San Mateo Daily Journal – Tuesday September 5th, 2023
Trigger Alert: If you are a victim or survivor of abuse this may be upsetting.
It would be faint at first. The sound of a fist hitting a palm from behind a closed door was the start of a countdown for me. For others it might be the sound of ice clinking in a glass followed by the pour. For still others it could be a rattling door knob, a family member angrily slamming a bedroom door, a car pulling into a driveway, a voice yelling at the TV, the sudden silence of the TV being turned off, or music being turned up way too loud. For me the fist hitting the palm would get louder and faster and then… a monster would call.
52 years later… One of the Daily Journal’s most loyal readers gave me a challenge to look at the “homelessness industrial complex.” He sees it as myriad government agencies, nonprofits, businesses, and others who, according to one estimate in California, will have spent nearly $20 billion dollars on homelessness programs in five years. He also correctly noted that despite massive spending, the number of homeless people keeps increasing, perhaps, he opines, because the powers that be don’t really want to solve the problem. I believe that in San Mateo county, our leadership truly does want to solve the problem and is spending money in appropriate ways to tackle common causes of homelessness. Over the next few months I hope to look at this issue from a variety of perspectives, interview government and NGO leaders, and bring you real stories, data, and if I can find it, hope. If I can’t find hope, I’ll share calls to act to make change. For now, let’s go back to what happens when a monster calls causing people to become homeless.
After months of abuse I ran away. Many abused children end up on the streets. Fortunately I didn’t have to run far. My grandparents lived a few blocks away. I told them what had been happening and that I couldn’t go home any more. They called my parents who refused to believe what I was telling them. In my early childhood I have to admit that I was, in fact, a good liar. Abusers teach children to lie to protect their secrets. Abused children, taught to lie, tend to lie about more than what’s happening at the hands of their monsters. To get me to come home, my Dad helped me devise a plan where I could prove I was telling the truth. Soon the abuser was caught in the act.
I was lucky. I got to return home. Across America and right here in San Mateo County, people escape abusive situations every day only to find themselves, and in many cases their children, homeless. Last year a woman came into our shop and after spending some time browsing asked me if there was a hotel nearby. She hinted that she had just walked out of an abusive home and now had nowhere to go. We talked for a while and I helped find a hotel and let her know that help was always available from CORA (Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse) in San Mateo. I don’t know if she called their 24 hour hotline but if she had she could have found immediate assistance. Then, with CORA being part of the county’s integrated set of service organizations, programs would have kicked in to help her find transitional housing, and get wraparound services to help her over a 1-3 year period to become independent with secure housing. Organizations like CORA offer long-term support and programming to help ensure that their clients have lasting success.
According to a report by the US Department of Health and Human Services, on a single day in America 31,500 adults and children fleeing domestic violence were in emergency shelters. Another 12,000 were turned away. Today nearly 65,000 veterans are homeless. 20% of LGBTQ youth, 20% of aged-out foster youth and 15% of formerly incarcerated people will face homelessness. Many working poor are just a $1,000 surprise expense away from homelessness. And yes, around 52% of chronically homeless people suffer from mental illness and substance abuse.
There are many different organizations large and small trying to help all of these diverse populations escape the monster of homelessness. There is a state-wide plan and funding that is coordinating these resources. Working with these, our county plans to reach its goal of 0% homelessness by 2025. What does this mean for San Mateo County? In the coming months I will look at these programs and people with openness, curiosity, and honesty. Watch this space.
Read the county’s strategic plan here https://www.smcgov.org/hsa/center-homelessness