Homeless: Some just don't like the rules

By Aleasha Sandley, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer

June 13, 2009 08:12 pm

— ANDERSON — Despite a multitude of Madison County agencies designed to help the homeless, some prefer to stay on the streets.
A recent regional meeting involving local homeless agencies revealed that many homeless people simply don’t like to abide by the rules required at shelters.
“We all know they have the right in this country to make their own decisions,” said Mary Jo Lee, director of Anderson shelter Alternatives Inc. “Do I worry about where the women (at Alternatives) go? Sure I do, but this isn’t a prison.”
Lee knows firsthand how some homeless people would prefer to make it on their own without the help of shelters. Her youngest brother has been homeless for several years, despite having received help at Anderson’s Christian Center shelter and elsewhere.
“This is my baby brother,” Lee said. “He grew up in the same family as I did. He had a lot of opportunities, and I don’t know where he is today. He had all kinds of help and this is what he does.”
Susie Kemp of Muncie’s Bridges Community Services said homeless people often choose not to abide by rules like no alcohol or drugs, often due to their addictions. Other rules include a curfew or “pray to stay” policies at faith-based shelters.
Still others simply aren’t ready to deal with people or might have a mental illness that causes them to be paranoid or anxious around others.
“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink,” Kemp said. “We’ll never give up trying to help them.”
Kent South, president of the Anderson/Madison County Homeless Task Force, said most homeless people know where to go to get services.
“We’ll take anybody in,” he said. “They can be an alcoholic, but they have to detox. They can’t be using, and some of them just don’t want to do that.”
Kemp said homeless agencies still try to reach out despite the likelihood of being turned down.
“I don’t know of a shelter in the state where you can take a 12-pack of beer in and sit around and watch TV,” she said.
It’s generally the chronically homeless who don’t accept shelter, Kemp said, not those whose circumstances have recently changed.
“This is not like your homeless family that’s been burned out of their house or laid off from GM,” she said. “They’re seeking help.”
Elizabeth Ploog of House of Hope of Madison County said that shelter sometimes has to discharge its residents because they don’t abide by the zero tolerance policy when it comes to drugs and alcohol.
“Chemical dependency is a very difficult disease to recover from,” she said. “This is a very structured program. We ask a lot of the people here. We know that’s what’s necessary for them to be able to establish sobriety and to be able to have healing in their lives.”