E-mail article     Print view

United Way

Giving the homeless a place to show their face

PREV |  of  | NEXT

STEFANIE FELIX

Seattle/King County is a generous place, boasting the largest United Way in America. The city and county also have more than 8,300 homeless on any given night. To put faces on the problem, United Way has published its second annual "Out of The Rain" calendar portraying homeless people, along with 42 specific suggestions of how individuals can help. Photographers Stefanie Felix, Susie Fitzhugh, Dan Lamont and Inye Wokoma provided the art. We visited with Vince Matulionis, United Way's director of the "Out of the Rain" program.

Q: Will folks tack up a calendar of homeless people?

A: There are companies where you can walk down the corridor and see a calendar in every single office. Last year, Microsoft took 6,000 calendars. Safeco will display the photos in their lobbies.

Q: Isn't this a hopeless problem?

A: Seattle is one of 200 cities writing 10-year plans to end homelessness. Not manage it, end it. In the long run, you spend the same or less getting people into their own homes rather than constantly cycling them through the criminal-justice and health-care systems.

Q: Until the 1970s and '80s, homelessness wasn't so visible. What happened?

To get a calendar


Call 206-461-3778 or go to the Web site at www.unitedwayofkingcounty.org

A: Institutions for the mentally ill were closed, but we didn't fund community backup. There were big recessions and a growing gap between rich and poor. Housing programs changed. There was a push for smaller government. All this came together.

Q: Why were these folks willing to be photographed?

A: Being homeless is awful. Shelters are not a nice place. You're in a room with a hundred other people, some of them sick, mentally ill or on drugs. There's a myth that being homeless is getting away with something. I wouldn't wish it on anybody. Yet we don't have the capacity to help people who don't want to be homeless. We have waiting lists for housing as long as your arm.

Q: What's the solution?

A: Persistent outreach by their homeless peers helps. Also, one thing that moves people out of poverty is accumulation of assets, so we've started a program to match every dollar they save with three more. We have 443 in that program, and 59 have bought their first home. We've also started a Safe Harbors database to learn what works. The problem is complex; it requires we have outreach and engagement, housing and a focus on prevention — paying attention to why people are homeless in the first place.