Headline: BUSY
CENTER HERE SHOWS HOMELESS CAN'T BE IGNORED
Reporter: By Gregory Freeman
Publication: ST.
LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Thu., Sep. 4, 1997
Section: NEWS, Page: 1B, Edition: FIVE STAR LIFT
QUICK: How many
homeless people live in the city? How about in St. Louis County?
If you're like many St. Louisans, you're probably off in your estimate.
Nearly half of us think that 5,000 homeless people reside in the city, according
to a scientific survey conducted by the Western Wats Center, a polling firm
in Provo, Utah. That same survey shows that more than a third of us believe
that about 500 homeless folks live in the county.
But
data from the Housing Resource Center and the St. Louis Human Services Department
say 15,000-17,000 homeless people live in the city.
Data
from the county's human services department indicate that 5,000-7,000 homeless
people are in St. Louis County.
The survey results
indicate that most people are unaware of the seriousness of homelessness here,
says Joan Rice, a spokeswoman for St. Patrick Center. The center, which works
with homeless people throughout the area, commissioned the survey of a cross-section
of people in the area.
"People
are often surprised when they find out that we serve 7,000 people a year - and
we're just one organization, " she said.
The fact is, many
of us don't think about the homeless. Others of us don't want to.
Back
in the '80s, the homeless were a trendy cause. Comic Relief was set up to raise
money to battle homelessness.
But
today, other, trendier causes have surpassed that of homelessness, and the issue
doesn't get nearly as much attention as it once did. But the problem clearly
hasn't gone away.
The homelessness
survey was conducted so St. Patrick Center could determine the impact of homeless
services on average people, Rice said.
Those
weren't the only questions asked.
Some
27 percent of the 400 people surveyed believe that five out of 10 homeless people
live on the streets and never seek help from homeless shelters. The actual figure
is two of 10.
Why the underestimation
among St. Louisans? Rice has some ideas.
"St.
Louis is smaller than many other large cities, so people here have the perception
that homelessness doesn't exist here, " she said.
"You're
not as likely to see people sleeping on a sidewalk here as you might be in,
say, New York."
The difference
might also be in the number of homeless people staying in shelters here.
In
a 1996 survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, 39 percent of the cities questioned
said they didn't have enough shelter beds for the homeless. St. Louis, on the
other hand, has enough beds, Rice said.
The same Conference
of Mayors survey showed that the No. 1 cause of homelessness was the lack of
affordable housing. That is the case in St. Louis, Rice said.
"Not
only has the federal government stopped building single-room, efficiency-type
housing, but much of that housing has also been torn down, " she said.
"Even a mother
making minimum wage can't afford market-rate housing, and the list for Section
8 housing is so long.
"We
know that a good percentage of the people living in shelters have full- or part-time
jobs, but they don't make enough money to afford housing, " she said.
The
fact is, some of the people we see at work each day may actually be homeless.
Some
make just enough money to pay for food for themselves and their children.
Many of us think
of homeless people as lazy bums, or people who are alcoholics or drug addicts.
While that is the case with some, many are actually good people who want to
do better but for whom circumstances have not been very good.
Fortunately,
there are groups here like St. Patrick Center that work on long-term solutions
to the problem, such as programs designed to help the homeless get an education
and teach them skills so they can support themselves.
Still, it's important
that we not forget the homeless.
"In
order to improve St. Louis, we have to improve the lives of those who live here,
" Rice said.
"Life
may be OK in West County, but here we have a population trying just to make
it day by day."
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