Our country possesses more than sufficient infrastructure to address the housing crisis, yet the public hears only metrics and numbers, the occasional article about a “knife-wielding man” or another camp raid, how much the nonprofits spend and how many beds are filled per night. That’s all they really know about the homeless.
I doubt very much the public is aware of how much propane I had to steal each winter just to stay warm, how I was a good man who served my country and never wanted to be a thief, but dammit it’s cold outside. I don’t think they know how your breath sticks to the walls of your tent, how every morning you wake up, everything is frozen. How everything is always wet and muddy, from the blankets we sleep with to the socks we wear. It all, also, eventually mildews, and try as we may to keep things dry, that’s pretty hard when, hah! Every morning, everything is frozen. You see my point?
My point is that it sucks. Mildew and bacteria bring mold, it causes respiratory and sinus infection, skin conditions, destroys your feet, yellows your nails and damages your nerves. So I lifted some multivitamins and cough medicine, some foot cream and a fresh pair of socks. I feel like the cashiers knew, mostly because it happened every other week, but I like to think they were being kind.
You know what I would’ve liked more than being forced to resort to petty crime? A place to live. As if that’s somehow too much to ask from the world. Four walls and a restroom, warmth, safety and shelter, running water, and a place to keep my things. Nothing more than the creature comforts that separate man from beast. There are very clear connections between primitive behavior and unmet, very basic conditions. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs explains it plainly: people bend the rules when they’re hungry or scared, much like you running a red light because you’re afraid to be late for work.
I’m not necessarily trying to justify crime, but to understand why it’s present. Understand that it is pretty easily preventable and that the solution isn’t “better policing” – it’s better health care. It’s better housing and better grocery prices. It’s access to therapy, counseling and medication. It’s the halt of gentrification and the uplifting of our neighbors; not condemning them to a life under a criminal record for acting out of fear.
If any substantial resolution to crime is to be found, it will require first the correction of conditions that facilitate the excusable need for petty crime. If you want people to stop stealing food and clothes, I would first advise making those basic essentials accessible to the people who need them. Once that has been established, we can begin the prosecution of criminals who act only out of greed and gain, not hunger and warmth.
Antonio Espinoza separated from the military in 2019 and spent five years homeless in Durango. He writes from lived experience and is now an advocate for the unhoused.
