Week 2: Researching 'The Barriers to Overcoming Houselessness'

Yo yo everyone! Or should I say no no everyone, as this week we faced some roadblocks. Something I didn’t completely take into account was that there would be confidentiality issues with interviewing folks at shelters. I am no longer able to visit Abode shelter as it is against their rules to allow interviews. I understand and respect that, as I want to ensure that the people at Abode feel safe and their privacy is respected. This does mean that I have to reach out to other shelters, which is perfectly fine but puts me a little bit behind schedule. 

On the bright side, I thought it was great that some people reading my blogs reached out to me with their questions! It ensures that people are truly trying to understand my project and see potential in my work! Here are the two questions I would like to address. 

1. “Why do you use the term ‘houseless’ instead of ‘homeless?’”
   1. Houseless is a more up to date term as people who are living on the street, or shelters, may have a home. Home is family, friends, and communities in which you feel safe and loved, and some houseless people do have that. A house is something more physical and is defined as a “building for human habitation,” which is something most houseless people don’t have.

1. “Why are you interviewing both people in shelters and on the street, as people in shelters technically do have a roof over their head?”
   1. Being housed means having a fixed and reliable shelter that one can return to everyday, and a lot of time shelters don’t provide that. There can be limits on how long one can stay and other restrictions. That’s why it’s important to address both people who don’t have a roof over their head, and those that do but don’t have something permanent. 

There were three main items of work I tackled this week which were both continuations of what I began last week: outreach, interview preparation, and research. 

1. First, I continued contacting local shelters and social workers. I’m still waiting on responses, and that means interviews will most likely be conducted next week. 
2. I then wrote up a mock interview structure so that I have some idea of what I want to ask during interviews. 
3. And lastly, I researched, as that is the basis for understanding homelessness’s roots in the Bay Area, and how it has remained unsolved. An interesting article I read this week was an article written by McKinsy & Company about their pro bono initiative directed towards houselessness. It was extremely informative, and exposed me to some important terms. There are two types of houselessness: chronic houselesness (which makes up just under half of the houseless population in the bay area) and non-chronic homelessness, which means it’s usually when one is houseless temporarily. Though solutions to chronic homelessness are extremely tough, the main issue with non-chronic homelessness is a lack of available resources and communication with people who can help them. A goal in my project is to understand why these resources are not provided, what exactly the resources are and how they will help houseless people, and perhaps how they can become more readily available. 

Remember to rock the week away, and I’ll see you next week with some more insightful content! Peace and Love.