Homeless for the Holidays?
by David Cook
Last night, as temperatures sank to the mid 20s, the local anti-poverty group CHANGERS held its first annual Tour of Homes. Calling it Home(less) for the Holidays, the tour was an alternative to the popular tour of homes that takes place in many neighborhoods each winter. With a big thanks to Jeff Styles and the Talk Monster, the public was been invited, and more than 50 ordinary Chattanoogans – mothers and sons, executives, fathers and daughters, students, artists, professors, businessmen - bundled up and visited five different homes, all occupied by homeless or nearly homeless Chattanoogans. For the sake of privacy, names have been changed.
First Home: Family Housing and Learning Center. Located right next to the Community Kitchen, this collection of small apartments coupled with a courtyard and playground provides shelter to Chattanooga families who would otherwise be homeless. Required to work and set aside a portion of their salary for savings, eight families have recently put down payments on houses they now call home.
“We had normal lives,’’ said Mr. Smith, who opened up his warm apartment and spoke with our tour. “I got laid off from Walmart, and the bills started piling up, and within four weeks, we were out of money. We were one day away from being evicted when we heard about Interfaith Homeless Network. They helped us and now we are here.’’
Nearby, his two small children watched cartoons. Their Christmas tree stood in the corner. Decorations were nearby.
“Without this, we would be on the streets, sleeping in our car,’’ said Mrs. Smith.
Missy Crutchfield, the director of our city’s Arts and Education Department, was part of the tour, along with Councilman Andrae McGary, the only politician that participated in last winter’s Urban Plunge. Talking with the Smiths, Ms. Crutchfield said, “You seem so normal. I didn’t know what to expect when we opened the door to your apartment, but your family seems so normal, just like everyone else.’’
Second Stop: Maggie and Ted’s home. Strung up by bungee cords and strong sticks, anchored by heavy rocks, Maggie and Ted sleep under a tent and tarpaulin, hidden in the woods somewhere in downtown Chattanooga. The wind was blowing strong last night, and the ground still wet from Tuesday’s flooding. Someone asked Maggie and Ted the obvious question: how do you keep warm?
“We can’t build a fire here,’’ said Ted, who works as a roofer, “so we just get under our blankets and sleep really close to each other. It takes a while, but usually we warm up.’’
With Christmas on our minds, I asked Maggie and Ted about joy and happiness, and where they find such things while living in a tent in December.
“Giving to others,’’ said Maggie. “Each day, I volunteer and help out at the Community Kitchen. A lot of times, the little food we’ve stored up is given away to others, who don’t have any food.’’
The wind blew. I thought about my own pantry, where I keep so much food.
Third Home: Patten Towers. Originally built in 1908 as the city’s first skyscraper, the building was long ago visited by several presidents, Walt Disney, Billy Graham and Jimmy Hoffa. In the 1970s, the Towers were converted to Section 8 project-based housing. CHANGERS had spoken with a tenant there who gladly accepted our offer to be part of Thursday’s tour. However, Patten Towers management denied us entry at the last minute.
Stops Four and Five: the men’s shelter known as St. Matthew’s and the women’s shelter known as St. Catherine’s. Tucked underneath two downtown churches, these shelters house ten men and women as part of programs done through the Kitchen. Each shelter has bunk beds, showers, cable television and a kitchen, although St. Catt’s has a microwave but no oven.
“The women here love to cook, and they sure would love an oven,’’ said the volunteer on duty last night.
Inside, a nurse who lost her job was drinking hot tea. Nearby, two toddlers played on a couch, and a mother nestled her infant son.
“Each day we have to leave early in the morning,’’ said one woman. “My children are in school. That’s very important to me. After I drop them off, I go look for work. And there is not much out there looking back.’’
The men at St. Matt’s said the same thing.
“We don’t want a hand-out. We need a hand-up,’’ said one man, a veteran. Forty percent of all homeless men identify themselves as veterans of the US Armed Forces.
All along the tour, the folks we talked to acknowledged that some homeless Chattanoogans choose life on the streets. “It’s mainly because of addiction and mental illness,’’ said the veteran.
“But that’s not all of us,’’ said another man. “Most of us are just trying to find a better life.’’
When asked what would help end homelessness in Chattanooga, the answers came quickly.
“Affordable housing.’
“A living wage.’’
“Jobs.’’
“Education.’’
After saying goodnight, the tour made its way back to the Kitchen. Stopping by Miller Park – where local ministers are regularly prevented from passing out free food because of the city’s $25 permit requirement – our group discussed the physicalness of being homeless. How cold these nights are. Where to urinate. The amount of walking. The amount of loneliness.
We also discussed certain facts: there are no government sponsored shelters in our city. If you are a mother with children, the amount of available shelter beds are no more than you can count on fingers and toes. The Community Kitchen is serving more meals each day than ever before. One in four children in the US experienced hunger – or food insecurity – last year. Five hundred people sleep on our city’s streets each night. Families with children are the largest growing segment of the homeless population.
And, there are dozens of groups doing something about these issues. Last night’s tour was sponsored by CHANGERS, a part of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign. We believe that poverty does not have to exist. If you would like to join us, please visit chattanoogachanger.org or contact me at the email below.
“You could have been doing other things,’’ said one woman to the people on last night’s tour. “But you came to be with us and bear witness. And for that, thank you.’’