From leading the 100,000 Homes Campaign to being recognized by the White House as a Champion of Change to founding the Billions Institute, an organization committed to supporting new solutions to global problems, Becky Kanis has committed her life to making bad things better.
Her motivation stems from one moment, which she shares in her Got Your 6 Storytellers talk. When she was a lieutenant in the 25th Infantry Division, a U.S. Army division in Hawaii, every single link in the communications system went from green to red. At three in the morning, Kanis stood at the colonel’s door — and with a knock, knock, knock — woke her up and explained the situation.
“She literally poked me in the chest and she said ‘un-f*** this lieutenant,’” Kanis says. The colonel could have kicked a trashcan; she could have micromanaged. But instead, she gave Kanis permission to fix the problem.
Kanis says that in order to do our part to make the world a better place, we should ask ourselves three big questions: What do you really want? What are you willing to let go of? And what lights up your heart? Kanis’s talk centers on how she has applied those questions and pursued answers to them in her own life. And it explores how we can all give ourselves permission slips to un-f*** things.
While her seven minutes onstage includes a lot of laughs, there is also a moment leaves the audience in awe. Kanis displays two images of a formerly homeless man named Ed Givens. First, he appears drunk, with his back against a brick wall, and later he appears in a suit at a party the White House threw to celebrate the success of the work that Kanis and others did to address homelessness.
“This is the kind of change that I know in my bones is possible in the world,” Kanis says. Watch the video, then join Kanis in her call to action to un-f*** big things together.
Tag: 100
Veteran Storytellers Take the Mic and Change the Conversation
Got Your 6, a campaign working to change the conversation about veterans and military families, is hosting its Storytellers event in New York City today.
By bringing together service members who continue to pursue careers as change makers and problem solvers, Storytellers represents one way Got Your 6 is bridging the military-civilian divide by uniting the government, the entertainment industry and nonprofits.
The Storytellers that will deliver short presentations include Greg Behrman, founder and CEO of NationSwell; Becky Kanis, who led the 100,000 Homes campaign and is now working on a new project called the Billions Institute; and Don Faul, head of operations at Pinterest. Each of their talks will be filmed, released and promoted widely with the help of partners including MTV and The Huffington Post.
NationSwell will feature these videos in the weeks and months ahead so that this celebration of veterans can continue well past Veterans Day. You can take action in support of the Got Your 6 mission by joining the conversation on social media using the hashtag #wagegood then sharing the videos with six of your friends.
In the meantime, here is a glimpse at highlights from the 2013 Storytellers event.
[ph]
Ever Wondered What To Say To A Homeless Person? Here Are 5 Things to Say And 5 Things Not to Say
When you see a homeless person, what do you do?
Most of us tend to have the same response: We avoid eye contact and walk a little faster. But you might also ponder the situation, thinking to yourself, What’s his story? How did this happen to her? How long have they lived on the streets? Maybe you even wanted to help, but didn’t know how to start a conversation.
Should you decide to talk to one of the more than 600,000 homeless individuals in the United States, what you say is vitally important. Utter the wrong thing, and you make a person in crisis feel less than human. Make the right comment, however, and you just might provide the help that he or she so desperately needs. Here’s what the experts advise saying and what’s better left unsaid.
What to Say
“I don’t have money, but is there another way I can help you?”
“This is an especially good thing to say if you’re uncomfortable handing over cash or don’t have any to offer,” says Jake Maguire, director of communications for Community Solutions, a national organization dedicated to solving complex problems like homelessness and poverty. Undoubtedly, money is something that a homeless person needs, but often there is a specific thing that can quickly help that individual out of a dire situation. Shaun Gasson, a 32-year-old homeless man in Portland, Ore., says that someone once asked him if he needed clothes. Not only did the generous soul leave him three bags of nice clothing, but also gave him a bike and some money.
You might also consider asking the person if she or he is actually homeless. Kara Zordel, executive director of Project Homeless Connect, a San Francisco agency that links the homeless with resources in the city, says that she often will say to a person on the street: “I see you sitting out here every day, and it makes me wonder where you sleep at night.” This allows Zordel to do a better job of helping others. Sometimes a person isn’t homeless and doesn’t need a place to sleep, but might be in desperate need of something else. In that case, Zordel often hands out pairs of socks or granola bars, along with her agency’s business card. Greg Staffa, a homeless man in Farmington, Minn., suggests filling plastic baggies with nonperishable raisins or chewing gum, which will definitely be consumed.
“Did you catch the game?”
Athletic events are often shown on televisions in shelters. “Talking about sports can be one of the most interesting, neutralizing things,” says Robert Marbut, a homeless advocate in San Antonio, Texas. So while the game you’re referencing depends, of course, on your locale, bringing it up is like talking about the weather — sports is a topic of conversation that you don’t have to be of a certain class to experience.
“Good morning.”
Or say “hi” or “hello” or try to acknowledge the person in some way. “It’s good to hear kindness,” says Joe, who has been homeless in Portland, Ore., off and on for the past 16 years. Regardless of what your greeting may be, it’s important to look the person in the eye when speaking. According to another Portland man, Troy Thompson, who has been homeless several times despite being a skilled carpenter (when he can’t find work, he can’t afford to pay rent), one of the many difficult things about being homeless is that you feel less than human. “It’s like being invisible,” he says. Adds Marbut, “The non-homeless person almost never looks the homeless in the eye. If you just look a person in the eye and sort of nod, it’s the most respectful thing you can ever do.”
“How are you doing? Would you like to talk?”
These questions are great because they’re open-ended, Zordel says, giving the homeless person a choice either to brush off a deeper conversation or engage in one without judgment or pressure. Don’t be surprised if the individual isn’t interested in chatting, though, says Joe. “You’re getting into people’s personal lives. Maybe they don’t want to discuss that with a complete stranger.” If, however, the person is open to talking, this can lead to a real conversation — and maybe even provide a way for you to offer help. But even if you’re just having a casual exchange, you could be satisfying an important need: social connection. Many who live on the streets battle the feeling that they’re inadequate or nonexistent to the rest of the world. Having a real conversation can reduce those sentiments.
“I will keep you in my thoughts.”
Offering a wish of good will can be a powerful thing to someone who’s homeless, says Gasson. And for those that are religious, saying a prayer for the person can provide some comfort. “When somebody prays with you, it just makes you feel a little better,” he says. Which is the exact feeling you hope to give to someone who’s without a home.
What (Definitely) Not to Say
“Why don’t you get help?”
This assumes the person hasn’t already tried to get help. It also infers that homelessness is that individual’s own fault or a result of his or her own failings. Most homeless people are not chronically on the street. Instead, they’re living there temporarily because of an awful situation — whether it is because of a job loss and a resulting downward spiral, a flight from an abusive partner or an exorbitant rent increase while on a fixed disability or Social Security income. These individuals may have already tried a dozen different ways to get help, only to hear that they don’t qualify for a specific assistance program, for example. Or, they might not be aware of existing resources, in which case you could actually make a huge difference by pointing them in the right direction. Tell them about charitable groups like the Salvation Army, Safe Harbor or any local agency or nonprofit that works with the homeless. Or call your town’s 311 hotline and request a visit from an outreach or social services worker, suggests Maguire.
“Here’s a dollar. Please don’t use it to buy alcohol.”
If you choose to give someone money, it must be given without strings. Yes, a person who is homeless may use your gift for something that doesn’t necessarily help his situation, but your generous action could also provide an opportunity to start a conversation — and eventually lead to an opening to approach with more substantive help. “Not everyone is ready to receive what they need today,” Zordel says. “But we can take the first step together, engaging and building a trusting relationship…without expectations of the individual.”
“Why don’t you go to a shelter?”
To some homeless people, the conditions at some shelters are worse than on the street. Shelters can be loud, dangerous or require quiet times that don’t align with a person’s sleep habits. Plus, in many parts of the country, particularly big cities, there may not be enough beds available for the homeless population, adds Jenny Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness in San Francisco. For example, “There’s one shelter bed for every five homeless people in San Francisco,” she says.
“You don’t seem like you should be homeless.”
This is another common utterance, Friedenbach says. And while it may be well intentioned, a statement like this reveals your prejudice against homeless people. It conveys to the person that, for the most part, you presume the homeless to be smelly, or drug addicts, or mentally ill. Whereas the only thing that really connects all homeless people is the fact that they’re impoverished and don’t have access to subsidized housing at the moment, says Friedenbach.
“Get a job.”
Homeless people hear this comment most often. But it fundamentally misunderstands and refuses even to consider what the person is actually going through. Many homeless people suffer from mental illness or other conditions that prevent employment. Or they’re on the streets because they once had a job, but suffered an injury that ended their ability to work.
Case in point: Just before becoming homeless in 2009, Staffa was making $20.20 an hour in a union job in Farmington, Minn., working for an employer he had been with for nine years. An on-the-job injury ended that, Staffa says, right in the middle of the Great Recession. For three years after that, he lived out of his car. The impact on his psyche, he says, was damaging. “Several friends of mine tell me ‘just find a job and everything will be fine.’ But I have to find myself again.”
“If I had a job, I wouldn’t be out here,” adds Joe while panhandling in Portland, Ore.
Watch: Dr. Jim Withers Makes House Calls to the Homeless
Yes It’s True. Subsidizing Housing for the Homeless Can Save Them — and Taxpayers’ Money
It’s so simple. If you really want to stop homelessness, start by giving people a place to live. That’s the mission of the 100,000 Homes Campaign, a national movement created by the nonprofit Community Solutions that works with communities across the country to connect the most vulnerable homeless individuals with housing. These apartments are highly subsidized — paid for mostly by the federal government, with contributions of 30 percent of any income these individuals receive as rent, no matter how much that amount changes over time. In return, the formerly homeless have a solid starting point to get back on their feet, along with a connection to any supportive services that they want or need — from addiction counseling and medical services to budgeting tools and more.
The idea of providing “housing first” has already proved itself in Utah, where the rate of chronic homelessness has been reduced by 74 percent over the past eight years, putting the state on track to eradicate homelessness altogether by 2015. In Atlanta, the same initiative moved 800 people off the street in 2013. And now the campaign is gaining momentum in Tennessee, where 200 individuals were placed in homes in just 100 days in Nashville. All together, participating communities have connected more than 83,000 Americans, including at least 23,000 homeless veterans, to apartments. And the best part? The program is actually saving taxpayers money.
MORE: Phoenix Just Became the First City to End Chronic Veteran Homelessness. Here’s How
Studies have shown that the public cost of providing permanent supportive housing for the most vulnerable homeless people — meaning those with addiction, mental illness or chronic diseases like cancer — is less than simply allowing these individuals to stay on the streets. The biggest reason is health care. Homelessness causes illness, as well as exacerbates existing mental and physical ailments and addictions, leading many individuals to seek out expensive medical services, much of it on the taxpayers’ dime. “The inability to tend to your basic healthcare needs results in people on the streets ending up in emergency rooms and ending up in in-patient hospitalizations. And one night in the hospital is a whole month’s rent on most places,” Becky Kanis, director of the 100,000 Homes Campaign, told Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes. “We are paying more as taxpayers to walk past that person on the street and do nothing than we would be paying to just give them an apartment.”
AND: This Hero Isn’t Just Alleviating Homelessness; He’s Preventing It
On its face, this movement may seem counterintuitive. As Cooper told Kanis, “It does seem like you’re rewarding somebody though, who’s — you know — drinking or doing drugs or just being irresponsible.” But Kanis disagrees. “I see it as giving them a second chance. And most people, given that second chance, do something about those behaviors.” Indeed, the 60 Minutes report cites a University of Pennsylvania study, which found that when homeless people in Philadelphia were given housing and support, more than 85 percent remained in homes two years later. These individuals were unlikely to become homeless again. While the program isn’t 100 percent successful — in fact the 60 Minutes report follows one individual who can’t seem to shake his addiction — the changes in those who take advantage of their second chances are nothing short of remarkable. Just look at the before and after photos. “There is something that’s really dehumanizing about living on the streets in so many ways. And then, really, in a matter of days, from having housing, the physical transformation is almost immediate,” Kanis says. “And I don’t think that there’s anybody, once they see that, that would say, ‘Well, let’s put them back on the streets again.’”
ALSO: How Can We Beat Homelessness? Predict It Before It Happens