Thousands march to demand housing for America's homeless

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'Homelessness in America is a terminal disease. It is a situation that increasingly debilitates a person the longer it lasts? 20 SOCIALIST ACTION OCTOBER 1989 On Oct. 7, thousands will march in Washington, D.C., to demand housing for America's homeless. This demonstration, organized by Homeless Now and supported by the country's major trade unions, is one of the first organized responses to what has become a catastrophic situation.

It is estimated that there are 3 million to 6 million homeless people trying to survive on the streets of the richest country in the world. Food, clothing, and shelter-the three essentials for human existence-are a daily struggle for these brothers and sisters.

Industrialized nations like the United States have the ability to provide the food and the clothing. Enough food is thrown away by restaurants and supermarkets to feed every person in a breadline. Mountains of cast-off clothes pile up in Salvation Army depots to clothe every American in need, at least decently if not stylishly.

But capitalist America has failed to provide even minimum shelter to millions of desperate citizens. The evidence of this is seen on the streets of any American city. Scruffily dressed men and women pushing shopping carts piled with plastic bags. At night they try to sleep curled up in doorways, or in tents or cardboard boxes in city parks.

Homelessness in America is a terminal disease. It is a situation that increasingly debilitates a person the longer it lasts. Without a home (an address) it is virtually impossible to establish the stability necessary for finding a job.

So the vicious circle closes. Without enough money you can't afford shelter; without shelter you can't keep up your appearance. Thus the downward spiral continues.

What puts a person on that slippery slope in the first place? "Drink, drugs, and mental instability," supporters of the status quo will quickly reply. But this ready-made answer can't be stretched to cover the whole problem. We have always had drunks and addicts. Why are so many of them homeless now?

Statistics prove that personal failings are not a primary cause of homelessness. It is estimated that a quarter of the homeless are working 40 hours a week at minimum-wage jobs. They are living in their cars, trying to accumulate the $1000 or more demanded for advance rent and security deposits.

Single mothers

The fastest-growing segment of the homeless are not even visible on the street. They are the single mothers who could not pay the rent for their last apartment. Or they are women who have lost their HUDsubsidized low-rent apartment because the landlord has paid off his 20-year mortgage and can now charge market rates. A typical rent raise goes from $260 to $650 a month.

Mothers and children have the first call on housing services. The law says children must go to school, and be brought up in a safe and healthy environment. But the system fails to deliver.

Single mothers are supposed to find their own permanent homes. The community offers only temporary shelter. For a week or two, a mother and her children may find refuge in a fairly decent women's shelter; but their time is soon up and they are on the street again.

Jonathan Kozol, the author of "Rachel and her Children" described how a homeless mother might sit all day in a New York welfare office, while a social worker phones desperately around town to find a hotel to take the family for a night. Finally she is sent by bus across town to a last-chance hotel. Arriving there at nearly midnight, she is told she must check out at 8 a.m. Then it is back to the welfare office for another night's lodging.

Government and private profit Sometimes, compassionate social workers will stretch all the regulations to help their clients. Nonetheless, this piecemeal, bandaid approach is very expensive-and ineffective. Hundreds of decent apartments could be built with the money spent on putting the homeless in sleazy "room for a night" hotels.

But that alternative would collide with the interests of two powerful forces-the real estate corporations, which operate strictly on the profit motive, and the U.S. government, which hasn't built any publicly funded housing since 1970. Here is the root cause of homelessness!

A contractor sees little profit in building low-cost housing. So none is built. In fact, they take affordable shelter away from the poor. Thousands of single-occupancy rooms have been bulldozed so speculators can make a bundle of money out of luxury condominiums. These rooms were home to thousands of the poorest, who paid less than $50 a month. Now the few units left in the "rehabilitated" neighborhood rent for over $500 a month.

Inflation in house prices has gone far above the general rise in prices. In San Francisco, the median price for a small two-bedroom house is $250,000! Only nine out of 100 working San Franciscans can qualify for a mortgage. Thus ends one chapter of the American dream.

Nancy Miller Elli In the United States, even conservatives concede there are times when governmentbuilt houses are needed. During World War Il, the government built thousands of housing units for shipyard workers and others. After streets is enough to drive anyone to drink. Many succumb to individual despair. Then life on the streets becomes a hopeless "dog eat dog" existence. To go to the shelters is to risk assault and robbery. Many prefer to take their chances outside.

But some have found a better way to confront a common misfortune. Homeless people are joining other homeless people and making demands on the authorities. Some demands are very immediate: stop police harassment, provide toilet facilities, open day centers where mail and telephone messages can be received.

Demands are being directed to municipal, state, and federal governments.

The Oct. 7 Homeless March on Washington, D.C., is the type of mass action that is necessary to put political pressure on those who are responsible for the lack of adequate housing for millions of Americans.

Over 100 buses have been chartered from the New York City area, and significantly, over 60 buses have been chartered by the labor movement. The fact that the APL-CIO has endorsed this march indicates that the homeless have powerful allies.

Far from being atomized and isolated, the homeless movement is beginning to fight back and reach out to their brothers and sisters in the labor, Black, Latino, and women's movements. These forces, all of whom who are represented in the ranks of the homeless, can force the government to reverse its criminal policies.

Instead of the current government policy of waging war against homeless people, a war should be waged against homelessness. The right of every citizen to protection from the elements was recently confirmed by a New York court. This should be translated into the right of every citizen to decent housing.

As an emergency measure this winter, there must be enough shelters and day centers to get everyone inside. These centers and shelters should be supervised by organizations representing the homeless to assure their liveability.

But more permanent measures are needed. Adequate low-cost housing must be provided—at no more than 10 percent of a family's income. This will mean conflict with many capitalist institutions. The grip of real-estate interests on prime building sites will have to be broken.

Government bodies (on up to the federal level) will have to get into the housing business—but the job can't be left to the politicians. The construction and maintenance of new homes (and the rehabilitation of old buildings) must be must be controlled by committees involving the labor movement, the homeless, and the poor.

The housing crisis reveals a huge crack in the edifice of capitalism. It is beyond repair. The whole structure will have to be torn down and replaced by a socialist system that puts people's needs before private profits. Money for Housing, Not for War!