Central Outreach & Advocacy Center

poverty

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The Link Between Poverty and Crime (It’s not what you think!)

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.

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People Above Process

by Michael Gable

Michael graciously served as our interim Main Frame Coordinator while Ahren Cassinari-Foster was on parental leave.  We are so grateful for all the different ways he’s served at the OAC and hope he’ll still remain connected to us even though his required internship is completed.

My introduction to Central Outreach and Advocacy Center was as a Clinical Pastoral Education student, a curriculum designed to help me experience and process the trauma of constantly working with people in crisis. So, in addition to “volunteering” 3 days a week, I also attended classes where we explored how the stories of the people who came into the OAC affected me.  The one-word answer is: “profoundly.”

I spent time with people whom most consider as just a statistic: “Atlanta’s homeless population.” While there were a few who fed into the trope of what society tells us to expect of a person experiencing homelessness, the stories of most people defied simple stereotype. The stories I encountered were a kaleidoscope of experiences. While the people I helped had a variety of needs, most simply wanted to be officially recognized as a person by our government and by other people.
As my time wore on, I worked to understand not just the job in front of me, but also how the OAC functioned as a whole. I was introduced to how it seeks to partner with other organizations to connect people with services. I witnessed the work of engaging lawmakers to make structural changes to a system with plenty of opportunity for improvement. Finally, I landed in our Main Frame program, a curriculum designed to engage people over the course of weeks, rather than minutes, helping them to learn a few basic steps to breaking into the ever-changing job market.
When you spend time with people and really listen to their stories, it gradually gets harder to dismiss them. Throughout the Main Frame class, I found myself surrounded by good people who had gotten left out of the job market for a variety of reasons.  Together, we covered skills such as career planning, resume building, job searching, and interviewing. We discussed budgeting, basic on-the-job skills, motivation, and work-life balance. We critiqued, held each other accountable, and celebrated as businesses began to respond to job applications.

Central Outreach and Advocacy Center began as just a placement, a spot where I would do my time and get my seminary credit.  But with the help of Ahren, April, Brenna, and Kimberly, I began to recognize how much more it was–a place where we come to recognize the Image of God in one another as we work to put people above process.