One Million Acts of Extraordinary Compassion

Neil Donovan, the Executive Director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, is part of Change.org's Changemakers network, comprised of leading voices for social change. Change.org asked Donovan to respond to questions to provide context for his work and the cause he supports.

Change.org: What cause would you most like to promote as a Changemaker and why?

As a Changemaker, I would like to promote the cause of changing the way Americans recognize and respond to people in the United States who experience persistent poverty or homelessness. For too long, dating back to the colonial era, we've lived with a de facto caste system or hierarchy that labels people as deserving, less deserving and undeserving. The Puritans assigned a rank in society based on moral principles and we've lived within the shadows of this framework ever since. It's important that we change the question we ask ourselves and each other from "How do we help those in need?" to "Is there grace in a life lived simply, sharing our resources, without flexing the might of ownership?" When we see poverty as a blessing, albeit mixed, and as an asset, albeit troubled, we'll be more apt to see those living in poverty and homelessness as deserving. There are real and significant consequences to poverty and homelessness. But, if we truly and actively believe that everyone is deserving, then the solutions to ameliorate the dire consequences of poverty and homelessness will logically and lovingly follow: creating affordable and accessible housing for those who are homeless and creating jobs and benefits that pay a living income for those who are persistently poor ... and, now is that time for change.

Change.org: If you could ask one million people to all do one thing to advance your cause, what would it be?

On December 21st, the longest night of the year, at the recent 20th Annual National Memorial Day for the Homeless, I spoke about how ... "We can end homelessness if every American did just one ordinary act of compassion or one million Americans did just one extraordinary act of compassion. But, perhaps the truth will be that ending homelessness must fall on the few, those who have chosen a life of service, and we can only hope that will be enough." Changemakers, however, is a current and unique vehicle for change. So, given this new opportunity to ask for change, I'd refer back to the matrix above: one million Americans doing just one extraordinary act of compassion. My favorite interpretation of the biblical story of the loaves and fish describes the "miracle" as the followers of Jesus going beyond the usual and customary act of breaking bread within their inner circle and doing something extraordinary: unconditionally donating a piece of bread or a portion of fish. The story results in ample food for all those who hungered. I can't recall an event in recent times when our society made such an extraordinary commitment to change ... and, now is the time for change.

Change.org: What is the greatest obstacle to change on the issue of homelessness in America?

Most Americans support the ending of homelessness in America, while knowingly or unknowingly accepting the temporary and partial solutions to homelessness proposed by elected officials and those in positions of authority and responsibility. Administration after administration has committed itself to ending homelessness, without developing effective permanent solutions and bringing adequate resources to bear on the problem. The result is that we develop solutions that are designed to meet the limits of the funds available, rather than designing solutions that meet the scope of the problem. Homelessness will be solved by creating affordable and accessible housing to the scale necessary to house all those without homes. We have spent much of the past few decades pathologizing those without housing, dividing them into subpopulations and developing local plans to end homelessness. The Bush administration was "Gaga for [Malcolm] Gladwell," believing that shifting limited resources towards chronically homeless individuals, and away from other homeless subpopulations, would create a "tipping point" that would ultimately lead to the ending of all homelessness. Little things can make big differences. However, too few resources cannot solve a major social illness. Every limited solution to ending homelessness, created by the administrations of recent times, has had unexpected and fateful consequences: Priority Home (Clinton), Ending Chronic Homelessness (G.W. Bush), and Zero Tolerance for Homeless Veterans (Obama). Each was or is an attempt to solve homelessness through the limited attention to one or a few special subgroups of those who are homeless. Yet I've learned that the only viable solution to ending the homelessness of veterans, chronically homeless individuals, children or any other subpopulation is to create a permanent solution that considers the problem of homelessness overall, indivisibly ... and, now is the time for that change.

Change.org: If you could ask President Obama and the U.S. Congress to do one thing to advance your cause, what would it be?

As a Changemaker, I'm asking President Obama and Congress to make homelessness part of our history and not part of our future. I ask that the path towards ending homelessness be advanced not in terms of war (America's War on Poverty), but of peace (Four Noble Truths). That just as the president is our commander-in-chief, he also show leadership as our moral compass. That just as Congress enjoys the privilege of being free from the breach of peace, that it also carrying the duty of its responsibility to represent us all with equal weight and measure. Making homelessness part of our history can be a unanimous and bipartisan act of Congress, with support by the president -- a commitment adopted by those who believe in the rights and freedom of every human being to enjoy a civil life.

Photo credit: Andrew Ciscel