At a recent meeting with colleagues, in which we were discussing how to engage a broader audience regarding services to unhoused people in our area, one person uttered the words “public safety.” This provoked strong reactions from the others. These two words, in connection with the homeless (yes, this is how they refer to themselves,) have come to mean a cracking down on behavior, dismantling of encampments, making and enforcing rules and ordinances designed to drive people out and away — to where?

When people have no homes, when they are sleeping in places unfit for human habitation, they are not safe. Their health is at risk due to lack of sanitation, heat, facilities for food storage and cooking, and clean water. Living in these conditions would be risky enough for the relatively healthy. It is even worse for those who have been discharged from medical facilities needing ongoing wound treatment and other care, even some who should be in hospice. It’s heartbreaking for the front-line staff at our nonprofits who are trying to help them.

Sleeping in a place with no roof, no door that can be locked, puts people at very high risk of robbery, assault, and rape. The things that happen to people living without safe shelter often result in events that are traumatizing, further adding to the barriers they have to overcome in order to be able to function effectively, to hold a job, to be able to find and keep housing. And then we blame them for their deficits.

Homelessness is uniquely distressing. When people are distressed, they may become desperate. They may act in ways that others find unacceptable, perhaps even threatening. But think about it — what would you do if you had no place to live, no safe place to sleep, no money, no resources, and little hope? If you experienced that for weeks, months, even years, no matter how hard you tried? Lately, I’m reminded of Bernie Taupin’s lyrics in an Elton John song:

“Burn down the mission

Burn it down to stay alive

It’s our only chance of living

Take all you need to live inside”

Our state, our nation, has kicked the can down the road for decades rather than taking effective action to address the lack of affordable housing and the supportive services that so many people need. Now it has reached a crisis point that none of us can ignore. Rather than allowing inhumane conditions that cause distress and desperation, we need to find solutions. We need a multi-faceted approach that includes private as well as public effort and funding. And we need to demand that our state do something effective rather than pour taxpayer money into what has been, in recent years, temporary, tread-water efforts that in the end get us nowhere.

Public safety is not just for the housed and comfortable. Safety should be our goal for everyone, no matter their circumstances. We must not allow the concept of public safety to be used as a weapon against a vulnerable population. Rather, it should be welcoming and inclusive and should help us all. If any of us are unsafe, we are all potentially unsafe.

Jeanne Montross

Executive Director, HOPE

Middlebury