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Helping The Homeless: Debunking Myths and Misconceptions · Inside West Palm Beach

• 0:13
  Welcome to the City Center podcast from West Palm Beach,
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  Florida.
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  I'm Jerry Marcelo.
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  Being homeless or trying to help those who are homeless is a tremendous challenge for nearly every community in the United States.
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  West Palm Beach is no exception.
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  One of the greatest challenges for those trying to solve the problem is to debunk myths and falsehoods that have sprung up around the issue of homelessness.
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  There's a lot of misinformation associated with homelessness and it only makes the job of helping those on the street that much harder.
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  We're going to take a look at the top misconceptions people have about homelessness and try to help set the record straight with me.
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  Today is homeless service coordinator for the city of West Palm Beach,
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  Ali Severino Ali.
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  Welcome.
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  Hi.
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  Thanks for having me.
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  I guess you hear them every day.
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  Half truths and stories that make things worse.
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  Let's go through a list that you yourself have compiled for us and let's talk a little bit about them.
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  First one.
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  Homelessness is a choice.
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  Yes.
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  So that's a,
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  I think it's a good one and so no one chooses to be in a bad situation,
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  right.
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  No one would choose to have to sleep in the rain at night or to have to be covered in bugs when they wake up in the morning.
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  That's not what anybody chooses.
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  But due to some people's,
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  you know,
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  where they're at with their mental health,
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  they might not even be capable of making a choice that's better than that.
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  Or due to low confidence,
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  you know,
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  humans are complex but homelessness is often not a choice though.
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  There are some individuals who do choose to be outside.
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  There are some individuals who are not yet ready for the responsibilities that come along with being a house individual because to be housed,
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  typically you need an income,
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  which means you need to go to work.
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  And if you have severe disabilities,
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  that can be scary.
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  Or if you grew up in poverty and never completed middle or high school and you're feeling bad about how much you actually know it and most of our clients can even use a computer.
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  So when you're coming in like that,
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  I think it's very scary.
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  But so I think it's mainly a fear driven choice.
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  It's not a true choice if that makes sense.
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  Myth number two,
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  all homeless are mentally ill or addicted.
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  Now,
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  I think this is a great one because I,
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  I just can't help but think and the homeless individuals say it a lot.
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  They go,
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  we do what they're doing,
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  but they're just doing it inside because somebody drinks two beers a day.
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  Does that make them an alcoholic?
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  Not really?
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  Right.
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  I mean,
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  so,
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  yes,
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  while people outside might utilize substances,
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  some of them have substance use disorders.
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  Some do not,
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  some are just,
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  don't have a lot of money and they don't have the support they need to make it where financially into housing or stability.
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  Um,
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  but when it comes to and mental illness too,
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  uh,
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  there's many individuals outside who are not mentally but they might be physically disabled.
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  Right.
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  So there's a whole host of different reasons why a person might become homeless.
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  And we kind of talked about this in part one,
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  but it really goes to physical health,
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  mental health,
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  of course,
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  substance use family issues.
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  LGBT Q community,
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  right?
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  Often find themselves on house due to issues with their families,
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  same thing with the youth.
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  So,
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  um,
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  you know,
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  just the problem can be a little bit larger than just,
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  oh,
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  they're mentally ill or,
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  oh,
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  they're doing drugs because we all know that you can be mentally ill and do drugs inside you.
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  Number three,
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  homelessness is a problem of individual responsibility.
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  Now,
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  I like this one because I'm kind of in the middle here.
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  I don't,
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  I don't know if it's our full responsibility to fix everybody's life fully.
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  Um,
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  and I don't know if that should be a government responsibility.
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  I do believe that it is a community responsibility and I believe as our communities have gotten so disconnected from each other.
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  We're always on our phones.
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  We don't have parades anymore,
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  you know,
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  stuff like that as we get more disconnected with each other.
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  Um,
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  it,
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  it makes it harder for individuals to be successful because they,
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  they don't have a support system.
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  But,
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  um,
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  do you think that if,
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  if our communities were more inter interconnected that there were indeed the parades and picnics,
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  picnics and gatherings,
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  the problem would be not removed but a little bit easier to work with.
• 4:45
  Yes,
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  100%.
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  And I mean,
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  I just,
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  I think everyone can agree that you see such a stark difference in our community when you're downtown versus when you're in the north end,
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  you know,
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  and really if everybody came together and just,
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  you know,
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  loved each other and spent time together,
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  yes,
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  I think that would solve a lot of our community issues,
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  period for everybody.
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  Right.
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  OK.
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  All right.
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  Now,
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  uh number four,
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  homelessness only affects certain populations and this is a great one.
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  So,
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  you know,
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  as I've spoke about in the other two episodes,
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  obviously,
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  individuals who are from disenfranchised communities,
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  obviously,
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  they have a higher risk of experiencing homelessness.
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  Minorities have a higher risk of experiencing homelessness.
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  LGBT Q,
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  et cetera.
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  But we have some people outside and their stories are unbelievable.
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  I had this one lady and um so I had to legally change her name.
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  I had to do all this stuff,
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  but I had to get a ton of paperwork.
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  I had to get divorce decrees and marriage certificates and all this stuff.
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  Right.
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  And so when I'm reading through all these documents,
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  I'm like,
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  wow,
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  this woman had a big home,
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  right in Ohio.
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  She had an escalade.
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  She had some cosmetic surgeries done.
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  Right.
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  So,
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  she was obviously doing ok.
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  She worked for years because I had to get her retirement.
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  Um,
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  you know,
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  turned on helping young Children that had developmental disabilities.
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  Right?
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  And now she herself is homeless.
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  So we can't,
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  you can't look at somebody and think that,
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  you know,
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  where they come from or the life that they live before they ended up on the street.
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  We have individuals that come from very wealthy families who are outside,
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  um,
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  individuals who are very successful in their life at some point,
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  people who fought for our country.
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  Right.
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  So there is a wide array of individuals with just unbelievable stories.
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  Um,
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  you know,
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  and eventually they kind of all can find themselves in the same spot with,
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  uh,
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  when there's just a couple bad luck scenarios in a row.
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  You,
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  you,
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  what you said was,
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  is strikes a,
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  strikes a tone with me.
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  One of the,
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  one of the points you bring up is you refer to everyone as individuals and that's it.
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  They're,
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  they're people,
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  they have stories,
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  they have histories and sometimes we're blinded to that because we see similar situations when they're on the street and it's hard to sometimes remember that these folks have lives,
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  lived lives and they're only here because of a misfortune that any one of us could have befallen.
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  And often it's health care.
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  Right.
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  They have such a big health problem that they lose work,
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  they lose work,
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  they lose housing,
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  they're outside and they can't get back on their feet.
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  And the number five last one for,
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  for this discussion,
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  this is a good one.
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  Providing shelter,
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  solves homelessness.
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  I wish it did.
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  That would be awesome.
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  That would be,
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  that would make our job so much easier.
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  The reality of the situation is that many of these individuals need wraparound services once they are housed,
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  if they are not given these services,
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  once they are housed,
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  they will not stay housed,
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  meaning we need to connect them with case management,
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  a person who is checking in on them regularly,
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  maybe teaching,
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  I mean,
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  we had a client,
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  we had to go over there,
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  teach him how to cook,
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  teach him how to do his laundry,
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  teach him how to clean his apartment,
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  which is very time consuming when you,
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  when you're on a limited staff.
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  For sure.
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  Right.
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  So we need individuals to do these jobs and offer those wrap around services because without learning and gaining a purpose once they are housed,
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  um and feeling secure and stable,
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  they will return.
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  Um So,
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  and,
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  and so,
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  and I,
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  unfortunately,
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  we have a lot of people who are outside,
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  I would say 7 to 8 out of 10 times.
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  If you see somebody outside,
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  they've probably been sheltered her house before lie.
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  Thank you.
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  A series of podcasts here.
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  But you and the rest of your team at the city continue to try to help those on the street.
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  There's a tremendous amount of energy I felt just talking to you just right now,
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  I'm sure the rest of the team is as equally as action packed as you are.
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  And that's a really great thing.
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  Um Any last thoughts is once again,
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  this is your opportunity to speak to a larger audience.
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  What would you like to say to them at this time?
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  Um I would just like to say that we appreciate your guys' support at the vicar's house.
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  We know that it is a difficult situation.
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  We understand that it does impact your quality of life sometimes and that is something that we take very seriously.
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  And every day we do our best to make sure that that is not the case for you personally.
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  Um while also keeping our Unho population safe as well.
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  So,
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  you know,
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  we're working for both of you guys and um if you do want to get involved,
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  reach out,
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  we would love to try to partner if you have job opportunities or housing opportunities or anything of the sort or any ideas or you would like to learn more.
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  We're always here to educate and to brainstorm with you and we appreciate,
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  we need all the help that we can get.
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  We are not saying that we have solved this or figured anything out.
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  We do a great job,
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  but uh we will never turn down any help.
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  So Ali Severino,
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  thank you so much for spending your time with us today.
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  Thank you and thank you for joining us on the City Center podcast from West Palm Beach,
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  Florida.
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  We hope you've enjoyed our discussion.
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  And if you did,
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  please subscribe,
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  we'll be covering more topics of interest to West Palm Beach residents in the weeks to come.
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  Feel free to send us your comments or ideas for future podcasts on our,
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  to our email address,
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  which is podcast at W pb.org.
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  Until next time,
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  this is Jerry Marcelo.
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  Thank you for joining us.