I am very familiar with my wife’s family background and have walked around the black house
she described. When I joined the family, however, I had no notion of their beginnings. When I
met Patricia, she lived in Atlanta. Her father was instrumental in building the Atlanta skyline,
and her mother had a master’s degree and worked in the school system. Patricia’s family was
much more prosperous than mine.
My family always had a home with hot and cold running water, electricity, a telephone and all
the things standard for a middle-class family. The fact that her parents lifted themselves from
what anybody would describe as poverty to the level they achieved was remarkable.
I asked Patricia to write about the black house because, at the Cape Issues community
group’s monthly discussions, we frequently talk about homelessness. I recently read a piece, I
believe in The New York Times, that said 80% of the homeless people in the New York area had
full-time jobs but simply could not afford a home.
Well, Patricia’s folks could not have afforded a home either if they had been required to meet
today’s housing standards. Clearly, we have a homelessness problem, but it is predominantly of
society’s making. We impose housing standards so high that a percentage of our population,
including many young people, cannot meet them.
When we look back at how Patricia’s father kept a roof over his family’s head when they were
small, and how people working low-level jobs in Stone Harbor were able to maintain housing,
we must look in the mirror and recognize we are mishandling this as a society. We need to step
back from excessive regulations and allow people to secure shelter at whatever level they can
afford.
Otherwise, we doom them to homelessness. These individuals are citizens too, yet they are not participating in the construction of the rules that govern them. This is wrong.
Quotes From the Bible
“Whoever oppresses the poor (even unintentionally) shows contempt for their
Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.” — Proverbs 14:31
Note: Society has a moral responsibility not to create barriers that prevent people from securing basic
necessities.
