Opinion: Living unhoused proves an expensive pit to be in; Denver Basic Income Project provides exit

Photo bySteven LewisonUnsplash

Have you ever thought about what it costs to be homeless?

Oh, I know, the quick answer is that it doesn’t cost anything. Everything is free. My readers bemoan free phones, Medicaid, food stamps … everything that is provided to people experiencing homelessness. So, they especially didn’t like it when I reported that the Denver Basic Income Project wants more money from the city.

The project makes monthly cash payments of $1,000 each to about 670 people experiencing homelessness. My readers immediately flooded the comment stream with stereotypes about the money being used to fund drug habits. They will be relieved to know that the Denver Basic Income Project does not give money to people with substance abuse or mental health issues who are not in treatment.

Mark Donovan, who heads the project, led a panel discussion Thursday sponsored by Colorado Coalition for the Homeless on the economics of homelessness. Coalition policy advocate Andrew West highlighted five critical truths about living unhoused, namely that it’s expensive.

Five costly realities

First, homeless people face fines and fees simply for existing. Being covered up with a blanket in public in Denver will land you a camping ban violation. A trip to jail likely will be involved.

Second, eating is expensive. Meals are one at a time – there is no way to prepare food. Prepared meals cost more. People experiencing homelessness often spend three or four hours out of their day marking a space in line for a soup feed. This makes it difficult to spend a lot of time looking for jobs, especially when you don’t have an address or identification. IDs get stolen usually your first month of homelessness. At least that was my experience.

Third, you’re constantly replacing essentials that get lost or stolen, including cell phones, backpacks, water bottles, medication and more, West said.

Fourth, you pay through the nose for shelter, often in the form of an occasional hotel stay. This allows a person to have a good night’s sleep, which is not possible in congregant shelters.

Fifth, public transportation in Denver really isn’t cheap. Bus tickets for people experiencing homelessness prove scarce. Uber and Lyft are even more expensive.

Study: More than half of sheltered homeless people work

Once you become homeless, it’s almost impossible to get out of homelessness. But the Denver Basic Income Project has proven to help get its participants housed. Aubrey Wilde of the Coalition said during the seminar that it felt good to be discussing a homelessness solution that works.

But readers who commented on an article earlier this week said people experiencing homelessness who receive a basic income should have to work for it. Donovan shared that about half of the participants are disabled.

But many people experiencing homelessness do work. According to a 2021 study by the University of Chicago, 53% of sheltered people experiencing homelessness and 40% of those unsheltered hold down jobs. “This finding contrasts with stereotypes of people experiencing homelessness as too lazy to work or incapable of doing so,” the study declared.

According to a separate University of Chicago study, in 2015 the average homeless person who was working made $8,169 if they were sheltered, $6,934 if unsheltered.

Demographics represent marginalized groups

Of the Denver Basic Income Project recipients, 67% included people of color, with 25.7% Black, 23.3% Latinx, 7.7% multi-race and 4.7% American Indian or Alaskan native, according to the presentation. Transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming people included 2.3% and 22% had a child under 18.

Alison Friedman Phillips spoke about stigma during the seminar. “How do we change the narrative around deservedness,” she pondered. She noted if non-homeless people received free money, nobody would expect them to say how they spent it.

Donovan said the fact that even a control group that only received $50 per month fared well in the first year showed it instilled responsibility. He said one person said they were able to sleep on someone’s couch for $50 and go to a job interview the next day. They got the job, he said.

According to its supporters, investing in a basic income for people experiencing homelessness saves money in the long run. Shortening unsheltered homelessness is much less expensive than sustaining it, they say.

The program sounds like a life-changer for its participants. It deserves city support.