by “Blanche Belvidere”

If you live in Lowell, you’ve heard the constant banter about our homeless situation.

From encampment sweeps that have been deemed cruel, heartless acts of violence to those with severe mental illness, often seen harassing folks on the street and defecating in doorways.  People with substance abuse disorder are panhandling, occasionally breaking into businesses, and overdosing publicly. All the things that are the opposite of our glorious slogan, “There’s a lot to like about Lowell!”

In the left corner of the ring, we have the activists, radicals, and enablers wearing blue trunks! In the right corner, we have the NIMBYs, and those ignorant of the world around them!  Ding Ding Ding – Round 1! The City Manager and City Council can play referee in this boxing match.  Let’s get ready to rumble.

There’s a lot to cover, but I’ll begin with the basics.

Encampment sweeps are not new. They are just getting more attention as of late. Why do they happen?  Typically, these areas pose a  health threat to the public. That’s not to say that the people residing there are a threat. It is the collection of garbage, human waste, and used needles that are the problem.

The sweep that occurred back in January caused quite a stir, and rightfully so.  It was not well planned, and it’s frowned upon to undertake such a task in the middle of winter.  Who was responsible, and was there accountability? I never quite heard. I suppose it’s irrelevant at this point because we can’t go backward. We can only hope those people learned from the mistake and made improvements for future attempts. From what I know about the most recent Dog Park sweep, there were some positive changes. Reality check folks: A perfectly executed sweep is still ugly and will make people uncomfortable.

Here comes the finger-pointing.

My personal favorite has been that everyone in City Hall, DPW and Police want to deliberately punish and attack the homeless and poor simply to make everything look fluffy on the outside. How do we function as a society with so many horrendous people?  And sifting through all this malarkey, I have yet to hear viable solutions to the problem.  Just a lot of bitching from the keyboard warriors.  And no, I’m not buying the rhetoric that our local government has an evil master plan. Gethefuggouttahere. They are trying anything they can until something works, and it ain’t pretty. They are not experts. I’m not even sure what an “expert” is regarding this problem. Or, I dunno…maybe I’m an expert. Regardless, help them out by being constructive!  Now, let’s get back to the meat and ‘taters of this intriguing topic…

Why are there so many homeless people?

Mind you; most are only seeing what’s currently on the street.  You are not seeing those still living out of their cars or couch surfing. These people are just as homeless but haven’t quite reached the point of living in a tent at one of the encampments. YET. What you see is the end stage of this cycle. So the numbers of those accounted for are inaccurate. It’s far more significant than you can imagine. Do you think there is appx. 300?  I would say it’s closer to over 500 in Lowell, if not higher. Most of these individuals started in a car or couch surfing—eventually, you run out of gas or couches. You lose your job. You’ve overstayed your welcome with friends and broken down your support system.  Now you have no other option than to be on the street. Many had been sober and in recovery for years. The trauma of their situation usually causes substance abuse and/or mental illness to kick in or cause relapse because their psyche and spirit have begun to deteriorate.

Then we hear, “They don’t want help! They won’t go to the shelter!”

True, some just refuse.  And many won’t go for a variety of reasons.  If you are a single working adult without the above-listed problems and had been living an everyday life before becoming unhoused, would you feel like the local walk-in shelter was a good fit for you?  I doubt it.  What about the older woman who lived on a social security check, lost her spouse, and her children reside in another state? She got priced out of the community where she has lived most of her life.  Does she belong on Middlesex St.? No, she does not. Send your 80-year-old mother down there –  I dare you.  I dare most of you to spend an entire day hanging around down there, especially in the dead of winter. You’ll probably last an hour or two.  But I do recommend it, if only for the eye-opening experience.

We have a shortage of apartments. We have a lack of affordable 40B units available. (Much of this is due to the NIMBYs because they don’t know what a 40B unit is.) And by the way, did you know that you need to make at least $55K – 80K to qualify for one of these “affordable” units, depending on the town?  Yeah, do some research that isn’t Facebook or what your bougie neighbor told you.

We also have a lack of low-threshold housing.  Where are families with one income to go?  The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is around $1400 plus utilities.  But what if you require a 2+ bedroom? $2000 per month?  One income, three kids, bills, food, and a car payment. You do the math, and it doesn’t work. So what happens to them?  The landlords know the laws and have the right to raise rents. These families try their best to keep up, but it typically ends with eviction.  Although, there are no other apartments for them to go to.  This now leads to MORE homeless families. You aren’t seeing them yet.  They try to stay with friends as long as they can, while they wait for a room at a family shelter to open up. Which, by the way, are few and far between these days.  They will go wherever they are available, often over an hour or two away from their home community.

But wait, there’s more!

I hope Lowell’s highly educated, worldly readers remember that in the last two years, we have had waves of migrants. Thousands have arrived in Massachusetts.  This influx of people only adds strain to the already struggling systems of hospitals and shelters. The State is utilizing hotels to try and alleviate this problem.  And there are still not enough rooms to meet the great need. And this pressure cooker is about to blow.

Phew! That’s a lot of information to sit and chew on.

However, you can only solve a problem once you understand it fully. And this problem’s roots run deep. It is indeed a crisis of epic proportions.  And if you’re angry, good! Use your anger, passion, and whatever you’ve got going on in the depths of your bowels to make a change. But understand WHAT it is that needs to be changed.

Stay tuned for Part Deux, and have a “Fine Whine with Blanche” where we get real up close and personal with homelessness.