Homeless and Right-less
For some reason, the rights and lives of the homeless are valued less than the rights and lives of the rest of the population. Aside from the token laws regarding hypothermia shelter, homeless persons calling for help may be ignored or encounter blatant hostility. Somehow being homeless seems to be an unpardonable sin, because aside from women calling 911 claiming violence, cries for help from the homeless may well fall on deaf ears.
Let us assume for a moment that there are actually homeless persons who do not want to remain homeless, who want to be self-sustaining, and who want to think that they have a future other than living on welfare. Already this assumption goes far beyond what most people believe to be true.
Even the briefest bout of homelessness can become a reason for children to lose a father. Not too long ago, I recieved a warning from the Family Services Division of the Montgomery County Circuit Court in Maryland stating that if I revealed to my children tha I live in a shelter, my visitation rights would be terminated. If that were not enough, my ex-spouse filed a motion with the court petitioning to terminate my visitation rights because of my homeless status. After talking with numerous other fathers in the shelter, I concluded that my case is hardly unique; many of the fathers have been denied visitation rights solely because of their homeless status, and there is no legal remedy for this situation.
Discrimination is not limited to the family court system. One day as I waited to enter the office of The Arts and Education Center in the Federal City Shelter at 2nd and D Streets NW, I had the dubious honor of having a mentally ill woman hurl a cinderblock at me, screaming at me to leave. I immediately called 911 and was told a police unit would be dispatched to the scene. With a police station just two blocks away, I found it very hard to understand why a police officer did not show up or why the police did not bother to call me back to inform me no one would be providing assistance.
Perhaps it is because I called from that location that I was ignored, but I will never know. The only thing I could understand is that if I were a "normal" person, I should know not to walk by "that place" or deal with "those people," as I have heard others refer to the area and its inhabitants.
Even more outrageous was something that befell my friends and me recently when we faced severe threats to our safety and had to petition the DC Superior Court to issue protection orders. Because of the nature of the risk, the Crime Victims' Compensation Program offered to relocate us to a safe location temporarily while we sought a permanent safe location. We wasted no time in trying to find an alternative place to live through our core service agency, which was our only option.
During our stay in the "protective" location, however, we faced harassment and insults, claiming that we were "living off the system." Ultimately, the Crime Victims' Compensation Program rescinded its offer to us and forced us to leave the location, accusing us of false claims the management at the location had lodged against us. We were told we would not be moved to another location. In short, nobody cared what became of us. That became glaringly evident when we discovered that because of our absence -- even to ensure our safety -- we would have to leave the shelter for good! To date, nobody has seen fit to answer to any of the inconsistencies in this matter, and we still face an uncertain fate.
Sometimes the disregard for the lives of the homeless hits on less threatening but equally harmful levels. Most homeless persons do not have the means to retain counsel as their civil rights are repeatedly violated. The few organizations that do support the homeless are reluctant to assist with individual cases, even though such help is sorely needed.
In the end, if there is a system here, it clearly isn't working to help the homeless. Apparently, the lives of the homeless are expendable.
Let us assume for a moment that there are actually homeless persons who do not want to remain homeless, who want to be self-sustaining, and who want to think that they have a future other than living on welfare. Already this assumption goes far beyond what most people believe to be true.
Even the briefest bout of homelessness can become a reason for children to lose a father. Not too long ago, I recieved a warning from the Family Services Division of the Montgomery County Circuit Court in Maryland stating that if I revealed to my children tha I live in a shelter, my visitation rights would be terminated. If that were not enough, my ex-spouse filed a motion with the court petitioning to terminate my visitation rights because of my homeless status. After talking with numerous other fathers in the shelter, I concluded that my case is hardly unique; many of the fathers have been denied visitation rights solely because of their homeless status, and there is no legal remedy for this situation.
Discrimination is not limited to the family court system. One day as I waited to enter the office of The Arts and Education Center in the Federal City Shelter at 2nd and D Streets NW, I had the dubious honor of having a mentally ill woman hurl a cinderblock at me, screaming at me to leave. I immediately called 911 and was told a police unit would be dispatched to the scene. With a police station just two blocks away, I found it very hard to understand why a police officer did not show up or why the police did not bother to call me back to inform me no one would be providing assistance.
Perhaps it is because I called from that location that I was ignored, but I will never know. The only thing I could understand is that if I were a "normal" person, I should know not to walk by "that place" or deal with "those people," as I have heard others refer to the area and its inhabitants.
Even more outrageous was something that befell my friends and me recently when we faced severe threats to our safety and had to petition the DC Superior Court to issue protection orders. Because of the nature of the risk, the Crime Victims' Compensation Program offered to relocate us to a safe location temporarily while we sought a permanent safe location. We wasted no time in trying to find an alternative place to live through our core service agency, which was our only option.
During our stay in the "protective" location, however, we faced harassment and insults, claiming that we were "living off the system." Ultimately, the Crime Victims' Compensation Program rescinded its offer to us and forced us to leave the location, accusing us of false claims the management at the location had lodged against us. We were told we would not be moved to another location. In short, nobody cared what became of us. That became glaringly evident when we discovered that because of our absence -- even to ensure our safety -- we would have to leave the shelter for good! To date, nobody has seen fit to answer to any of the inconsistencies in this matter, and we still face an uncertain fate.
Sometimes the disregard for the lives of the homeless hits on less threatening but equally harmful levels. Most homeless persons do not have the means to retain counsel as their civil rights are repeatedly violated. The few organizations that do support the homeless are reluctant to assist with individual cases, even though such help is sorely needed.
In the end, if there is a system here, it clearly isn't working to help the homeless. Apparently, the lives of the homeless are expendable.
Published in Street Sense, May 2004.
posted by MasterWriter at 2:12 p.m.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home