H.O.M.E. Word – A blog from Project H.O.M.E.

In the summer edition of Project H.O.M.E.’s Dwelling Place newsletter, we feature the following excerpt from a talk by our co-founders Sister Mary Scullion and Joan Dawson McConnon, who were honored by the University of Notre Dame with the 2011 Laetare Medal, the most prestigious honor given to American Catholics. You can view this speech in its entirety on YouTube.  You can also read the rest of the newsletter on our webpage.

We live in complex and deeply challenging times. Our society, we believe, is one that most often measures the value of a person by his or her productivity alone and discards the unproductive along the way.

We live in a society so mesmerized by its view of success that it considers only that real which can be touched and weighed, measured and counted, a culture in which human and spiritual values have almost vanished from its consciousness.

We could share so many stories with you, including that of a seven-year-old boy whom we visited in foster care where he has been placed because of the neglect of his drug-addicted parents who have so lost track of time that they fail to visit him on those few precious days allotted each month, days to which he looks forward eagerly and innocently – yet days on which he is invariably disappointed.

Or the story of the homeless man, a veteran of four-and-a-half years of the war in Vietnam who was honorably discharged, and lived on the streets of Philadelphia, a shell of his former person, hating the streets and his hopeless future, screaming out at those who pass him by without knowing or caring or even seeing him, the invisible man.

Try to picture these two: the innocent, broken-hearted boy or the despairing, non-productive, invisible man of the streets. What is our response to them?

Our faith does not give us answers; it gives us courage. Our faith does not allow us to accept homelessness as an inevitable part of our urban landscape. Indifference to the plight of those who are poor is not an option.

In our work at at Project H.O.M.E., we dare to make the hopeful assertion that we can end homelessness. This hope is grounded in reality: the reality of concrete solutions that have proven themselves for many years; and the reality of a community of persons from all walks of life who come together with a common vision of justice and compassion. That community is a source of tremendous power.

But that community must grow if we are to make greater progress. We invite you to bring your profound resources of faith and intellect to the work of ending homelessness, of building what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., called “the Beloved Community.”

The Latin on the Laetare Medal translates, “Truth is mighty, and it shall prevail.” This speaks to the greatest need in our world today: We need persons committed to living truthfully. We need men and women with the intellectual and spiritual gifts that equip them to pierce through the falsehoods, deceits, and cover-ups that mark so much of our society and even our Church today.

Such as our ability to find over $150 billion dollars in a few short weeks to bail out financial institutions, but at the same time we can’t find the money to house our people and educate our children. Or when cities across the country pass laws to arrest panhandlers and people living on the streets while Wall Street executives face no justice for their corrupt decisions that led to millions of Americans losing their homes and their savings.

We need people who can see through hypocrisy and stand up for America’s promise of justice and liberty for all. We need people to stand squarely on the side of the poor and those who are struggling on the margins of our society. We need people who believe that everyone matters; that there are no throw away people.

We must refuse to be blinded by the false values of excessive individualism and phony materialism. We must instead reignite the quest for the common good. As Project H.O.M.E.’s co-founder Joan McConnon often reminds us, “Strive to live a life you admire, rather than one you envy.”

We don’t get involved simply out of a sense of moral duty or to fulfill any obligations. We are drawn toward mercy, compassion, and justice because we recognize that our common humanity is at stake. We enter into the experience of human suffering because it teaches us the deepest truths of who we are as humans.

This is what we have found in over thirty years of working with those who have experienced homelessness, mental illness, and addiction. We become most fully human when we enter the mystery of suffering and, with God’s grace, tap into the miracles of healing and transformation. And we see those miracles occurring daily at Project H.O.M.E.: A man who has refused twenty times to come off of the streets comes in the 21st time … a young woman who spent the first ten years homeless, came to Project H.O.M.E. with her recovering mother, and ten years later she is a junior at Albright College and her mother works full time and is a leader in our community … a fifty-year-old mentally disabled person is completing his college degree while working at the H.O.M.E. Page Cafe.

We are convinced we must be people who see beyond what we can touch and weigh and measure and count. We must be people who believe — believe in the essential dignity of the human person. If the spirit within us withers, so too will all the world we built around it.

We must begin to take the first steps, however small, on that long journey to where the wasteland ends and human wholeness and fulfillment begin.

As the biblical prophet Isaiah said, “If you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.” We need your light and the Truth to shine brightly in our cities, our country, our churches, and our world.

Sister Mary Scullion

In June 2010, our co-founder and Executive Director Sister Mary Scullion was invited to submit to the “This I Believe” audio essay project, in which persons describe the core values that guide their daily lives.  Sister Mary’s essay was broadcast on Philadelphia’s public radio station WHYY-FM.  Here is a transcription of that audio essay.

When I was a student at St. Joseph’s University, I began to spend time on the streets of Philadelphia, getting to know the men and women for whom these streets were their only home. The more I developed relationships with them and the more I got to know them, the harder it became to head home at night while they remained outside.

In time, I came to a powerful insight: When we see a person on the street we can no longer pass by and piously say, “There but for the grace of God go I” – but rather “There go I.”  As Dr. King taught us:  “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality; tied in a single garment of destiny.  Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

I have had many great teachers – including Georgianna Simmons, who lost nine of her toes to frostbite on the streets of Philadelphia, and who, despite a daunting mental illness, was a powerful advocate and woman of great love.  Or Tanisha Clanton, who spent the first ten years of her life in shelters, and now is in college pursing a degree in art education so she can use the arts as a tool for educating inner-city youth.  Or Joe Williams, who turned his years of addiction into a passion for recovery and now, with a college degree, runs a recovery house for homeless men.

I’ve been doing this work for more than 30 years, and I’ve been radically changed. People who have nothing have taught me so much about life and grace, about faith and compassion.

Among the lessons they have taught me is that ultimately, people who are homeless and poor need the same opportunities we all need:  decent, affordable housing; quality education; employment; and access to health care.

More significantly, their lives so eloquently witness to the fundamental truth of the dignity of every person.  Contrary to our society, which values those who it deems productive and prosperous and often marginalizes those who struggle with homelessness, I believe that every man, woman, and child possesses gifts, worth, and potential.  Everyone matters!

And so I envision and work for a society in which each person is given the opportunity and resources to achieve their fullest potential and to contribute to the common good.

I also believe that our greatest power is unleashed when people come together across social boundaries to form a community united by a common vision.  It is through “the power of we,” as our friend and partner, Jon Bon Jovi reminds us, that we come to know the deepest truth of our humanity.

At the end of the day, this is what I truly believe: “None of us are truly home until all of us are home.”

This is the second of two parts of a talk given by Sister Mary Scullion to a group of Chester County officials, service providers, advocates, and other stakeholders to encourage them in the development of a Ten Year Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness.  The first part was posted on March 15.

What makes it realistic to talk about ending homelessness is the existence of a very real community of hope – people from all walks of life who find some way to contribute and to be part of the solution.   As people come to understand the issues, they want to get involved, and we need to be able to show persons and organizations what concrete roles they can play.  We need to creatively find the outlets for persons’ and organizations’ gifts and energy and expertise.  Can professors and students in a local business school help us develop marketing plans for new businesses that can provide jobs for persons breaking the cycle of homelessness?  Can local universities find internships and placements, not just for social work students, but for urban planners, architects, education students, in programs that can use their skills to work on policies, property development, and education supports?  Can local businesses help us work with young persons in low-income neighborhoods through mentoring and apprenticeships as ways to strengthen their skills, foster better economic possibilities, and prevent future homelessness?  Can our religious congregations tap their powerful spiritual and moral traditions to harness energy and vision and help offer humane and caring services and advocacy?

Sister Mary Scullion speaks at a 2008 rally calling on presidential candidates to address homelessness.

The answer to all of these is yes.  And, our experience has continually shown us, it’s not simply homeless persons who benefit:  Invariably, these organizations, schools, businesses, and congregations are also enriched.

We also need to nurture real leadership – but we must open our eyes to many forms of leadership among all kinds of people at every level.

Persons who have experienced homelessness must be part of the solution.  Their life stories are invaluable in helping us understand the realities of homelessness and what kinds of solutions work best.  Their passion, courage, and resilience must be our guideposts along the way.   The vision of Project H.O.M.E. was developed in large part by the men in our first emergency winter shelter twenty years ago.  At that time, our first concern was saving these men’s lives by getting them inside.   Over those months, we dialogued with the men about what solutions were possible, and they helped us identify the building blocks of our program:  housing, opportunities for employment, medical care, and education.  Over the years, our residents’ input has helped strengthen our programs and clarify our vision.

Without the constant input and leadership of men and women who have experienced homelessness, our ten-year plans become bureaucratic reports on shelves, and our meetings and consultations just a lot of professional talk.

Another hopeful sign is when people who might normally be in opposition to each other find common ground.  For instance, homeless advocates and business persons have been pitted as adversaries – those of us who care about the issue of homelessness have sometimes been guilty of painting those in the chambers of commerce as cruel and inhumane, whose only interest is to pass anti-homeless legislation to forcibly remove persons off the streets.  Homeless advocates have been pigeon-holed as caring only about the civil rights of homeless persons to stay on the streets, with little concern for the health of the broader community.  But in fact we can and must see each other as allies.  Many in the business community are caring and humane.  They also understand, sometimes better than politicians, that cost-effective and humane solutions can be a win-win situation.

The fact is, we have much common ground.  We all want to get homeless persons off the streets.  We can come together in the conviction that we all desire for our downtowns and our neighborhoods to be safe, sanitary environments.  We should all advocate for a quality of life for everyone.  Procuring quality housing and services for homeless persons and supporting commerce and tourism do not need to be mutually exclusive:  In fact, both are critical in helping our urban communities flourish.

In fact, perhaps the most important – and most hopeful – lesson we have learned over the past three decades is this:  Our efforts to solve homelessness are good for the entire community.  When we invest in effective permanent supportive housing to help people get off the streets, we save millions of dollars otherwise spent on emergency rooms, police and court costs, endless rounds of detox and psychiatric hospitalizations.   When we develop permanent housing and economic supports to help homeless families move out of shelter and toward self-sufficiency, we save the costs of dead-end shelters.  When we empower individuals and families to break the cycle of homelessness, we create productive and contributing citizens.

Two reports commissioned by Project H.O.M.E. bear this out.  A 2007 economic analysis showed that the Philadelphia neighborhoods in which a Project H.O.M.E. residence is located experienced a higher rate of property value increase than in the city in general.   Other studies have shown similar findings: that supportive housing programs do not result in decrease property values, but in fact are correlated to increased property values, and therefore have a financial benefit to the city.

Likewise, a report we released last year entitled “Saving Money, Saving Lives” also showed that investment in permanent supportive housing actually saves money for municipalities in the long run.  We have substantial data which clearly shows that creating solutions to homelessness is actually cost effective – which is surely good news for local governments.

We cannot allow ourselves to say that homelessness and poverty are too expensive to fix.  Rather, they are too expensive not to fix.  One way or another, we are paying for them – in human lives and in social resources.  Our cities can never fully flourish, our economies can never by truly vibrant, our civic health is never truly stable, when we allow so many of our fellow citizens to suffer.

Making a serious commitment to working to end homelessness is a tremendously positive step.  I believe it is a morally conscientious decision – and at the same time it simply makes good political sense.  I believe it is a spiritually significant, compassionate, and humane commitment – and at the same time it is practically speaking an effective use of policies and resources.  This is the good news:  We can make our communities more stable, economically healthy, and vibrant places for all our citizens – and in the process, I believe we become more fully human.

Sister Mary Scullion

Project H.O.M.E.’s co-founder and Executive Director Sister Mary Scullion spoke recently to a group of Chester County officials, service providers, advocates, and other stakeholders to encourage them in the development of a Ten Year Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness.  This posting is part one of her remarks.

It is true that we have been dealing with homelessness as a significant social crisis for three decades now.  So it is understandable when people begin to feel discouraged.  From a certain perspective, it is easy to believe that homelessness is an intractable problem, an inevitable part of the American urban landscape.   Cynics might even say that it is obvious that many homeless persons are beyond help and that despite years of efforts the problem is not going away.  The best we can do is simply manage the situation with the help of a few well-intentioned charities and some shelter beds – and when necessary, legislate and police people out of our downtowns and our nice neighborhoods.

So to speak of developing a plan to end homelessness seems hopelessly naive at best, and at worst mere political posturing and sloganeering.  What do we really hope to accomplish beyond a fancy bureaucratic report which in the long run will be shelved and forgotten – while the suffering of sisters and brothers on the streets and shelters will persist?

We are here today because we dare to believe differently.  We dare to use the language of ending homelessness.  We dare to hope, and to work to turn that hope into real progress

Our hope is far from naive – in fact, it is grounded in reality and experience.  There are many very real reasons for our hope.  One of those reasons is Hyacinth King.  Her mental illness landed her on the streets for several years, but today she serves on Project H.O.M.E.’s Board of Trustees – when she isn’t helping with street outreach or involved in our political advocacy efforts or rebuilding computers for fellow residents.

Another reason for hope is Ben Mitchell, who admits that his life of drugs, crime, and homelessness was heading toward a tragic end.  Today he is a Certified Peer Specialist employed by the Mental Health Association to provide support and assistance to other mental health consumers.  And he frequently inspires crowds when he shares his life journey.

Or there’s Yvonne Bailey, for whom sixteen years of life on the streets are in the past.  Today she is a lead hostess at the Back H.O.M.E. Café, reunited with family, and setting greater goals for her future.

I could mention many more people.  In fact, at Project H.O.M.E., we can recount literally thousands of stories of men, women, and families who have broken the cycle of homelessness.  Even persons who were on the streets for ten years or more, who struggled against unfathomable odds and whose lives were devastated by horrible issues, persons of whom it was said, “They will never come in, they will never get better” – even persons like these are now stable, flourishing, living independently, in recovery, working.

I can personally testify how much men and women like these have given me hope and enriched my vision of what it means to be human and what we can accomplish in life through faith and perseverance.  I am sure that even in this room there are men and women who are living beacons of hope to all of us, who point the way for us in our efforts to make a real difference in our society.

This is the good news:  Effective solutions exist.  We know what kinds of programs and services work.  We know what results we can achieve with well-invested resources and solid planning.  Not only in Philadelphia, but in cities around the country, we have a track record of over twenty years worth of successes.

We know, for instance, that permanent supportive housing, when operated by quality programs with sufficient resources, has a tremendous track record.  The vast majority of our residents in permanent housing, who have lived with chronic mental illness, addiction (or in many cases both), are now working, going to school, and in some way giving back.  Permanent housing created the stability in their lives that allowed them to develop their talents and become contributing members of society.

We know, too, that employment is a critical component in overcoming homelessness.  Here, too, we can point to many successes.  It is true that the majority of persons who are homeless come from backgrounds of severe poverty and have therefore had significant deficits in education and work background.  But there are innumerable examples of effective job training programs and employment initiatives that have allowed persons coming off the streets to succeed.  At Project H.O.M.E., we have created some of our own job training and employment programs, such as a thrift store, which allow many of residents to begin the process of learning fundamental job skills and responsibilities.  We have also developed creative partnerships with other organizations to create employment opportunities.  One of our more remarkable successes came out of dialogue with the Free Library of Philadelphia.  Their main Center City branch was struggling with the issue of many homeless persons coming in from the streets to use their restroom facilities, which was creating unsanitary conditions and some tension among patrons.  Together, we developed a creative program in which the Library hired several of our residents as restroom attendants, who could both keep their facilities clean and orderly, and share with many of the homeless persons information about resources to help them get off the streets.

Encouraged by this success, a year later, Project H.O.M.E. entered into a partnership with the Free Library, Starbucks Coffee, and Metropolitan Bakery to open the H.O.M.E. Page Café in the Library.  It provides quality products in an internet café while giving good jobs to many of residents – and it is succeeding as a for-profit business.

This is a shining example of the rich and diverse community that has come together to build real solutions.  This is, in fact, a necessity:  We need to develop strategic and effective partnerships to get the work done.  Project H.O.M.E. could not have accomplished any of our successes without partnerships and support from organizations, entities, and individuals from all walks of life and all sectors of society.

To be continued in the next posting.

Today’s posting is taken from a recent talk given by S. Mary Scullion, Project H.O.M.E.’s co-founder and Executive Director.

Over the past twenty years, we have come to see that homelessness represents a complex mixture of many factors: poverty, unemployment, disability, inadequate education, lack of access to health care, addictions, community and family breakdown, personal and social alienation. Any homeless person has his or her own very personal, very unique story.

At the same time, we need to recognize that the vast majority of persons who struggle with homelessness have been affected by some very powerful social forces. The modern phenomenon of homelessness in America has not always been with us. It is not inevitable. It is not an unavoidable side effect of modern urban life. Nor is it unsolvable. Homelessness emerged over the past thirty to forty years because of very concrete social, economic, political, and even cultural forces, which we can identify – and which we can transform. We do not have to accept homelessness. We can talk realistically about ending homelessness – but it will take more than good nonprofit organizations or charity. It will require political advocacy – without which the very supports people need to overcome homelessness will not be available, accessible, or effective. And it will require difficult but important dialogue about social and cultural values.

First, we need to understand homelessness in an even more radical sense – that is, going to the roots. I believe it is no longer sufficient to focus simply or uniquely on the issue of “homelessness.” Homelessness is in part the tip of the iceberg of a broader crisis of poverty and obscene inequities of wealth and deprivation. I believe we are coming closer to the truth when we understand that the phenomenon of homelessness, in both its personal and social dimensions, represents many different forces at work: the failure of an economic system that has left an increasing number of persons dispensable; the failure of an education system which has left far too many people ill-equipped for our modern economy; the failure of health-care systems to provide persons with either effective preventative health care or needed treatment for serious diseases; the breakdown of families and communities, usually under the enormous stress of these other failed systems; and even the corroding of a social ethos of mutual care and support.

At Project H.O.M.E., we believe that the poverty we see in our neighborhoods is nothing short of structural violence. It is not by accident nor, as some suggest, by high incidence of personal irresponsibility that whole neighborhoods are ghettoized and trapped in vicious poverty. Lower North Philadelphia has been victimized by decades of economic and social disinvestment and systemic racist practices, including red-lining. Largely because of political neglect, basic social systems in these neighborhoods – including schools and hospitals — are often in miserable shape, offering the most meager of services. As the job base has hemorrhaged, meaningful economic opportunity is minimal, and families, residents, and communities collapse under the stress of the struggle for survival. Drugs, crime, and family breakdown all exacerbate the alienation and marginalization of these distressed communities.

Underlying these inequities are social choices about priorities and resources. We are in effect creating a dual society: In one society, those deemed worthy are provided with the resources and tools they need to succeed and to flourish. In that society, there is sufficient social investment in quality education and health care, in a well-oiled infrastructure and a humane and well-kept social environment. People have access to genuine economic opportunity and the chance to develop their gifts and flourish.

In the other America, we are assigning people to second-class status. We tell them to make do with minimal resources, shoddy social systems, and the scantest of hopes for a bright future. We leave them to fight over crumbs, to try and survive – as long as they stay in their place and don’t create trouble for the privileged society.

My experience has convinced me that the men, women, and children who sleep on our city streets are a prophetic presence in our midst: they represent a profound symbol to our society, warning us that something has gone radically wrong. We need to realize that what is at stake in our response to homelessness is not just the specific circumstances of men, women, and children who are homeless. It is no less than the very basic health and vitality and quality of life of our entire community.

Ultimately, the issues homeless and poor people face are our issues: decent, affordable housing; quality education; employment at a livable wage; a health care system that meets our needs; healthy communities that nurture healthy families; freedom from discrimination.

At Project H.O.M.E., we stress in our mission statement that all our work is rooted in our spiritual conviction of the dignity of all persons. The men and women we get to know and build relationships with suffer from homelessness, poverty, addiction, and mental illness. Worse, they have felt the dehumanization of a society that stigmatizes and marginalizes them because of their situations and their struggles. We have learned over the years that, in addition to providing effective and professional services, one of the most transformative aspects of our work is simple to affirm a person’s dignity, to stress that whatever their situation, we believe they have gifts, worth, and potential, and that they, no less than anyone else, deserve the chance to flourish in life. We have also learned the amazing truth that in this process we are also affirming our own dignity and worth.

At Project H.O.M.E., we envision a very different society: one in which each person has an inviolable dignity, a sacred and unshakable goodness. We envision a society in which each man, woman, and child is given the opportunity and resources to flourish and achieve his or her fullest potential. We dare to believe that even the men and women who live in our streets and in our poorest neighborhoods deserve the best and brightest future, and that they have gifts to contribute to a healthy and thriving community.