this was just one incident of many, how this type of ongoing prejudice haunted him, and how those experiencing homelessness are viewed as sub-human or less than someone's pet. This lady didn't know him, didn't know his story, she just determined he wasn't worthy of being treated with dignity and respect because he was curled up on a park bench.

Throughout the years, I have never met anyone experiencing homelessness who hasn't faced prejudice. Just read the ugly comments on websites about those sleeping in tent cities in Uptown or those sleeping rough in areas like Titirangi or New Lynn. The world is a cruel and judgemental place, where people are discriminated against, taunted and even murdered simply because they lack a home to call their own. Prejudice is part of the journey. This is true in Chicago! This is true in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland)!

We must recognise another part of someone's journey: just as prejudice, racism and discrimination are real, I've been wowed by people's remarkable stories of resilience! Despite this lady's painful words and actions, this man refused to give in. He got up! He continued. Resilience in the face of ongoing prejudice is a story every person experiencing homelessness can tell! This is true in Chicago! This is true in Tāmaki Makaurau!

There’s still another part of people’s stories we must recognise: There will always be those who love on and advocate and fight and provide food, housing and clothing for those being bullied. Despite ordinances, despite those in power, people are willing to risk their safety and image for the sake of others. This man who was lying on that bench now helps those in similar situations get a place to call their own. While the world is judgemental and cruel, there are many kind souls who radiate acceptance and compassion. This is true in Chicago! This is true in Tāmaki Makaurau!

People ditch their backpacks before going into an interview. People use a relative's address instead of the shelter's address on applications. People know that revealing their homeless status prevents opportunities. Homelessness is a continual journey of discrimination and rejection and racism and sexism and overcoming obstacles. It's a painful but familiar story I've seen and heard over the years. People have their hopes up, only to be denied again and again and again. After being knocked down for the umpteenth time, they pick themselves up for the umpteenth time and start over again for the umpteenth time. Those experiencing homelessness shouldn’t be stereotyped as this lazy mob but as resilient fighters in the face of ongoing obstacles.

As seen with my friend sleeping on a bench, just being without a home carries enormous weight, but that burden only gets heavier and even more unbearable because as humans, we are beautifully complex and diverse. Sadly, we are profiled and harassed, bullied and criminalised because of our unique differences. What we should celebrate is used as tools to discriminate and divide. People miss out on jobs and housing and are arrested disproportionately because of the colour of their skin, their age, their gender, their religious beliefs, their sexual orientation, their cognitive abilities, their physical struggles, their addictions, their criminal records, their families and their mental health. This list is in no way comprehensive, and this is true in Chicago, and this is true in Tāmaki Makaurau!

Racism and prejudice rips through all sections of society. It’s vicious! It leaves deep wounds! It scars its victims! I’ve seen it frequently and it attacks in different forms. There is the Friday night group of fancy-dressed “positive loiterers” standing on a corner in Uptown calling 911 on whom *they* deem a threat, there's the overzealous use of trespass notices in New Lynn on those experiencing homelessness and there are trans women and men constantly being denied entry into certain shelters or housing because of their gender identities. Racism and prejudice are continuous and real in both Chicago and Tāmaki Makaurau!

Over the decades, I have witnessed countless examples, but for now, I’m going to speak of 4...

In early 2001, at CCO, we opened and operated a family shelter. It was an honour to welcome families of all shapes and sizes. It didn't matter if they were grandparents, mothers, fathers, teenagers or newborn babies, we became known for embracing any family unit. We quickly noticed an alarming trend in many shelters, a prejudice against youth, especially against boys, especially against black and brown boys. These kids are being labelled and vilified, viewed and judged as thugs, gangbangers and threats! Many family shelters refuse to take in teenage boys, sometimes setting age limits as young as only 8. Families with teenagers often have longer stints of homelessness because of how immensely hard it is to find landlords who will give them a chance. This prejudice causes whānau to make difficult decisions. This rejection of their kids results in these confused, frightened and curious youngsters often getting separated from their families to meet an immediate and desperate need. I’ve seen too many parents weep and be racked with guilt because they've had to send their teenage “baby boy” off to a relative until they can find somewhere safe where they all can be united again.

I had a friend who I used to visit in a local Nursing Home during the final years of his life. He was about the same age and height as me, but he became fatally ill and was confined to his bed. On our visits, we'd eat fried chicken and talk and laugh and he'd ask questions about his buddies from the streets he once called home. Shawn had this big personality, he was tall and loud and energetic and impulsive and had this beautiful burst of laughter that could be heard blocks away. He regularly used to beat his chest, rock his head back, laugh and call himself "the craziest man in Uptown". I personally loved this about him, but because of his mental health and appearance, most people distanced themselves from him and didn’t get to see what a loving caring fella he was, someone who cared for others more than himself.

In many of our discussions, his face would become deeply troubled when he'd reminisce about how he'd intimidate people without trying and all the prejudice he and his friends endured as black Americans experiencing homelessness in a gentrifying neighbourhood. There was one story he’d ruminate on, it gnawed his soul until his death, it was about a meeting he had with his mental health social worker. They sat in her car as onlookers walked past and saw them having an animated discussion. It wasn't violent. They weren't mad at each other. Shawn was expressing his frustrations about his difficult life and they were working on a plan to pave a stable road ahead. He liked his worker, a petite Venezuelan woman, and she liked him. Those onlookers made assumptions, so it wasn't long before the police surrounded her car aggressively assuming she was in grave danger.

What triggered Shawn more wasn't that armed officers surrounded him, it was that armed officers surrounded *them*. He'd been arrested before, and he'd been surrounded by the police before, it was nothing new to him. What he was upset about was, that his support person was now involved and put in danger because of *him*. What he was embarrassed about was, that his support person had to stand up for him so he wouldn't be arrested. What he was mad about was, that the prejudice of the locals caused unnecessary trauma for a person he loved and respected.

Shawn and his buddies had been discriminated against for years. I saw it in full bloom and with a new lens when we were asked to open a men's shelter at CCO! In late 2001, we opened our doors to welcome over 100 men experiencing homelessness every night. The need was there, so that's what we did! We embraced the challenge, as we had embraced many challenges before. It seemed natural! It seemed normal! It seemed right!

At this moment, CCO was operating 2 family shelters, a single women's shelter, a soup kitchen 3 times a week, and a food pantry. All these programmes started because we saw a need. Opening our men's shelter was no different, but the reaction was vastly different. Frighteningly different! Long-time staff and volunteers became angry and quit. Men could come to our soup kitchens and food pantry because they were only briefly coming into our buildings. Men could also be housed if they were part of a family. But for those men who were single and without a home, the message was loud and clear, you don't deserve a bed under our roof. In the end, those who opposed these men ran off, and the men's shelter became an important part of Cornerstone's legacy.

I'd seen the prejudice and racism that came from neighbours not wanting a homeless shelter in their hood, but with single men lining up and coming in nightly, those experiencing homelessness were divided into two camps: those who deserved help and those who were undeserving. Neighbours and Block Clubs started an all-out attack on these men and the shelter. These men were judged and cast as violent, addicts, thugs, gangbangers, bums, and criminals. It didn't matter if they were 18 or 80, had college degrees or struggled to read, all these men were deemed not worthy of help and love. People would video these men, unjustly call the police on them, incite rumours online, complain to the politicians, request funding be cut, and gather in clubs to plan our destruction. Most of these attacks came from people with money and assets, and they did have an impact! In 2004, the politicians succumbed to their incessant whinging and funding was cut, as a result, this particular men's shelter was forced to close.

Personally, this was devastating to me, as I had poured my heart and soul into these men for 3 years, we'd seen this programme grow, and we'd seen positive outcomes, only to see prejudice and racism win. Temporarily!

The story didn't end in 2004. It opened my eyes to the power of prejudice and the political games politicians play. The powers-that-be proclaimed how they successfully housed the evicted men, but most of them were just shuffled around the corner to another shelter. Just as Shawn's petite Venezuelan worker stood in the way of an arrest, we need to confront racism and prejudice by not surrendering to its toxicity. I saw how these men were played as political pawns and deemed worthless, so this is when I first became an Outreach Worker, to assist them and let them know "You are worthy, you are not forgotten, and you are precious in the sight of God". In the winter of 2006, the journey continued and we opened our doors to single men again, and since then, we haven't stopped providing beds for single men in need. Since then, we've also seen hundreds upon hundreds move out of homelessness and into safe affordable housing.

Last year I had the honour of walking alongside a man who was sleeping in a local park, right here in West Auckland. He told us a little of his story, of all the trauma, prejudice and racism he'd faced as a Māori, as someone with facial tattoos, as someone with a criminal history, and as someone getting older. He told us not to bother, not to waste our time, as he didn't believe we could help him, that he'd been rejected too many times. We didn't give in, and neither did he! When we had the privilege of helping him get into temporary accommodation, he was in utter disbelief. What makes his story even more remarkable is that now he's in his own place.

Sadly, prejudice and racism feature in both cities, causing a lot of pain and affliction and a loss of hope for our most vulnerable neighbours. Thankfully, there are plenty of people in both cities who stand in the way and fight against it, relieving as much pain and affliction as they can. Let's be a people that fight to eradicate all racism and prejudice, and let's be beacons of hope that helps bring in a more equal society. 

old photos from when the men's shelter closed in 2004...

To read the other differences (and eventually the similarities), and to see the context of this particular piece, please go to Homelessness in Chicago VS Homelessness in Auckland!

My intent in writing these is to break barriers, create awareness, bring justice, and provide compassion for those who are some of society's most vulnerable members, for those experiencing homelessness.