Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well- warmed, and well-fed.
-Herman Melville
-Herman Melville
The Homeless Question
What's broken, the system or the people?
Homelessness is on the rise, it has been for some time now. A visit to any major city is evidence of the homeless problem, especially out west where the weather is more amicable. There are a lot of programs in place to help homeless people with everything from food to housing. For those ambitious enough there is training available as well as schooling to acquire a certificate or degree in a given field of study or profession. Opportunities abound yet it seems as though the problem only gets exponentially worse and it begs the question; With so many good people and good programs in place, is it the system or the people that are broken?
Answer: The People. OK, both. Mostly, the people though, the two are just connected in a sort of loop, like the holding pattern a couple of drunk pilots might find themselves in. I don't reference the people working within the system, just to be clear, not all of them at any rate. The people I refer to for this study are homeless people themselves who perpetually and with intent abuse the system and themselves. Of course there are exceptions, I have taken that into account.
Answer: The People. OK, both. Mostly, the people though, the two are just connected in a sort of loop, like the holding pattern a couple of drunk pilots might find themselves in. I don't reference the people working within the system, just to be clear, not all of them at any rate. The people I refer to for this study are homeless people themselves who perpetually and with intent abuse the system and themselves. Of course there are exceptions, I have taken that into account.
Location
Opportunity Village was a pilot transitional housing "community" in Eugene Oregon. Born out of the "Occupy Movement" in 2013 and overseen by a non profit called Square One Villages. They claim that they are "moving toward providing housing to the poor." Square One alleges that one of their goals is to, "...provide housing to people who have an income and can make a living but cannot afford more traditional housing." That is the tip of a pretty hefty iceberg.
Opportunity Village was the start, now Square One has more ambitious goals and Opportunity Village has become the social experiment perfect for learning what does NOT work. As they build other villages in surrounding areas they are hopefully taking what they've learned from so many mistakes into account. Much of Square One's fundraising efforts make use Opportunity Village as the rundown, broken look of the place, the desperate and hopeless look of the people there and the exhibitionist style in which they do tours, helps them to generate funds for their OTHER projects. Villagers are looked upon as though they are animals in a zoo, their privacy violated without consent, just one of many dehumanizing effects that perpetuates the problem.
In the context of this study it is easy to see ways in which policies are flawed as well as ways in which ideas could work just fine if only implemented by properly trained staff with properly vetted people. Opportunity Village had a high turnover rate of active staff so no one really got invested and those that did were, more often than not, negatively impacted. Negative effects were often physical, mental and emotional. In my time there, interns would quit long before their program requirements were complete to try and find some other program they could involve themselves with that would be more fulfilling and wouldn't totally kill their faith in humanity.
At least one staff member in my time there had to leave due to serious chronic health issues, the stress of that job, the dehumanization, was no small part in that. By the time I left, they weren't hiring interns anymore. Many had left due to mental health issues, the village being a source of extreme anxiety and depression for them, and they didn't even have to live there.
By the time I left they had one staff member left who even interacted with the Village at all and she barely showed up as her mental health had been declining exponentially over time as well, as was evidenced in her behavior. It doesn't help the staff that the villagers themselves are blatantly ungrateful, uninspired and lacking in accountability. Most make it their job to be sick or be victims in some way, they're simply maintaining an environment in which they can thrive, a toxic one.
Other Square One villages that are set up differently have their own problems, like I said, my hope is that they are learning from the disaster they have created at Opportunity Village so those villages aren't doomed to fail as well.
*UPDATE* The village I lived at shut down in 2022, they were given electricity and many used that as an "opportunity" to cook things they shouldn't have been cooking, not a good look.
For more information about Square One, visit their website: https://www.squareonevillages.org/
Opportunity Village was the start, now Square One has more ambitious goals and Opportunity Village has become the social experiment perfect for learning what does NOT work. As they build other villages in surrounding areas they are hopefully taking what they've learned from so many mistakes into account. Much of Square One's fundraising efforts make use Opportunity Village as the rundown, broken look of the place, the desperate and hopeless look of the people there and the exhibitionist style in which they do tours, helps them to generate funds for their OTHER projects. Villagers are looked upon as though they are animals in a zoo, their privacy violated without consent, just one of many dehumanizing effects that perpetuates the problem.
In the context of this study it is easy to see ways in which policies are flawed as well as ways in which ideas could work just fine if only implemented by properly trained staff with properly vetted people. Opportunity Village had a high turnover rate of active staff so no one really got invested and those that did were, more often than not, negatively impacted. Negative effects were often physical, mental and emotional. In my time there, interns would quit long before their program requirements were complete to try and find some other program they could involve themselves with that would be more fulfilling and wouldn't totally kill their faith in humanity.
At least one staff member in my time there had to leave due to serious chronic health issues, the stress of that job, the dehumanization, was no small part in that. By the time I left, they weren't hiring interns anymore. Many had left due to mental health issues, the village being a source of extreme anxiety and depression for them, and they didn't even have to live there.
By the time I left they had one staff member left who even interacted with the Village at all and she barely showed up as her mental health had been declining exponentially over time as well, as was evidenced in her behavior. It doesn't help the staff that the villagers themselves are blatantly ungrateful, uninspired and lacking in accountability. Most make it their job to be sick or be victims in some way, they're simply maintaining an environment in which they can thrive, a toxic one.
Other Square One villages that are set up differently have their own problems, like I said, my hope is that they are learning from the disaster they have created at Opportunity Village so those villages aren't doomed to fail as well.
*UPDATE* The village I lived at shut down in 2022, they were given electricity and many used that as an "opportunity" to cook things they shouldn't have been cooking, not a good look.
For more information about Square One, visit their website: https://www.squareonevillages.org/
Me & My Method.
H.R. Maxwell
Self Proclaimed Experimental Anthropologist |
Method of Study
Full Immersion/Covert
I entered the village the same way as anyone else. I went through the vetting process and was voted in by the vetting committee and villagers themselves. Once an official villager I conducted myself accordingly and fulfilled all the requirements, including paying all monthly "program fees" on time. From the time I entered the village to the time I left I conducted the study as an unbiased researcher and stayed one as much as possible. |
H.R. Maxwell
A bit more...
Document -holding, College educated and meticulously observant. My studies were focused in Anthropology and psychology. I have an extensive background living in and helping build communities all over the United States over the course of many years. Having only participated in communities of like-minded people prior to this experiment, I found the village very different from anything I had come across before. What I found out was most intriguing. For more, please visit the About page. |
Contact me. |
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please do let me know.
