Safe Lots Needed for Homeless Living in Cars

by Shannon Moriarty · 2009-08-11 19:08:00 UTC
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When you live outdoors, but not on the streets, your home is probably on four wheels and runs on gas. A growing number of people are newly homeless and living in their most valuable asset: a car, truck, or RV. And in communities from California to Florida, the mobile homeless are on the rise.

According to a report released last months by a coalition of national homeless advocacy groups, entitled Foreclosure to Homelessness 2009, 18 percent of the 1.6 million who were homeless in 2008 were living outdoors, but not on the streets. 

When your home is on four wheels, it's impossible to sit still.  Each day you must be on the go to evade authorities and the expensive citations for illegal parking. You sleep with one eye open; you can never be perfectly at ease. Indeed, according to the LA Times, many "mobile homeless" become experts at the art of staying hidden while in plain view.

But the propensity to avoid authorities- or human interaction of any kind, for that matter- presents unique challenges for communities working to reach out to those in need of assistance. How will these individuals receive the assistance they desperately need if they cannot be found? 

The answer is simple: safe lots.

Rather than turn a blind eye to the "mobile homeless", communities should confront the problem directly by following Ventura County, California's lead. Instead of encouraging the fleeing of the mobile homeless by issuing citations for illegal parking, the County created "safe sleeping lots." That is, lots where cars could safely and legally camp overnight where police would provide extra surveillance.

While such lots are by no means a permanent solution to the problem of mobile homelessness, they help people feel a bit safer, promote a sense of community among those living in cars, and- most importantly- allow service providers to find people in need of housing, supportive services, and a means of getting off the streets.

 

Shannon Moriarty has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
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