ACTION: What You Can Do About Homelessness

From the moment you wake up until you shut off the light and get into bed, almost everything relies on having a home base — making meals, bathing, using the toilet, storing belongings. We need a space to be alone or with others, and a place to rest and sleep.

Yet homelessness has become commonplace. Why? Because as a society, we condone it. Our framework of laws, ideologies, and institutions create and reinforce the normality of homelessness. Class oppression — classism — is as real and devastating as other forms of systemic mistreatment and marginalization based on any intersectional combination of age, (dis)ability, gender, race, religion, or sexual orientation.

It is not inevitable that a percentage of community members will experience homelessness. If we do not embrace a zero-tolerance approach toward homelessness, then we are complicit in this epidemic. People are dying. A 2023 report by the Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota Homeless Mortality Report indicates that Minnesotans who are homeless have a death rate three times faster than the general population — a life expectancy similar to a general population 30 years older.

I believe the divisions between us are more about class than any other factor. We do not live in a meritocracy. People make money and gain more power often off the backs of others — which means one person’s gain is someone else’s loss.

Class status is about more than money. It also is about generational wealth and connections. It is about who has a path to prosperity and who has a slim chance of getting ahead.

It is possible to ensure that everyone has a home. Inequitable taxes, defense spending, ICE detention centers, and a myriad of other priorities are seemingly justified — but not housing for everyone. So, what can we do?

Community Members

Start with humility. If you are financially successful, you’ve probably had some support along the way. Take a moment to reflect on your privilege. Demonstrate through your actions that housing is a basic human right.

• Volunteer at a day or overnight shelter.
• Make care packages if you prefer not to give money (flashlight, food, socks, gloves, bus tokens).
• Acknowledge people who appear to be homeless when you see them.
• Go to landlord/tenant trainings, then share with those who need to know.
• Become familiar with basic resources for people experiencing homelessness and share the information.
• Go to a Naloxone training and carry Narcan in your car.
• Give your money and time to advocacy organizations that are doing good work, especially those led by people with lived experience of homelessness.
• Add your email to the mailing list for advocacy organizations that provide legislative updates, then write letters and make calls to influence policy and funding.
• Contact city council members about zoning for affordable housing and be sure to let them know you vote.
• Contact your neighbors about any opportunities to increase affordable housing in your area and organize as a collective.
• Push for transparency and accountability from local law enforcement about how people experiencing homelessness are treated.
• Value the lived experience of people who are homeless or have experienced homelessness by asking for their input and involvement.

Employers

• Pay a living wage and offer affordable health care for all employees.
• Look for opportunities to offer short-term work for those who need extra cash but aren’t ready or able to work regular hours.
• Examine your hiring practices, work environment, recruitment, training, and promotions to be inclusive and welcoming of a diverse workforce.
• Sponsor a local drop-in shelter or advocacy organization instead of a local sports team.
• Pay employees one day a month to volunteer at organizations working to end homelessness.
• Create alliances with businesses in working-class neighborhoods, sharing ideas and resources.

Landlords

• Review rental policies for obstacles that create additional challenges, including long turnaround times, accepting only online applications, and having limited tour times and high deposits.
• Be flexible when considering rental and criminal history backgrounds.
• Increase the number of apartments “set aside” as affordable rental units.

Social Service Agencies

• View homelessness as a public health crisis.
• Approach people experiencing homelessness as partners in the process of navigating through the maze of programs.
• Provide access to all resources and options, to build a foundation for self-advocacy and self-sufficiency.
• Form circles of support composed of people who have or are experiencing homelessness for accountability and to build stamina for the challenges ahead.

This is a good starting point.

Sindy K. Mau (she/her) is a volunteer at Peace House Community, a day drop-in center for community members in Minneapolis; a past recipient of a Minnesota Department of Human Services grant to create pathways to improved health for individuals experiencing homelessness; and the former project coordinator of Homelessness Response Strategies for the City of Minneapolis Health Department.

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