Attacking Homelessness on New Providence

by Larry Smith

A pilot study of the Potters Cay area by the Ministry of Labour and Social Development has provided a snapshot of homelessness in Nassau, focusing renewed attention on this issue.

More than 50 homeless people live in this area, which extends to Okra Hill and St Matthew's graveyard. They are mostly men over 25 years of age, who are mentally ill, drug addicts or repeat offenders. Many have been released from Fox Hill Prison or Sandilands Rehabilitatiion Centre, and some are homeless by choice.

They are attracted to Potters Cay, the report says, by the availability of gambling, drugs and prostitution, as well as the opportunity to earn money from begging and casual labour. Another attraction for this location - considered the nexus of homelessness on New Providence - is the number of sleeping options.

These range from the tombs at nearby cemeteries, to abandoned buildings, vendors' stalls, trailers and boats. But the hub of activity for the homeless is the former fish processing plant on Potters Cay, which was built by the government in 1982 at a cost of $3.6 million and has been derelict for years. It has become an unmanaged shelter for society's outcasts.

"The old building appears to be the main area for sleeping, storage and sexual activity," the report says, adding that the surveyors were unable to complete their assessment "because of the feces, urine, garbage, old furniture, rodents and clothing everywhere. The odour made breathing very difficult."

The police station on Potters Cay closes at midnight so there is no security. And the public toilets are locked at 6 pm, the report says, so they cannot be used by the homeless."Hence the surrounding water is contaminated and there are no facilities for bathing. If this is not properly handled the repercussions will be devastating for the entire population."

Of course, this is not a uniquely Bahamian problem. Homelessness has been a longstanding issue even in rich countries with fully developed and well-funded social safety nets. But it is still a relatively finite problem on New Providence, with huge public health consequences. In North American cities, there are hundreds of thousands of homeless people.
 
The homeless have not always been the object of charity. In the 16th century, British laws punished vagrants with two years of servitude for the first offense, and death for the second. That was one way to solve the problem. But later, more enlightened lawmakers set up workhouses for those unable to support themselves.

The earliest first hand account of homelessness in England was published by Jack London in 1903. In The People of the Abyss he described conditions for those living in the workhouses and streets of the capital of the British Empire. Estimated to number half a million at the time, they lived in "a chronic condition of misery which is never wiped out," London wrote.

As in the Bahamas, Britain's street people today are mostly men over 25 with alcohol and drug additions, or with mental health problems. And over the years the British government has spent hundreds of millions to keep people off the street through outreach and resettlement work, as well as the provision of shelters and permanent housing.

Although some 120,000 people are classified as being legally homeless in the UK, officials estimate that less than 500 people are sleeping rough on any given night - out of a population of over 61 million. And the goal is to drive street sleeping down to zero by 2012. So how do the British do it?

"The success was largely due to a very focused and targeted approach with high-profile central leadership, assertive outreach to get people in, and investment in accommodation, specifically for former rough sleepers," one report said. "The Department of Health was effective in helping to target the most entrenched people with severe mental illness."

In America, the most effective programme operates just across the water in Miami-Dade County. The Community Partnership for the Homeless was set up in 1993 funded by a one per cent tax on food and beverage sales. It also relies on a "holistic approach" to help people get off the streets. Public and private sector investment in this programme has exceeded $300 million over 15 years.

"Help" includes meals, clothing and temporary housing, as well as training, case management, healthcare, drug treatment and permanent housing assistance. And the number of people living on the streets of Miami has been cut from 8,000 in 1993 to under a thousand today. The programme has been so successful that it is now being applied in cities across the United States.

Here at home the Ministry of Labour and Social Development recently joined with private sector groups to work out approaches to homelessness in Nassau. Those attending the initial meeting last month included the president of the Christian Council, the Commissioner of Police, the Defence Force Commodore, representatives of civic organisations, and public officers.

"Homelessness is a problem that our society needs to tackle urgently before it becomes unmanageable," State Minister for Social Development Loretta Butler-Turner told the meeting. "We want your commitment to work with the government to address homelessness. It is a matter which requires the attention of all of us."

Currently, services for the homeless include soup kitchens operated by churches and charities, and government food subsidies. Recommendations to deal with the problem include determining the number of homeless people on the island, better coordination of food services, provision of temporary shelters, expansion of low-income housing, and job training.

Providing accommodation and food are probably not insurmountable issues. Healthcare is the biggest challenge. In a paper for the Organisation of American States produced last year, well-known psychiatrist Dr David Allen offered a Bahamian perspective on the contribution of drug abuse to homelessness and HIV/AIDS infection.

He traced the problem to a national epidemic of crack cocaine unleashed in the 1980s, associated with already high levels of alcohol consumption. That was the period when Columbian drug lords took over several islands in the Bahamas to tranship cocaine to the United States, while our government looked the other way.

"As the acute crack cocaine epidemic started to wane," Dr Allen wrote, "pushers preyed on mentally ill patients, creating bizarre syndromes involving vagrancy, homelessness and sometimes violence. Many addicts had a severe psychiatric illness such as schizophrenia. These are best treated in an inpatient setting."

Although drug treatment is provided by groups like Teen Challenge, The Haven, Bahamas Association for Social Health and the Deanery, "the missing pieces in the consortium of services are comprehensive programmes for the chronically addicted woman (the broken woman) and transitional community residences to enhance re-entry into society," according to Dr Allen.

"There are increasing numbers of chronic cocaine users who also use marijuana and alcohol. Cognitively impaired, they tend to be unemployed and go in and out of prison. A major concern is that marijuana has permeated junior and senior high schools, which has serious implications for education and career development," he said.
 
Drug trafficking has produced a gun culture that is directly responsible for the rise in violent crime we are experiencing today: "The drug problem has a devastating effect on our value system," Dr Allen said. "The already challenged inner city family and community has been impacted severely by violent crime, stealing and the despair that accompanies chronic drug use. Children lack nurture and support...This destruction is tragic."
 
He called for an international drug policy think tank to share technical expertise and promote a coordinated approach to the problem. He also pointed to the need for better communication between key players like social workers, teachers, law enforcement officers, politicians, medical professionals and drug counselors, as well as the development of training and work skills during treatment.

You might not know it, but there already is a national drug plan that seeks to deal with these critical issues. In the early 2000s, the authors of this plan noted that more than 60 per cent of inmates at Fox Hill Prison were there for drug-related offences and a high percentage were infected with HIV/AIDS. Statistics also showed that 75 per cent of women with HIV had a history of drug or alcohol abuse.

A five-year anti-drug plan was formulated in 2004 with the help of international agencies and called for a $3 million budget. It is now being updated by Captain Godfrey Rolle, the plan's coordinator at the Ministry of National Security. The goals include development of complex interdiction, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation services. It is surely a daunting task.

Perhaps the most frightening data relating to the homeless involves the prevalence of HIV/AIDS infection. A recent Caribbean study confirmed that homeless drug users are at high risk for HIV infection. And crack cocaine use and risky sexual behaviours, both associated with increased risk of medical and psychiatric complications, have been described as common behaviours among the homeless.

So resettlement support alone will not be enough to help these people back into mainstream society. We need to find cost-effective ways to rehabilitate those suffering from mental illness, drug or alcohol problems. Then we need to develop their basic life skills, and help them reconnect with social networks away from the streets. These are difficult, long-term and costly approaches.

That's why many experts believe prevention is the best means of ensuring a lasting and sustainable end to the problem of homelessness. But in the Bahamas, we also have to consider that the problem is not strictly confined to the relatively small world of crazy street people like those living at Potters Cay.

In 2006 government officials reported 39 squatter villages throughout New Providence. As many as 300 people - both Bahamians and immigrants - were said to be living in just one of these, with no sanitary facilities or police presence whatsoever. What is being done to address these issues?

Comments

[Rick Lowe]

Very timely Larry.
This is a very sad and unfortunate situation that seems to be growing exponentially each passing day.
I am loathe to buy anything from Potters Cay anymore as a result of the vagrants that sleep or sit on the vendor stalls etc.
We have a couple "charity" cases as you know, but they do not seem to be as bad as those seen around Potters Cay.

[anne lever]

An interesting article, Larry. The topic is certainly an issue which needs to be addressed urgently. In my humble opinion, it seems that our government (particularly Social Services personnel) spend for too much time in "meetings", where issues such as HIV/AIDS, housing for the homeless, teenage pregnancy, etc, etc are discussed at length. I am sure that excellent programmes and viable solutions are proposed by the attendees of these meetings. Sadly, however, the plans and recommendations that arise, remain within the rooms in which they are formulated. Promises are made but not fulfilled. Good intentions are verbalised but not executed.
Meanwhile, as we realise the effects of the economic downturn, unemployment will increase and in turn so will the numbers of homeless people, HIV/AIDS victims, drug users and, of course, crime..........it is time to stop talking and start acting. I am eager to assist in devising AND executing meaningful programmes with long-term goals....... but I am not prepared to attend fruitless meetings filled with empty promises.
Larry, please continue to bring these issues to the attention of the general public.

[Donny Maura]

I thank you for todays article, Tough Call. Just last week a few of us were thinking if there were shower and sleeping facilities on Potters Cay the Police Station there could give some security in opening the facilities in the early evenings and getting people out in the mornings.

The building and people are there, all you need is for the government, social, civic and religious agencies, to network together.

Give this project with empowerment to the Salvation Army, and instead of drugs and crime, Potters Cay could be named Paradise Island and we could change Paradise Island back to Hog Island!