In the book, One Nation, Underprivileged Rank indicates that families wave their way in and out of poverty depending on the occurrence or non-occurrence of detrimental events (e.g., job loss, family disruption, or ill health). In December of 2007 and January of 2008, I suffered one silent and a second violent heart attacks totally incapacitating me to the point of a quadruple by-pass and reconstruction of my left ventricle. Recovery was a long and painful journey only made possible by outstanding medical care, good health insurance, and a strong social support network. The bill was over $367,000.00, on which, I am still making payments on the costs not covered. Fortunately, I had a good job with a sufficient disability pension. Adjustments had to be made to the family budget but we were never in jeopardy of losing our home to foreclosure or having to skip meals to pay bills.
Over the week-end I took ill to the point of forcing myself to go to the emergency room of a hospital to seek help. Because of fears of infections and their possible devastating negative effects on my health personally, medications were prescribed. My out of pocket costs, after an insurance deduction, was $60.00. If there had been a lack of coverage, the medications purchased would have been over $450.00. I do not incur costs for emergency room visits.
It is easy to see the negative effects or inability to afford to seek competent health care for those living on the edge or in poverty. Simple illness requiring after-care is out if reach for many. The poor are forced to use hospital emergency rooms as "free clinics" because hospitals are required by law in Illinois to provide the minimum necessary care to those who do not have insurance. The incident that inspired the law was a boy suffered multiple gun shot wounds and was "dumped" in the drive way of a hospital emergency room that was not a trauma center. The E.R. personnel summoned an ambulance from the Chicago Fire Department to transport this individual to Cook County Hospital for treatment. The summoning hospital staff did not even provide the minimum of "care", like they really did, to sustain life. The man died of his wounds prior to the arrival of the ambulance.
What of the poor? What of the aged? Is this the way a civilized society shows the proper treatment of it's members? Is this the way the most powerful nation on the face of the Earth wants to be seen in the International community? the United States has no room to sanction other nations for "Human Rights" violations until they rectify what is happening to their own. The central question that keeps surfacing in this class, "What is the obligation of government to care for the needs of its citizens? If an obligation, to what extent?"
In 1989, a group called Lakefront SRO turned a single-room occupancy hotel in the Uptown neighborhood into a 69-unit building that provided rooms and social services to people long teetering on the edge of homelessness.
That model — called "permanent supportive housing" — is now embraced by many advocates for the homeless. Lakefront SRO has become Mercy Housing Lakefront, an organization that has 12 permanent supportive housing buildings in Chicago providing 1,307 units to some of the city's most vulnerable residents.
"The whole objective is to help people stabilize in their housing," said Lisa Kuklinski, spokeswoman for the group. "Everyone that comes to us in this type of housing has had a history of housing instability, whether that's street homelessness or doubling up or sleeping in a place that was inappropriate."
Each building provides residents with case managers who help them with everything from learning to budget properly to finding the social services and medical care they need. Also, residents are given employment training and taught how to advocate for themselves and become active members of the community.
The residents pay about 30 percent of whatever income they have for rent.
"We feel like these services address people holistically," Kuklinski said. "You're a whole person, you're not just a homeless person. You're a person who's a citizen of your community just like anyone else."
Reflecting how dire the demand for housing is, Mercy Housing Lakefront has waiting lists at all its buildings. When a new building opened in Englewood last year, Kuklinski said, more than 1,000 people applied for the 99 available units.
The group's work is funded by a mix of city, state and federal housing programs along with private and philanthropic donations. Kuklinski said that in general they give priority to homeless applicants who are disabled or dealing with chronic health problems.
While the approach used by groups like Mercy Housing Lakefront is more helpful to homeless people in the long term, Kuklinski said the loss of single-room occupancy hotels — no matter their condition — will be felt by many struggling to stay off the streets.
"It challenges all of our humanity to see people living in those kinds of conditions," she said. "However, it is the only kind of housing that we have in our community that someone can purchase day-to-day or week-to-week. The challenge is, if I don't have 60 days' rent, I can't get an apartment in this town. If it's the only thing between you and the street, it's the only option you have."
— Rex W. Huppke
That model — called "permanent supportive housing" — is now embraced by many advocates for the homeless. Lakefront SRO has become Mercy Housing Lakefront, an organization that has 12 permanent supportive housing buildings in Chicago providing 1,307 units to some of the city's most vulnerable residents.
"The whole objective is to help people stabilize in their housing," said Lisa Kuklinski, spokeswoman for the group. "Everyone that comes to us in this type of housing has had a history of housing instability, whether that's street homelessness or doubling up or sleeping in a place that was inappropriate."
The residents pay about 30 percent of whatever income they have for rent.
"We feel like these services address people holistically," Kuklinski said. "You're a whole person, you're not just a homeless person. You're a person who's a citizen of your community just like anyone else."
Reflecting how dire the demand for housing is, Mercy Housing Lakefront has waiting lists at all its buildings. When a new building opened in Englewood last year, Kuklinski said, more than 1,000 people applied for the 99 available units.
The group's work is funded by a mix of city, state and federal housing programs along with private and philanthropic donations. Kuklinski said that in general they give priority to homeless applicants who are disabled or dealing with chronic health problems.
While the approach used by groups like Mercy Housing Lakefront is more helpful to homeless people in the long term, Kuklinski said the loss of single-room occupancy hotels — no matter their condition — will be felt by many struggling to stay off the streets.
"It challenges all of our humanity to see people living in those kinds of conditions," she said. "However, it is the only kind of housing that we have in our community that someone can purchase day-to-day or week-to-week. The challenge is, if I don't have 60 days' rent, I can't get an apartment in this town. If it's the only thing between you and the street, it's the only option you have."
— Rex W. Huppke