Witnessing a national tragedy
Last night I witnessed something that won’t soon leave my mind’s instant replay. I happened to be looking towards the street exactly as a man was hit by a car, tossed violently into the air only to land on the hood of the car and flip off it into the street. It was like watching a horrible action movie scene come to life.
My husband, Scott, and I were unadvisedly walking two-and-a-half miles back to our hotel from an amazing culinary journey through Ukrainian food culture at Molotov Kitschen and Cocktails near City Park and north of Capitol Hill in downtown Denver. This tiny 20-seat space had been named by the New York Times staff as one of the top 50 restaurants in the United States and it lived up to my expectations with sole stuffed with lobster butter that melted in my mouth.
Unbeknownst to us, we were walking through one of the city’s roughest neighborhoods at dusk. We passed eerie boarded up motels, shops, and restaurants, saw crowds of homeless in the Papa John’s parking lot and all along the streets. We were just a few blocks past the Fillmore Auditorium when I witnessed this heart-stopping tragedy. Scott had been looking the other way.
Immediately, I pushed Scott, an orthopedic surgeon, toward the street. He went willingly to assist the man, who was down on the street, moaning, but incredibly, trying to stand. I couldn’t believe he was even conscious after what I had witnessed. I followed closely, while yelling to bystanders on the street to see if anyone had called 911. No one answered, so as I held up my one hand to stop traffic, I frantically dialed 911 with the other.
A dispatcher came on immediately asking many questions that I tried to answer calmly all the while holding up traffic and watching all around to make sure we were safe in the middle of the busy four-lane street. The driver had pulled ahead and over to the side of the road. I hadn’t seen what had transpired before I saw the man launched into the air, but it seemed that he must have either been in the road or walked right in front of the car. Perhaps the driver had been distracted, too. I don’t know.
Police arrived quickly and I waved them over. They screeched around us and pulled across two lanes to block traffic to where the man was lying in the road with my husband by his side. He appeared to be homeless, as did many of the bystanders, but one of them, helped my husband try to subdue the injured man and keep him from getting up.
Paramedics arrived soon after, and then we walked away, shaken. Scott’s hands were covered in blood, as were his pants. I sprayed and sprayed disinfectant on his hands as he tried to wash them a bit as we continued walking towards our hotel, hoping we would soon be out of this fraught neighborhood.
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What I witnessed in Denver on that tense walk home through tens of blocks of homelessness made me think about the recent Supreme Court ruling that says that cities can ban people from sleeping and camping in public places.
At the heart, this seems cruel and inhumane. It basically makes it illegal for people to sleep in public, which means the homeless must always keep moving or fear arrest.
Yet, as a pedestrian trying to walk home from a dinner (already that acknowledges my privilege) through a neighborhood filled with homeless on the street, I can say that I didn’t feel completely safe. Several people approached us. Others made us feel they might. I felt someone following us for many blocks. I could see that he was wearing white, but didn’t want to turn fully around. His steps kept step with ours. I was nervous for blocks and blocks until the tragedy occurred. Only then did I see that our pursuer was someone who didn’t look homeless and who might have been staying in synch with us to avoid being alone on the sketchy streets?
What I wonder is whether many who argue for the right to homeless to camp in city parks and on city streets ever encounter the homeless. How do they feel when walking through these neighborhoods.
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It’s a complicated problem and one not easily solved. While a recent Supreme Court ruling changes current law only in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes California and eight other Western states where a majority of the nation’s homeless live, it could eventually change how cities and towns across the country approach homelessness.
State College, PA, an affluent college town also has a problem with homelessness. According to The Daily Collegian, more than 200 people reported experiencing homelessness throughout Centre County in 2023. Homeless sleep in their cars in Walmart parking lots, in laundromats, and in public parks.
The borough has relocated the homeless from a downtown park where many used to sleep on picnic tables. I’ve been told that one of the homeless men was provided with an apartment, which he refused to stay in. Herein lies the problem. Some of our country’s homeless population choose to live in the streets. Some suffer from mental illness or have substance abuse issues.
For others, it can be even more complicated. They may have lost jobs, lost benefits, lost homes. The lack of affordable housing creates uncomfortable living situations for many. Very few people want to be homeless and to have to live in the streets. To allow it, however, creates public health and safety issues. The United States has not done a good job solving this conundrum.
With the Supreme Court’s recent ruling, about which NPR reported that Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority, “Homelessness is complex. Its causes are many,” many homeless will once again be displaced. Gorsuch added that justices cannot stipulate how cities should confront with this very real problem.
Many communities don’t have enough shelter beds. Food and amenities are not always available. Rents almost everywhere are skyrocketing, which means that not all homeless are choosing to be on the streets.
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In Harrisburg, PA, in the past two years, city officials removed homeless from under the Mulberry Street Bridge, the Market Street Bridge, Riverfront Park, and along the Greenbelt. The mayor cited rat infestations and spikes in criminal activity as reasons to relocate the homeless. Relocation to areas near PennDOT and the city’s Greenbelt bike path have also been controversial, both to the homeless and to residents who use those areas.
Many churches and community organizations work together to provide food and services for Harrisburg’s homeless population. Some live in shelters, others in motels, others couch surf, and others take to the streets.
Many homeless people have jobs, but their low pay is not enough to cover rising rent costs. The U.S. has a shortage of affordable housing. Other people are on the streets not by choice, but because they may have criminal records, they have pets, they are members of the LGBTQI+ community, they have disabilities, or even they are a couple – all things that may preclude them from getting a bed in some shelters.
While I did feel unsafe on my walk in Denver, data from the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness shows that people experiencing homelessness are more often victims of crime than they are to commit a violent crime. And, while rates of homelessness for people with mental health or substance abuse issues are high, the majority of homeless do not have these issues.
Recently, Harrisburg unveiled a new home for homeless veterans in a secluded tiny home community on land donated at the south end of the Greenbelt along Front Street past the PennDOT building. The community includes 15 tiny homes and a community center. What a novel idea – to offer a community center for group therapy and peer mentorship, and a kitchen and dining room that will serve three meals a day. Each tiny home has its own small bath area.
This involved a philanthropist who donated land, a veterans’ outreach program, and lots of fundraising, and just opened in June so is as of yet an unproven solution, but it’s a start. Why can’t our state and federal governments help to provide similar concepts to help address our nation’s homeless problem? Why should small and large communities alike, often with limited resources, have to figure out how to solve the issue of homelessness and public health and safety on their own?
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No one wants to see anyone else suffer. Similarly, everyone wants to feel safe in his or her community. Homelessness creates areas that are unsafe both for the homeless and for those passing through. Our nation needs to figure out how to address this problem, how to offer mental health, substance abuse, career training, healthcare, and a myriad of other services that will help people to move toward a more sustainable lifestyle. We need to figure out how to regulate the creation of more affordable housing across our country.
Selfishly, I want to feel safe when I’m walking and biking around different communities. I have compassion and empathy for the homeless. I want them to be safe as well. How do we resolve this dichotomy?
Our country has to find the compassion and empathy necessary to care for all of its people. That includes affordable housing, mental health services, substance abuse services, career services, and so much more. It also includes giving people the tools to gain self-sufficiency and requiring that certain milestones are met to continue receiving these services until they are no longer necessary.
Scott might have been able to wash the blood from his hands and clothes, but we will never be able to wash that image from our minds. This is an epidemic our country must address.
Links to sources:
https://www.npr.org/2024/06/28/nx-s1-4992010/supreme-court-homeless-punish-sleeping-encampments
https://www.usich.gov/guidance-reports-data/data-trends
