Dallas homeless: The good, the bad, and the ugly

by James K. Waghorne

The worst thing any advocate for a particular group can do is to not be open and honest for those they advocate for. Hard issues should not be ran away from and while perfection can never be achieved, one should strive for such when speaking up for others without a voice and that means being able to look in the mirror at ones’ performance and being truthful.

Dallas has come a long way since 1999 when Service Agencies gathered at a meeting and decided that instead of providing supportive housing for our “chronic homeless” it would be better to ask for HUD dollars to buy “pay toilets” to allow the homeless to use in Downtown Dallas. Yep, that’s right. Pay toilets for those who don’t have money. Thank God HUD thought differently. The investigation into the use of HUD funds, the misappropriation, non-used funds, and such by the U.S. Government Accountability Office helped to spur Dallas City Hall and our Homeless Service Agencies towards a new direction.

Also, there were those blight years when Dallas was making the top ten lists for being one of the “Meanest Cities” in America concerning the treatment of our less fortunate.

The negative attention on our City by such things brought about a positive change in City Hall albeit small at the time. The biggest change from our Politicians back then was in their language. No longer was it popular to call our citizens without homes “Bums” as then Mayor Pro-tem John Loza found out.

While Dallas City Hall was begrudgingly moving towards a more humane and practical way to work with our citizens without homes, the homeless Service Agencies still had to find a way to become coherent and work with the multiple egos. There are politics in any organization though sometimes you find those rare individuals who can find common ground and goals and put their own personal agendas to the side. That unfortunately hasn’t fully happened yet in Dallas and our citizens without homes still suffer the consequences.

Out of the thousands who suffered yearly in the homeless plight and the needless deaths which average 50 per year in Dallas, the dream of a “Housing First” practice and having a first class Assistance Center for our homeless was born. The idea “The Bridge” was to have a place, which individuals could freely and voluntarily go to without the incursion or harassment (psychological encouragement would probably be the political term used) by Downtown Police or the Downtown Safety Patrol, and receive those things that could lead them back into mainstream society. All those involved the planning swore it would never become a holding place for our destitute. Our citizens without homes would still maintain their Constitution Rights to say; sit on a park bench in Downtown or stand on a sidewalk just like all other citizens in Downtown. It really shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to know that “The Bridge” and those who swore to hold up it’s humane mission above politics, would have an integrity collapse when the loudest adversary of our homeless in Dallas is given a contract worth $100,000’s to oversee security issues. You see; the former “Heart of Dallas Partnership” after losing proposition 14 which paid for the construction of “The Bridge” still had one goal in mind, out of sight and out of mind.

It’s evident they won this goal in Downtown concerning our citizens without homes.

Are good things happening at “The Bridge” and is Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance doing some good things. (I wish to make a note here that there are some very fine people who volunteer and work at “The Bridge”)

You bet, but at what cost. When you see the scabs, bruises’ and scars that some of the homeless have received while at “The Bridge” or just outside the premises, as an advocate, honesty would dictate that the picture painted by those in charge is not the Rembrandt they so often portray to our community. I understand that the 250k President never had experience working with the “homeless” or that the 6 figured Director never had experience running any kind of 24 hour facility for the “homeless’ and that our citizens must suffer through their learning curve. This is justifiable after all since they’re homeless…right?

Certainly I’m not saying there isn’t good heart, good works or compassion here, but any true advocacy is demanded when there is unnecessary hardship solely because of ego and politics.

Homelessness is not just a physical environment; it is just as much mental. Such an economic and mental condition makes a person very aware of the truth concerning how another is treating them. Individuals are very aware of the daily politics because being at the bottom rung of society; this is where a person directly feels the weight of every decision made by others in charge of their well-being. The homeless know another’s true heart regardless of any sales pitch. They can understand the difference between healthy love versus being spoken down to. It is not to say you can’t fool somebody sometime, but advocate wisdom can see through many things.

Will all our citizens without homes accept service. No. A few will die from their own choices. This is a fact we as a community must accept and move beyond because it is so important to save one human life, that to generalize any human group due to the bad choices of 5% must be viewed as a sin against humanity and life itself. The darkest chapters in human history have come in times when we generalized as opposed to individualized.

Our citizens without homes are starting to get housing. That’s positive. Our citizens without homes are starting to get some services. That’s positive. Our citizens without homes are hearing a better language when referring to them. That’s positive.

The City of Dallas has done better as has many Service Agencies. That’s positive.

But our citizens without homes are facing the same battle of personal egos, denial and fairy tale politics, which affects their lives in negative ways. And that is still a crime.

I learned something very special while I lived on the streets here in my City.

Regardless if you're penniless or a multimillionaire, holding onto integrity is a personal choice.

James K Waghorne, Dallas Homeless Neighborhood Association