How a Museum and its Homeless Neighbors Are Finding a Solution to a National Issue
by Isabel Brown
Age 18
Dallas, TX
In the fast-approaching future, my senior class will return from their first year of college to find an exciting, revitalized neighborhood of trendy music venues, restaurants, and theaters just south of downtown Dallas. This neighborhood, called the Cedars, could also be the site of a park created by decking over a highway and even a high-speed “bullet train” to Houston. This area is rapidly becoming gentrified. While a new cultural center for Dallas is exciting, the Cedars has also been the site of numerous homeless shelters for decades. When over a thousand homeless people—street-sleepers and shelter residents alike—are “in the way” of neighborhood changes, how will they be treated? What will even happen to them?
Giving new life to urban centers and encouraging growth without criminalizing the homeless for their existence is already a hot-button issue. The Cedars neighborhood is just a local example of a national struggle for a solution, for a compromise. Thousands of ordinances against sleeping, standing, and sharing food have become commonplace since the 1980’s, the decade Alyssa Figueroa, a writer for Alternet, calls the “birth” of modern homelessness (Figueroa). California alone has around 500 anti-homeless laws in place. (Figueroa) Uneasiness surrounding the homeless does not simply stem from paranoia. While the majority of the homeless do not commit violent crimes, there is undeniably a criminal and substance abuse aspect to a portion of the rough-sleeping population. According to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, a study by James Wright of Tulane University has shown that 25 percent of homeless are mentally ill and 40 percent are alcoholics or drug addicts (“Myths and Facts”). While some statistics point toward higher criminal activity in the homeless population, others pose a strong argument based on contrasting statistics that deny that homelessness in and of itself is a criminal condition.
Melissa Prycer, president and executive director of “living-history museum” Dallas Heritage Village, explains the issues that can stem from coexisting with a significant homeless population. The Village is currently neighbor to two shelters—the Bridge and Dallas Life—as well as Vogel Alcove, a nonprofit early education center for homeless children. According to Ms. Prycer, perhaps a dozen people camp around one unfenced edge of the grounds, bordering public property. In addition, there has been evidence of homeless people smoking cigarettes or trying to keep warm in the restored houses that make up the museum. Starting fires in the old fireplaces of these houses could spell disaster for both the museum and the people seeking shelter. In essence, nonprofits and businesses worrying about homeless crime are not necessarily suffering from a lack of empathy. There are some undeniable consequences to maintaining a business or organization in a neighborhood like the Cedars of today.
Nevertheless, Vogel Alcove Curriculum Coordinator Shanna Malone believes that when it comes to such homeless trespassing or camping, “it is hard to call that criminal behavior—it is, but they are just trying to survive.” Vogel’s Special Coordinator, Katie Grimes, explains that “there is a misconception that attributes most homelessness to violent conduct.” Generally, the root issue of homeless crime is lack of access to resources such as bathrooms, showers, and beds. The shelter Dallas Life requires marriage licenses and vaccination records for couples and families—and keeping track of these records is incredibly difficult for most homeless people. On the flip side, the shelters that do not do any background checks can be dangerous, and some homeless feel safer sleeping outside.
Vogel generally serves the families approved for more stringent shelters, but those families are still disadvantaged. For example, the fact that the bus stop is located blocks from Vogel, says Ms. Malone, “is not a huge deal when you have a car, but it is when you have two toddlers that you’re trying to keep safe from the street.” Many homeless women and children—especially at Vogel—are also fleeing from domestic abuse or human trafficking. Aid for mental health issues is hard to access. Despite overwhelming efforts, “agencies face challenges in providing services in the way they could be most helpful,” concedes Ms. Grimes.
In essence, the homelessness issue is already a tricky one in the Cedars. So, is there any way to prevent rising tension, homeless displacement, or both? Ms. Prycer, for one, advocates a “good neighbor” policy. It is not that “the Village and a lot of the neighbors do not want the [homeless] people here, [they] want good strong partners.” The Village provides free educational programs for the children at Vogel, and Vogel provides some of the youngest visitors. Dallas Heritage Village also trains and employs homeless and at-risk adults from The Stew Pot, a nearby food pantry and social service agency, to assist in the restoration of some of the historic buildings on the grounds. These initiatives provide an opportunity to confront a community’s homelessness issues head-on. Such mutually beneficial plans and collaborative efforts can help alleviate the problems related to homelessness on a local level.
If different businesses and agencies work together, better development could create close job opportunities for the homeless, as well as an all-around safer environment. Indeed, as stated by Ms. Prycer, the changes may actually be “revolutionary”—not only for businesses, but also for the homeless. An attitude of mutual understanding and a willingness to share resources could even be a model for dealing with tension over the homelessness question throughout this particular city—and beyond.
Bibliography
Age 18
Dallas, TX
In the fast-approaching future, my senior class will return from their first year of college to find an exciting, revitalized neighborhood of trendy music venues, restaurants, and theaters just south of downtown Dallas. This neighborhood, called the Cedars, could also be the site of a park created by decking over a highway and even a high-speed “bullet train” to Houston. This area is rapidly becoming gentrified. While a new cultural center for Dallas is exciting, the Cedars has also been the site of numerous homeless shelters for decades. When over a thousand homeless people—street-sleepers and shelter residents alike—are “in the way” of neighborhood changes, how will they be treated? What will even happen to them?
Giving new life to urban centers and encouraging growth without criminalizing the homeless for their existence is already a hot-button issue. The Cedars neighborhood is just a local example of a national struggle for a solution, for a compromise. Thousands of ordinances against sleeping, standing, and sharing food have become commonplace since the 1980’s, the decade Alyssa Figueroa, a writer for Alternet, calls the “birth” of modern homelessness (Figueroa). California alone has around 500 anti-homeless laws in place. (Figueroa) Uneasiness surrounding the homeless does not simply stem from paranoia. While the majority of the homeless do not commit violent crimes, there is undeniably a criminal and substance abuse aspect to a portion of the rough-sleeping population. According to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, a study by James Wright of Tulane University has shown that 25 percent of homeless are mentally ill and 40 percent are alcoholics or drug addicts (“Myths and Facts”). While some statistics point toward higher criminal activity in the homeless population, others pose a strong argument based on contrasting statistics that deny that homelessness in and of itself is a criminal condition.
Melissa Prycer, president and executive director of “living-history museum” Dallas Heritage Village, explains the issues that can stem from coexisting with a significant homeless population. The Village is currently neighbor to two shelters—the Bridge and Dallas Life—as well as Vogel Alcove, a nonprofit early education center for homeless children. According to Ms. Prycer, perhaps a dozen people camp around one unfenced edge of the grounds, bordering public property. In addition, there has been evidence of homeless people smoking cigarettes or trying to keep warm in the restored houses that make up the museum. Starting fires in the old fireplaces of these houses could spell disaster for both the museum and the people seeking shelter. In essence, nonprofits and businesses worrying about homeless crime are not necessarily suffering from a lack of empathy. There are some undeniable consequences to maintaining a business or organization in a neighborhood like the Cedars of today.
Nevertheless, Vogel Alcove Curriculum Coordinator Shanna Malone believes that when it comes to such homeless trespassing or camping, “it is hard to call that criminal behavior—it is, but they are just trying to survive.” Vogel’s Special Coordinator, Katie Grimes, explains that “there is a misconception that attributes most homelessness to violent conduct.” Generally, the root issue of homeless crime is lack of access to resources such as bathrooms, showers, and beds. The shelter Dallas Life requires marriage licenses and vaccination records for couples and families—and keeping track of these records is incredibly difficult for most homeless people. On the flip side, the shelters that do not do any background checks can be dangerous, and some homeless feel safer sleeping outside.
Vogel generally serves the families approved for more stringent shelters, but those families are still disadvantaged. For example, the fact that the bus stop is located blocks from Vogel, says Ms. Malone, “is not a huge deal when you have a car, but it is when you have two toddlers that you’re trying to keep safe from the street.” Many homeless women and children—especially at Vogel—are also fleeing from domestic abuse or human trafficking. Aid for mental health issues is hard to access. Despite overwhelming efforts, “agencies face challenges in providing services in the way they could be most helpful,” concedes Ms. Grimes.
In essence, the homelessness issue is already a tricky one in the Cedars. So, is there any way to prevent rising tension, homeless displacement, or both? Ms. Prycer, for one, advocates a “good neighbor” policy. It is not that “the Village and a lot of the neighbors do not want the [homeless] people here, [they] want good strong partners.” The Village provides free educational programs for the children at Vogel, and Vogel provides some of the youngest visitors. Dallas Heritage Village also trains and employs homeless and at-risk adults from The Stew Pot, a nearby food pantry and social service agency, to assist in the restoration of some of the historic buildings on the grounds. These initiatives provide an opportunity to confront a community’s homelessness issues head-on. Such mutually beneficial plans and collaborative efforts can help alleviate the problems related to homelessness on a local level.
If different businesses and agencies work together, better development could create close job opportunities for the homeless, as well as an all-around safer environment. Indeed, as stated by Ms. Prycer, the changes may actually be “revolutionary”—not only for businesses, but also for the homeless. An attitude of mutual understanding and a willingness to share resources could even be a model for dealing with tension over the homelessness question throughout this particular city—and beyond.
Bibliography
- Figueroa, Alyssa. "Guess Which "Liberal" State Has 500 Laws Aimed at Oppressing the Homeless?" Alternet. Alternet, 18 Feb. 2015. Web. 21 Feb. 2016.
- "Myths and Facts about Homelessness." Training Curriculum for Outreach Workers. National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, Jan. 2002. Web. 19 Feb. 2016.
About the Author
Isabel Brown is a recent graduate of Ursuline Academy of Dallas. She spent her senior year working with three-year-olds at Vogel Alcove, an early education center for homeless children. She will attend Occidental College in the fall, and hopes to pursue a career in writing.
Future Contests
Subscribe to our email list to be notified the next time we run this contest. Classroom teachers are particularly encouraged to subscribe.