Homelessness is increasingly becoming a problem in cities big and small across North America. Yet as business leaders we tend to see the issue as one that is not our problem or responsibility, unless of course, we have a business that is being affected by a homeless camp, squatters in our doorsteps, or addicts in our alleyways.
We cannot comprehend why people aren't working like we are, or taking responsibilities for their lives in a fashion that would be becoming of someone of our status in society. We wrongly assume that the crime, squalor and social problems associated with poverty and homelessness can be fixed with increased public funding, greater police presence and harsher penalties. It's easy for us to complain and demand solutions to these inconveniences to our business, shopping patterns, or our nice neighborhoods. However, have we considered what our responsibilities are as leaders of commerce and the solutions to these ills of our age we have access to?
It's at this point that you are probably sneering and thinking that I have lost my mind if I am suggesting for one moment, that businesses leaders like you and I have a responsibility for dealing with poverty in our communities. But hold on a second. Let me challenge you to consider that working to solve this problem might actually be good for you, your business, and your community; that the solutions to these problems cannot any longer be left to government and social agencies to provide. Let's face it, there has been a colossal failure by agencies and government in dealing with this issue of poverty.
As a society, we have continued to fund band-aid programs, government projects, and charities that have not only been unable to solve the problems, but have actually made things worse by creating dependency and lowering the self-worth of the poorest of our society who feel their only option is a handout. Yes, we feel good as people, when we give a donation to a charity that hands out free food, free needles, and coats and clothing to those living below the poverty line. We feel justified, as we think our tax money is going to pay for more policing, or healthcare services for the homeless.
At Christmas we give a few bucks to our favourite charity that gives out a pair of mitts or a hamper to a struggling family and wash our hands of the poor for the rest of the year.
So, am I just another heartless Scrooge who despises the poor and has no practical understanding of what it is like to be without? It's true I grew up in a safe middle-class family with parents that made ends meet and I went on to have businesses that earned me good money. Yet I do have a notion of the challenges of poverty and homelessness from 30 years of volunteering hundreds if not thousands of hours, in the downtown core of my community serving soup and sandwiches and watching the problems get worse not better.
I can say that I have felt good and righteous over the years by my "help" to those in need, but I honestly believe that the only time my "good deeds" have been of any benefit to anyone in poverty is when I have had a real relationship that was NOT based on me giving something and expecting nothing in return.
In my frustration with seeing a lack of change as a result of most of my time, energy and donations, I recently asked some of the people at a local drop-in centre where I volunteer, why they came and what was the root of the problem. I questioned four women at one table about the root of the homeless problem. One woman told me bluntly that she was a third-generation alcoholic and she chose to live on the street because if she got an apartment, her husband would move in and beat her up. This lady wasn't asking for pity and when I told her I respected her decision to live on the street, she smiled.
Another woman told me after a longer conversation that the reason she was living in poverty was because she had mental health issues after having been sexually abused as a child and a teenager in foster care.
"They asked me, a child, where I wanted to live after they had taken me from my mother. How was I, a child, suppose to know that?"
One fellow said that he used the drop-in centre for a place to go in the evening to get out of his apartment and find community. He said others were there to get sandwiches so they could have lunch at their jobs. Some, he said, were there because there was a cycle of poverty and that more money was the solution. I challenged him by asking him if I would give $1,000 to everyone in the room if that would solve the problem. In his wisdom, this man suggested that I would need to get an agreement from each person that they would use that money to achieve a goal, then after a few minutes of thinking said that "No, giving more money wouldn't fix anything the problem is different, we need more jobs."
The poor are no different than you or me. They want to be respected; they want to give more than they want to take. They want to contribute to society. Yes, they need safe affordable housing and food, but I have never heard anyone say they wanted everything for free. Handouts of all sorts create dependency and when we don't respect people and ask for accountability for their actions as we would anyone else, we do them a disservice.
So, where does business fit in, and what are our responsibilities? Let's start by using the resources at our fingertips to make a difference. In business, we have capital (money) which we can use in a number of ways. One thing we can do that can make the biggest difference for the poor is to give them jobs. As business owners, we all have jobs both big and small that could be done by the poor, many of whom have skills and need the opportunity to work.
In my 30 years of business I have hired people off the street, children who shoplifted from me, mentally handicapped youth, immigrants and socially awkward people. The jobs I offered were not high paying and may have only been a few hours a week, but allowed every person I hired to have dignity and self worth. Sometimes it took considerable effort on my part or the part of my other staff to make things work out; occasionally I was disappointed when a hire never showed up for a shift. Yet, I can honestly say that none of my handouts, donations, or charity even remotely compared to the difference that a job made in someone's life.
Imagine what would happen if 1,600 businesses in a community hired someone living in poverty for only two hours a week to start. Two hours might not seem much to you or I but a job cleaning, sweeping, or doing manual labour can give purpose, hope and the first step out of poverty to someone who has hit rock bottom. Not only does work help financially but it empowers people to take control of their lives and rise above those aspects of poverty that pull them down. Empowered people try to make their societies and communities a better place to live.
Yes, it's easy to be critical of social problems and the lack of results, but until we use our talents as leaders to make a difference, the shame should be on us. Not only should we be creating jobs, and building capacity, talent and self worth in our poor, but we should be holding accountable those charities and agencies that depreciate the value of our poor by holding them in poverty by counting them as statistics to ensure their continued funding, instead of being focused on results.
When the model is broken, we in business have a responsibility to become actively engaged in using our resources so that homelessness, crime and poverty are reduced, not perpetuated.
Dave Fuller, MBA is a Business Coach and the author of the book Profit Yourself Healthy. Enraged by this article? Email dave@profityourselfhealthy.com
