“Dutch photographer Jan Banning’s interest in social and political subjects and his skill as a portrait photographer seemed the perfect fit for a story on the American South’s homeless population.
In 2010, Banning was invited to be an artist-in-residence at the 701 Center for Contemporary Art in Columbia, S.C., where they suggested he focus on homelessness for a photography series.
As the CEO of Bissell Centre, I am continually amazed by the number of people and organizations that care about the poor and the homeless. These people exist across all sectors. I sit with them at government tables, in corporate boardrooms, in the pews at church, in meetings with other non-profit leaders, or over coffee with friends at a caf̩. Unfortunately I also meet people Рthankfully fewer in number Рthat believe that, somehow, social and economic problems rest solely within individuals. Or who judge the actions of groups like Bissell Centre as ineffective because the problems we exist to address still exist or are getting worse.
Housing the Homeless – a Useless Endeavor?
One individual told me recently that supporting Bissell Centre to house the homeless is a useless endeavor because we haven’t yet eradicated homelessness. In other words the 240 chronically homeless men, women and children we will house this year is a failure because we can’t help everyone who knocks on our door.
I told this gentleman that I did not realize that housing 240 homeless people was a bad thing. I said I did not realize that addressing homelessness throughout our community was Bissell Centre’s responsibility. I guess I thought we were part of a greater effort to house the homeless. I guess I thought that homelessness is a societal issue with complex causality. I guess I thought homelessness is a shared problem, not just the problem that organizations like Bissell Centre must resolve alone.
I pressed further into the conversation, not because I thought I could change this man’s mind, but rather to understand how he thinks, how people like him think. We talked for about an hour. We did not reach much common ground, but here are my observations and questions.
Homelessness is the Fault of the Homeless?
My counterpart told me that the government should stop wasting money on the homeless because it’s their fault they are on the street. Later he also said the government should cut taxes so that he had more money to fuel the economy as a consumer. I asked why he doesn’t just pull himself up by the bootstraps and make more money. He waved me off and said helping the homeless won’t help the economy. Of course he is wrong, but just not prepared to be wrong. Read More…
Bissell Centre hosted a media conference on Thursday, April 25th where Year 4 updates were released by The Edmonton Homeless Commission regarding Edmonton’s 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness. Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel, Homeless Commission Chair Hal Danchilla, and Homeward Trust CEO Susan McGee announced the achievements that show real progress is being made towards their goals.
Mayor Mandel congratulated all the partners involved with the effort to end homelessness in Edmonton but stressed that there is still work to be done to house the over 2,100 people that are still homeless in the city.
Here are some of the Year 4 updates:
The Edmonton Homeless Commission recognizes that there are challenges ahead moving into Year 5 of the plan to end homelessness. Some of the challenges outlined are:
To learn more about The City of Edmonton’s 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness or the Year 4 Update, please visit http://homelesscommission.org or call Hal Danchilla, Chair, Edmonton Homeless Commission at 780.975.4462.
On October 16th, 2012, 2,174 homeless Edmontonians were counted. Compared to 2010, 247 fewer homeless individuals were counted in 2012. Click on the image below to read the full report from Homeward Trust.
