Last week I talked with Rex Holbein, founder of Facing Homelessness, who has been instrumental in changing the way Seattleites think about our neighbors who are living outside. I wanted to ask his thoughts on Pearl Jam’s Home Shows.
He told me that he thought it was great because “everyone brings their layer.”
I am willing to admit that I was initially cynical about the event because, often, when folks who haven’t worked in the area of social services come in with a big idea, things can end badly.
I’m reminded of the time Amazon tried to hire homeless folks for seasonal jobs in their fulfillment center, only to realize that offering night shifts in far-flung areas of the county was less than helpful for folks who typically stayed in shelters and didn’t have cars.
I’m reminded, too, of Mayor Jenny Durkan’s announcement that tech industry luminaries would be working to somehow create a new solution, as though that hasn’t been proposed before. More than once.
But after talking to Stone Gossard and the Real Change staff, it was quickly made clear to me that the band had done the work. They had endeavored on a yearlong listening tour of social service providers, asking how they could concretely help.
Nothing is finalized yet with regard to the millions the band raised with their two-night engagement. But what is clear is that Pearl Jam didn’t set out to end homelessness. They just wanted to help in whatever way they could. And their way of helping was raising money by offering a service that a lot of folks wanted. Folks who wouldn’t typically donate money to, say, Real Change or Facing Homelessness.
In two nights, the band raised more than many nonprofits see in a year. And they were able to bring new awareness and interest in helping our neighbors outside.
A good friend of mine once told me that “there’s no silver bullet, only silver buckshot.” I think about that a lot with regard to homelessness — too many of us expect every single event or service or initiative to solve the problem, to make it go away entirely, to bring everyone inside, to be for everyone.
But the truth is that there is no singular kind of homeless individual. Which means there is no singular kind of solution. There’s no one policy, one law or one app.
But the truth is that there is no singular kind of homeless individual. Which means there is no singular kind of solution. There’s no one policy, one law or one app.
This is not to say that every idea is a good use of time or energy; there has already been too much reinventing of the wheel and public dollars are a finite resource.
There is a desire by many to come up with solutions without first asking what the people in the community need, want or would like to do. Prescriptivist, paternalistic solutions — those that are heaped upon the people living every day in the face of homelessness — will never do.
But if you ask how you can help? You might be surprised to hear that it’s not all gloom and doom in the world of lending a hand.
Holbein told me that whenever someone wants to volunteer with Facing Homelessness, he asks two questions: What are you good at, and what are you passionate about? Those questions, he said, could help determine what someone could add to the movement without becoming burned out or cynical.
“This is about community,” he said, emphasizing that a true community is made up of strengths from all kinds of folks.
The way that you pitch in may seem small or not hard enough because it’s what you like to do or what you’re good at. But that’s a good thing, because it means you’ll stick with it. You’ll make a difference. You’ll be part of the bigger solution.
To help move the conversation along — to get it past angry Facebook comments sniping the people who are using what they’re good and passionate about to help — we have to be OK with the idea that some things will help some people, and other things will help other people. We have to be OK with the fact that there is no silver bullet and that each and every one of us is part of the silver buckshot.
Hanna Brooks Olsen is the interim editor at Real Change. She can be reached at editor (at) realchangenews (dot) org.
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Check out the full Aug. 22 - Aug. 28 issue.
Real Change is a non-profit organization advocating for economic, social and racial justice. Since 1994 our award-winning weekly newspaper has provided an immediate employment opportunity for people who are homeless and low income. Learn more about Real Change.