Community based crisis sheltering is still an option for the displaced

Jamaicans have a funny way of being resilient in many respects and as the hardships hit us generally speaking via tax rises, murky job market, a trimmed budget, fiscal cliffs and wage freezes we find ways to survive despite politically messy systems, corrupt leaders, bankrupt politicians on all sides who are more interested in feathering their own nests and holding on to power than doing what is just and right by and for the people, inadvertently microcosms of the society seem to have imported the bankruptcy of ideas named the LGBT group, the thirst for power, manipulation of systems for personal gains more than to serve the representative groups who are to be serviced and defended when required for the overall improvement of the quality of life of said individuals and indeed groups.

The LGBT community (if there is a cohesive one) is no exception and in a follow up to a most interesting thread on two Facebook pages I am apart of on in essence corporate social responsibility from LGBTQ party promoters who are accused of being greedy and more interested in profits, aloof to the issues that abound on the ground with the least amongst us and poor entertainment offerings. As scrutiny of the systems, social spheres and advocacy seems to be rising as it does every now and again questions are being asked and resolves are being arrived at as a benchmark for support of some party promoters’ events is whether they are interested in donating genuinely or supporting some sort of advocacy/welfare related matter that have become far more visible in recent times. Homelessness again takes center stage and as the news of the eviction of the two main agencies namely JFLAG and JASL make the rounds with some persons just catching up to the reality persons are asking what do these agencies represent for them to have reached this stage? Pity it had to take such a long time and an embarrassing situation as the very homelessness of the agencies themselves to raise concerns when the scrutiny should have always been there to cause proper leadership with results.

Tongues have been wagging but while that is happening many more young gay and bisexual men are finding themselves teetering on homelessness for varying reasons, several unconfirmed reports suggest more and more persons are finding themselves exposed on the frontline with no support systems apart from the few that benefit from the very limited feeding program offered devoid of the properly structured psycho social interventions to compliment the street based interventions since the shelter residency is not a reality. Despite the deep mistrust in assisted living at the community level with some well publicised incidents of pilferage, high visibility of the problematic New Kingston homeless men via the press, the perception that the men are irredeemable of the anti-social behaviours they are accused of, tabloid press stories of issues and noted embarrassing scenarios on the social scenes there are some who still have faith and the belief in assisting those who need it and can be trusted to benefit from such assistance. I can understand clearly the need for the hesitation in opening ones home to sometimes a stranger despite their plight at the time, the costs also that one has to absorb is a major concern these days with the two hundred percent rise in property taxes, electricity fuel charge climb and other new taxes imposed on us that spending dollar is shrinking and affording shelter to another who is not working especially is a serious decision and when that help can only be for a short time to avoid the consequences that can follow. I have stopped assisting persons for now as it is too expensive to do so seeing I am on a limited income but would love to help. The advocacy systems do not over financed community assisted living programs as well which shows the lack of forward thinking in creating programs that respond to the immediate service needs of a growing homeless MSM cohort. To add insult to injury I suggested such a concept at a recent town hall meeting that JFLAG hosted prior to their eviction in November 2012 and they seemed repulsed by the idea even on the face of a promised shelter that never came to fruition.


I received a message on Facebook from an individual not on the friend’s list who wanted to know what to do in assisting someone who is displaced in their homes, this is not an unusual request but in this case what was different was the variables that were involved, what was to have a been a commercial sexual transaction ended up in a deep conversation between the “client” and the “buyer” a solution was being contemplated if only for a short period. In furtherance the gentleman wanted to continue some sort of remote assistance but being not used to engaging this section of the population and hearing of the other persons who extended such assistance getting burnt he is treading most carefully and rightfully so. I am hopeful once again that all is not lost and the classism that so pervades our society and even seems more so pronounced in the LGBT population though real has some exceptions. I do not suspect ulterior motives hidden in the gentleman’s intentions as that too are also an issue via this kind of community based crisis intervention method; I had warned of this in a podcast/audio post on a question on would listeners assist someone who was displaced?

I had hoped that by now we would have had an improved residency program following the launch of the only full residency concept idea for transitional rehabilitation for LGBT persons who are displaced or homeless but was summarily closed by the JASL board in 2009, funny they are now on the hunt for office space while the populations are nomads. The lack of forward thinking frankly visionless leadership is what has landed us in this mess over the years and to think MSM displacement and homelessness pre-dates any agitation for LGBT rights or homosexual tolerance over the past thirty plus years. With a population of displaced persons growing and it seems the only time they get help is when they become material for the homophobic public relations narratives after the fact when they are beaten or chopped up.

Even with multiple solutions sitting on the paper they were recorded on for this group of MSM and the other HIV prevention related matters (yet we have a 34% infection rate) many of the homeless men are also HIV positive and with limited service delivery now since JASL’s temporary closure the health of some of the men lie in the balance, also what is even more disturbing is the code of silence on their closure that not even in the press has no mention of their closure (JASL & JFLAG) made known. Instead foreign matters take centre stage, namely the UNIBAM trial in Belize, who could care less about our own down trodden?

The gentleman in question has expressed some concern for the numbers of men on the streets and why are they not getting the correct tailored response to the prevailing issue which I agree is a powder cake, concerns are also being raised by some frontline persons that the men are now relocating to other parts of town nearing other residencies that may cause a backlash unlike what occurred in New Kingston where the residents and business district populations were up in arms were very passive and did not resort to a more violent resistance. There are other community influentials who have been trying despite the difficulties and challenges with both finances and the behaviour of the men themselves but a more formal solution is long overdue with so many MSM who have fallen through the cracks over the life of the agencies. Temporary housing is one thing but the requisite counselling for both the client and the shelter provider is critical to navigate their co-existence over the period but as was said above the forward thinking is just not there despite more funding available to the agencies and an increase in the staff compliment with separation of roles and responsibilities. Those of us older in years and experience who in part or in full were apart of the various branches of the systems were and are expecting far more in both results and in leadership but what have we to show for it? Hardly any serious movement on anything if one were to just take a cursory look, not building on what has worked, poor judgement on programs or the lack thereof to respond to the ever widening challenges.

While we hail the interest by this gentleman some tuff decisions have been made by others who have opened their doors as well to discontinue the arrangement due to the mostly behavioural issues of the temporary resident. If not a managed street based initiative, controlled and monitored community based assisted living response or a full on transitional living and or transitional independent living housing all will happen it was has obtained over the past five or more decades with MSM forced evictions. God knows the umpteen incidents with the men too numerous to mention in this post as all kinds of crap happen.

I thought prevention was better than cure in just avoiding fallouts or even allowing self-made mistakes to overtake or impede activities but apparently not as the decision makers dither on the proper responses to MSM homelessness and displacement, now here we are wondering. For those who feel so moved we should continue to help where we can it is in the true caring spirit we should act.

Think on these things

Peace and tolerance

H