Invisible People Releases Comprehensive New Look at Public Perception of Homelessness in America

Invisible People, a nonprofit dedicated to educating the public about homelessness, recently released a comprehensive report detailing public perceptions of homelessness in the United States and communicating recommendations for advocates and policymakers. The report highlights the growing disconnect between public perceptions and the actual root causes that make a person vulnerable to losing their home—from unemployment to rising health care costs and a shortage of affordable housing.

In September 2020, Invisible People surveyed more than 2,500 U.S. residents in 16 cities to identify public attitudes about homelessness and measure support for common policy recommendations. Researchers studied how different audiences receive and interpret messages about homelessness. The report, “What America Believes About Homelessness,” also provides a toolkit for building public and political support designed for policymakers, advocates, service providers, and others working to end homelessness.

“More than three-quarters of the public believe homelessness has increased within their own community this year,” says Mark Horvath, founder and CEO of Invisible People. “The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the urgency in solving the homelessness crisis in the U.S., as we face a growing wave of evictions and foreclosures across the U.S.”

“What America Believes About Homelessness” highlights broad public support for humane policy solutions, including expanded mental health services (82%), permanent supportive housing (75%), and rental assistance programs (71%). While public perception on policy solutions aligns with the recommendations of experts in the sector, the study reveals a significant gap between the public conversation on homelessness and discussions happening in policy and research spaces. While experts point to a lack of income and the scarcity of affordable housing as central causes of homelessness, Invisible People’s report shows the public believes mental illness and addiction are the culprits.

“Driven by local news stories and what people see in their own communities, public perception centers on a few of the most visible negative consequences of homelessness,” Horvath says. “The visibility of addiction and mental illness play an outsized role in the public’s imagination. The resulting stigma drives negative perceptions of homeless people and opposition to housing projects. Addressing these concerns requires consistent messaging that humanizes homeless people, helping the public to shift from sympathy to empathy.”

“What America Believes About Homelessness” was created through a collaboration with partners Alter Agents, Opinion Route, and Barbara Poppe and Associates. Barbara Poppe is the former executive director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, where she led the launch of the first comprehensive federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness in 2010.

“This groundbreaking study will be incredibly useful for communities and organizations that are working to build public will to invest in solutions to reduce and ultimately end unsheltered homelessness,” Poppe says. “More than ever, we need to find ways to improve communication and understanding. This landmark report on public perceptions advances that important work.”

According to the report, people living in areas with higher unsheltered populations are more concerned about crime and experience greater feelings of helplessness. “Not in My Backyard” opinions, opposing housing in one’s own neighborhood, are linked to opposition to housing solutions as well as more punitive views towards homeless people. In addition, gender and political views impact opinions on homelessness, with women and those on the left of the political spectrum expressing more sympathetic opinions. Men and those on the right express more punitive views. Just 32% of the public support criminalization measures, according to the report.

“We found that stories of individuals being housed and rebuilding their lives resonate with audiences. In contrast, messaging that portrays our current system as successful is not considered credible by the general public who see evidence of individual suffering on the streets,” says Mike Dickerson, researcher, cofounder of Ktown for All, and author of “What America Believes About Homelessness.” “We recommend that advocates and policy makers avoid making big claims about systemic success, especially in communities where homelessness continues to rise.

“There is a direct line between how the public views homelessness and the policy choices leaders make. Many blame homelessness on the person experiencing it rather than the shortage of affordable housing, lack of a living wage, childhood trauma, expensive and inaccessible health care, or the countless other reasons that make a person vulnerable to losing their home,” Dickerson says. “This gap between public perceptions and reality creates a cycle of misunderstanding that reduces public support for the policies we need to solve this crisis.”

— Source: Invisible People

Baylor Hunger and Poverty Collaborative Delivers 38.7 Million Meals During Pandemic

The Baylor University Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty (BCHP), in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and key public and private organizations, announced that it served more than 38.7 million meals between March and August to more than 270,000 children impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as part of the Emergency Meals-to-You (eMTY) program.

The eMTY initiative was an expansion of a regional pilot program that had previously served Texas households in 2019. As part of the federal government’s pandemic response, the USDA asked the BCHP to exponentially scale its meal delivery work to meet the needs of children in rural areas nationwide. The BCHP accepted the challenge and called in key public and private partners to assist, ultimately growing the program from its origins of delivering more than 475,000 meals to 4,000 students in Texas alone to serving a total of 38,783,700 meals to 270,483 children in 43 states as well as Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico.

Children in some of the most remote areas of the United States received meals, according to Jeremy Everett, executive director of BCHP.

“In this unprecedented time of so much need, children in rural areas can be among the most vulnerable,” Everett says. “Without access to school lunch programs, public transportation, and other resources, households in some of the country’s hardest hit communities were left scrambling for ways to replace much needed meal resources. BCHP’s collaboration with the USDA and its partners filled that need for more than 127,700 households nationwide as our meal delivery brought resources right to their front door.”

Everett says building strategic public and private partnerships to tackle hunger is key, and BCHP’s previously established partnerships with organizations such as McLane Hunger Solutions, PepsiCo’s Food for Good, and Chartwells made this rapid response not only possible but also successful.

McLane Hunger Solutions, which provided Meals-to-You boxes for BCHP’s Texas program, was eager to launch the emergency program in response to COVID-19. McLane has been a long-time philanthropic supporter of both hunger initiatives and Baylor University.

“When we first heard of COVID-19, no one could have imagined how vast the impact would be on our everyday lives. As school closures spread across the country, this public-private partnership with the USDA, Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, our team at McLane Global, PepsiCo’s Food for Good, and Chartwells, mobilized rapidly and have responded to so many in need,” says Denton McLane, chairman of McLane Global. “In such a short period of time, we have sourced for, packed, and shipped nearly 40 million meals to rural students from Alaska to Florida, Hawaii to New York. The Meals-to-You home delivery program works and is an important example of how innovative solutions can help feed our nation’s children.”

PepsiCo’s Food for Good—another key partner on the rural meal program—has been an invaluable partner to the Baylor Collaborative over the years, Everett says. The PepsiCo Foundation recognized the importance of being able to ramp up the eMTY operation quickly and provided financial support to jump-start preparations. This dual role as vendor and financial partner ensured a successful start for the program, Everett says.

“PepsiCo’s Food for Good program has been fighting childhood hunger for over 10 years, and we’re proud to bring our logistical expertise and vast resources to our partnership with the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty in the Meals-to-You program,” says Matt Smith, senior director of PepsiCo’s Food for Good program. “By embracing the unique skills and experiences of the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, Meals-to-You was able to provide millions of nutritious meals to families during this difficult time. We are eager to build off this partnership and continue to tackle childhood hunger together with partners across the country.”

As the program started running, BCHP heard from many other companies interested in providing meals. The team at Chartwells offered a collaboration with a commitment to nutrition and menu variety and the company came on board as the third vendor for the program.

“As a school meal partner to 675 districts across the country, our responsibility is to ensure children’s nutritional needs are not forgotten in the pandemic. In the U.S., nearly 50% of school-age children depend on school lunch programs, and when schools are closed—or held virtually—6 out of 7 hungry children don’t get adequate meals,” says Belinda Oakley, CEO of Chartwells K12. “That’s why being a part of the innovative Meals-to-You Program has been so valuable. Times of crisis and uncertainty prompt innovation and collaboration, and it’s a privilege to be a part of a ground-breaking program that helps ensure hunger is one thing children don’t have to worry about.”

“While this program provided an immediate lift for summer meal delivery, the work of addressing hunger and poverty in this pandemic crisis is far from over,” Everett says. “The Baylor University Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty has been passionately working to create partnerships and deliver solutions for more than a decade, and COVID-19 makes that work more crucial than ever. Through our statewide and national focus, BCHP is exploring new pathways, convening strategic partners, and finding creative ways to tackle the tough and pervasive topic of hunger. We are deeply appreciative of the partnerships that brought together the unprecedented work of this summer and are looking ahead at more good work that needs to be done with the support of organizations and individuals united to find ways to end the epidemic of hunger.”

The Baylor Collaborative’s Hunger Data Lab has launched an interactive website with national eMTY service data. For more information and to explore this tool, visit the Hunger Data Lab website.

Find more information about the BCHP and how to support continued efforts on the BCHP website.

— Source: Baylor University

World Childhood Foundation USA Appoints New Executive Director

World Childhood Foundation USA (Childhood USA) has announced that Nicole G. Epps has been named as executive director, effective January 1, 2021. In this new role, Epps will succeed current Childhood USA President and CEO, Dr. Joanna Rubinstein. Epps has been working as Childhood’s managing director of programs and policy since 2015, advancing the organization’s mission to end sexual abuse, exploitation, and violence against children.

An industry champion for the protection of children before joining Childhood USA, Epps had been a nonprofit leader in the antitrafficking and street-affected, vulnerable youth population, both domestically and internationally. Epps previously held industry leadership roles as associate director of Court Appointed Special Advocates of Morris and Sussex Counties in New Jersey, and with Safe Horizon, the largest victim services organization in New York. Epps also led the U.S. office of the antitrafficking organization Apne Aap.

“It is an honor to become executive director of Childhood USA,” Epps says. “During my five years at Childhood, and under Joanna’s leadership, we have moved from a small grant-making foundation to a global thought leader, including through support for two pioneering global initiatives: the Economist Intelligence Unit Index on response to child sexual abuse and the UN Broadband Commission’s report with actionable recommendations on child online safety. I look forward to continuing Childhood USA’s high-level global policy work, while engaging in direct impact on the ground with a focus on developing innovative, culturally competent, grass-roots programs.

“Now more than ever, the work of Childhood USA is needed with the continued inequities in the USA and the added stressor of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Epps adds. “Our children are even more vulnerable to their abusers in both real life and the digital space. We have both a responsibility and obligation to ensure that our most vulnerable children have access to evidence-based resources and tools that can keep them safe and this will continue to be a priority at Childhood, as the pandemic continues.”

Speaking about her plans for the future of Childhood USA, Epps states, “As we move ahead, I plan to ensure that Childhood USA continues to support innovative and replicable work serving diverse communities, including the LGBTQ community, communities of color, and children with disabilities, among others, as well as expanding our youth participation.”

— Source: World Childhood Foundation USA