A Cruel Solution to Homelessness

PROVERBS 21:13 NLT 13 Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in their own time of need. God loves all the people of the world -- rich and poor. His will is not that anyone should suffer or be forgotten. God loves those who are poor.

Ending Homelessness

Trump is promising to clean up the streets in our major cities. He'll rid us of crime. He'll kick pout the homeless. Being homeless will become a crime as they will be swept up, appear before a judge, be assessed a fine, they likely cannot pay and be jailed. fined, and put back in jail. Once released, their prospects are still not good. You need to earn more than $35 an hour around here to rent a place. Jobs available to these people pay a little over $16. They will still be homeless. They will get rearrested and processed though the system, again. 

So, you tell me these are junkies and drunks, the bottom dregs of our society, but is that the case? On any given night 60,000 families with children experience homelessness, They live in cars, shelters, tents abandoned buildings, or with friends and relatives. In California, where the housing crisis is critical, about a third of the homeless are families.

Here's how it works according to AI sources.

The "Homeless-Jail Cycle"

A revolving door: Frequent arrests can lead to a "homelessness-jail cycle".

Limited solutions: Instead of providing stable housing and support services, aggressive enforcement of quality-of-life ordinances often results in displacement, wasted resources, and increased health issues for homeless individuals.

Lack of alternatives: The legal system often leads to incarceration, which can hinder an individual's ability to find work, housing, and treatment, trapping them in a continuous cycle.
If we want to end homelessness we need to get at the root causes of homelessness

Housing.

There are currently two major contributors to the housing and homelessness crises: a lack of low cost housing nationwide and the limited scale of housing assistance programs. Nationally, the cost of rental housing greatly exceeds wages earned by low-income renter households.

To afford a two-bedroom apartment in Connecticut and avoid being "housing cost burdened" (spending more than 30% of your income on rent), you need to earn approximately $73,500 to $75,000 annually, or about $35.42 per hour for a full-time job. This figure is based on the 2025 "Out of Reach" report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) and Partnership for Strong Communities.

 

Why It Matters/The Root Cause

The Affordability Gap:

The report highlights a significant gap between the wages most Connecticut renters actually earn (around $22.69/hour) and the "housing wage" needed for a two-bedroom apartment.

Rising Costs:

The required income has increased, with 2025 figures showing a need for about $2,000 more per year than in 2024.

Is Trump's strategy about solutions or power? Power! He's showing his base he's tough on crime. 

Solutions won't be coming from the Trump administration. The proposed White House budget for 2026 cuts funding for affordable housing in half. Medicaid, healthcare for the working poor, is losing $911 billion. Food benefits are being cut $186 billion.

Where then? It will have to start at the community level, increasing awareness of the plight of the poor in this country. From there, action from community groups, cities, states, and regional organizations.

You can speak your mind, if you dare.

We're encouraged to speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute. - Proverbs 31:8 The Marginalized/The Destitute One million children in the UK are destitute. There are 400,000 are homeless in US. As many as 1.6 billion people lacked adequate housing (Habitat, 2015). In 2021, the World Economic Forum reported that 150 million people were homeless worldwide. Syria has the world's highest homeless rate with one-third – roughly 29.6% – of the country's 22 million population being homeless. Syria continues to have the worst displacement situation in the World.Feb 28, 2023  developmentaid.org

We cannot rely upon the silenced to tell us they are suffering. - Hanan Ashrawi  From 1991 to 1993 Ashrawi served as the official spokesperson of the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East peace process and a member of the Leadership/Guidance Committee and executive committee of the delegation. Speaking Out Is Dangerous Speaking for those who have no voice comes with risk. Any one of us who is willing to speak up and raise questions, faces threats. It doesn't matter the cause. Many have paid with their lives including: Martin Luther King, Jr Medgar Evers, murdered by a white supremacist in the driveway outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi. Robert F Kennedy Anna Politkovskaya, a Novaya Gazeta journalist who reported on human rights abuses, was killed outside her flat in Moscow after returning home from the supermarket. UNESCO's data shows that there are no safe spaces for journalists. 91 of the 117 journalists killed in 2020-2021 were killed while away from their offices. Most killings occurred outside their newsrooms. Some journalists were murdered in the street or in their vehicles, and some were kidnapped to then be found dead. Several were killed in front of family members, including their children. Laura Ann Carleton, the shop owner in Arrowhead, California, shot and killed for her gay pride display in front of her store. Whole groups of people are made to disappear for their seeming threat to those in power. Amnesty International defines it this way: Victims of enforced disappearance are people who have literally disappeared, from their loved ones and their community. They go missing when state officials (or someone acting with state consent) grabs them from the street or from their homes and then deny it, or they refuse to say where they are. Toxic Speech We are living in hyper-toxic times. Social media accelerates the vitriol to dizzying speeds. On-line hate, including threats, travel at the speed of light. What can be done? Psychology Today came up with these five tips: 1. Never perpetuate hate or misinformation. Don’t forward, like, or retweet distasteful comments or images. 2. Report and flag abusive, mean, hateful content to the social platform. 3. Reach out to someone that is struggling. Private message them, even if it’s only a virtual hug. Let them know you are there for them. 4. Kindness is contagious. Talk about it with your kids. Read headlines of people doing good things for other people—then get involved. 5. Lead by example not only for your children, but for your colleagues, friends, and family. Always remember, your online behavior is a reflection of your offline character.