Myth-buster: Some 'Haves' Have Not...

Much of the talk about the "haves" tends to overlook a little secret: Some "haves" have-not.

Talking with the fire chief of a fairly well-to-do Chicago area community recently, he inquired about my work. When I replied that I educated people about the existence and plight of homeless families, he nodded his head knowingly. As we both agreed that this latest economic melt-down was tough on a lot of people, he went further than I expected in the conversation.

He described the increasingly common observations of local firefighters and paramedics: responding to emergency calls at beautiful homes on the outside, they see boxes filled with personal belongings on the inside as families wait in fear of the next shoe dropping. Eviction or foreclosure are not limited to low-income and middle-income households. The ubiquitous for sale sign doesn't tell the whole story.

Other shockers: seeing the showcase home from the street, going inside to see immense chaos and disarray. We're not talking sloppiness, we're talking people utterly depressed by the hand they've been dealt who have given up functioning.

Paramedics and medical personnel also see a surprising number of people from affluent areas who have no health insurance. Some ignore serious health problems until things got so bad they needed to call 9-1-1. They get to the hospital and the embarrassing secret is revealed: no money, no insurance. Not surprising, these people require many repeat paramedic visits and hospital stays.

It will be hard to garner sympathy from some folks, but if these nuevo poor families get added to the skyrocketing number of people living on the street, it could make life a tad challenging for social service agencies, not to mention the families. As it is, schools are reporting a huge increase in the number of homeless students.

I can't imagine the stress behind the walls of these multi-million dollar mansions. To what extent do people go in order to mask their situations?

Seems to me that as things get worse it will (hopefully) be increasingly hard to ignore the reality of poverty and its related maladies. We shouldn't be surprised when reading stories about people turning to drug trade to earn enough money to care for their families. Some people stop at nothing to amass their wealth. Now they're going to see how the other half live. Maybe they at least know a policymaker who might lend a sympathetic ear to those experiencing the American nightmare.

UPDATES:

• NYC shelters are holding off on charging working homeless families rent. Score 1 for the advocates (for now)!

• The HEARTH ACT, the federal bill to address homelessness under HUD's mantle, passed and was signed last week as I was heading out of town for some R&R. Behind-the-scenes advocacy on this bill was UGLY! Those of us concerned about the well-being of homeless families and teens have major concerns about how this bill might cause further suffering. At least they are allowing for input on the regs.