MANKATO — Homeless people should get a job, and their housing problems will be solved.
That’s one common misconception surrounding homelessness, said Liz Paul, director of development at Connections Shelter in Mankato. Indeed, more than half of the shelter’s guests have jobs — most of them full time. So a job alone isn’t enough to overcome homelessness.
“We also often hear, well, it is an issue of addiction or mental health and yes, we do see that,” she said. “But we can get someone into treatment or on the right medication, but those single issues aren’t necessarily enough to get into housing. If a Section 8 voucher is a three-year wait list, it’s a complex problem to overcome and it requires complex solutions.”
The topic will be the focus of “Homelessness Is a Housing Problem: A Community-wide Learning Opportunity,” hosted by Connections Shelter and the Minnesota State University Women’s Center from 6:30-8 p.m. Tuesday at MSU’s Centennial Student Union Room 253/4/5.
The event’s speaker is Gregg Colburn, co-author of the related book “Homelessness Is a Housing Problem: How Structural Factors Explain U.S. Patterns.” He is an associate professor of real estate at the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments.
Colburn said he’ll be doing research about Mankato’s housing makeup prior to his visit, but he does already know from extensive national research that poverty isn’t a solo precursor to homelessness. Detroit, for example, has the country’s highest poverty rate, but has far lower rates of homelessness than the more affluent cities of Seattle, Boston and San Francisco.
“The mere presence of poverty alone doesn’t cause homelessness,” he said, adding that the vicious combination of high housing costs combined with poverty is a problem.
Understanding why communities have a lot of homelessness is vital, he said, because it provides answers to where communities should respond both with policy making and community efforts.
“That’s why I think it’s important for communities to focus on this,” Colburn said.
“There are a lot of misunderstandings about how people fall into homelessness, what causes homelessness and what the ultimate solutions are,” said Paul from the shelter. “It leads to a lack of empathy and there’s misinformation. The reality is complex and the solutions are complex.
“We have to look at it as a community-wide problem with community-wide solutions. We really wanted to bring this forward as a community-wide opportunity for learning.”
She is expecting as many as 100 people to attend Colburn’s speech. Donations are encouraged and money raised will go toward Connections Shelter, with food donations of snacks for shelter and drop-in guests also welcome.
The shelter’s mission is for its proponents to walk with people experiencing homelessness while promoting dignity, respect and radical welcome.
“People should come and learn more about the experience of homelessness in our area but also to learn how to help be a part of the solution,” Paul said.
A light reception will follow Colburn’s presentation. It’s free and open to the public but advance registration is requested; go to the Connections Shelter’s Facebook event page to RSVP.
There will be free parking offered for event attendees near the student union in visitor lot 4.