by Brenna Lakeson
A lot of guests show up at our door because their identifying documents have been stolen. I’ve heard guests say countless times, “I don’t have anything. It was all taken.” This makes it so hard to start over. To get an ID, you need a birth certificate and a Social Security card. To get a birth certificate, you need an ID. It can feel like a relentless cycle for our guests who have nothing to go on. Thankfully, we’re able to help them break out of this catch-22.
Why do so many people on the street have their things stolen, though? More likely than not, their things are stolen by other people experiencing homelessness. Sometimes this notion is used as proof that people living in poverty, people of color, and people living outside are inherently more violent or more likely to commit crimes. In reality, though, their experiences are what lead to crime. Our society is set up in a way that prevents them from getting everything they need so they feel forced to take what they need to survive. The reason our guests’ things get stolen is because desperate people turn to desperate measures to survive.
If you were cold, without a jacket or a blanket, and you saw an opportunity to take one from someone else, you might take that chance. If you hadn’t eaten in a day or two and your only option was to take someone else’s wallet while they were sleeping and unaware, you would do what you had to do. It’s tempting to say we would “do the right thing” in these situations, but what is the right thing? Is it better to survive by taking or suffer while sitting back?
While our guests are often upset by the fact that their documents get stolen, I rarely ever hear them complain about having other items stolen. They might be disappointed that some of their cash or clothing was stolen, but, usually, they let these things slide. They know what it feels like to take desperate measures. They know that when they have to make the decision to commit a crime or meet their most basic needs, it’s hard to say no to taking something.
People experiencing homelessness aren’t inherently violent or immoral. It’s their compounded trauma and desperation that causes them to lie, cheat, or steal. The systems that cause poverty create circumstances in which people make risky and rash decisions because they feel trapped. Our goal at the OAC is to help reduce these circumstances so that our guests are no longer caught in a cycle of poverty and, instead, move toward self-sufficiency.
