Community Hospitality

I've thought a bit about the issue of homelessness. I don't have any simple or greatly hopeful answers. However I do think that nongovernmental charity ought to play at least as much as government.

I start by looking groups like Catholic Workers, or Dorothy Day Houses, which help poverty within the community.
http://www.catholicworker.org/
http://www.ccspm.org/services/dorothyDayCenter.html

I imagine this sort of effort ought to be expanded in every community.

Homeless is the worst symptom of problems. Homeless shelters are good for short term emergency situations, but certainly insufficient in many ways.

At one level there's "easy" side - providing food and shelter to people who do not have the money to provide for themselves.

Then there's a "hard" side - many people who are homeless are there because of their own failings - drug addictions - mental illness.

I had to kick out my own brother from my house after years of his failure to take advantage of a "rent free" situation and get out of debt and ahead, and I found my kindness primarily resulted in enabling him to stay within a lifestyle of part time work to support his drug habits. Even in the end I wanted to believe him. Only a lack of trust, homeless druggy friends spending the night, and material and cash thefts and check forgery from my house convinced me how blind I was.

On the other side, I can see perhaps there is a moral demand for some response to homelessness, and giving a place for people who live outside of normal society.

There's a term called a flophouse, a minimally supporting shelter for minimal cost.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flophouse

I don't know how to contrast it to homeless "shelters". Maybe a difference is tha a flophouse offers privacy at least. Sleeping outside is dangerous, and sharing collective living space in a homeless shelter seems maybe more dangerous. I admit I'd feel safer with some walls, even if a very small space, just room for a single bed, a small table and chair, and a light.

Another term is a hostel, a dormitory style cheap living option, mainly for young people and light travelers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostel

That is a step further away from homelessness, but it does allow people to travel cheaply.

I remember when my brother first left, he tried staying in a campground nearby, but they had something like a 5-10 day limit. They don't want to promote "camping" for people who have no where else to go.

I think of third world countries. Where people are homeless with no money, they build their own shelters from minimal materials and protection from the elements.

I imagine issues of large homeless populations can arise from mass migration of people away from a war zone for instance.

All of that is banned by ordinances in the U.S. I mean it is illegal to "camp" outside of an official campground, illegal to sleep in public spaces.

However what can a community do when faced by a homeless population? Putting them in jail isn't an answer. At "best" police can harrass them until they find somewhere else to hang out.

I think of places in the Twin Cities - like the Union Gospel Mission. They are a religious volunteer organization to help people.
http://www.ugmstpaul.org

Lots to think about. Overwhelming too.