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Homeless Advocates Split Over Wireless Use
Owen Hearey |
Two years ago, Kenny Lindsey found himself homeless, diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and serving five years on probation after a robbery conviction. Now Mr. Lindsey lives exclusively on Social Security disability benefits, and every day he walks from his High Street efficiency apartment to the Chattanooga Community Kitchen for meals.
Yet for the last 10 years, Mr. Lindsey has made sure to set aside enough money to pay for the one thing he said he cannot go without: his wireless phone.
"I've had it so long, I don't know how I'd live without it," he said.
As wireless phones become cheaper and easier to acquire, chronically homeless people and those in transition are snatching them up. But while some advocates and many homeless people stress that the phones let them stay in touch with loved ones and help them search for jobs and affordable housing, others say they are an unnecessary expense or, at worst, fueling the city's drug trade.
Gina Turley, consumer housing specialist for the Aim Center, which helps those with mental illness reintegrate into society, said wireless phones are "profoundly helpful for those of us who are helping. I'm actually grateful when (clients have) one."
But Ron Fender, outreach case manager for the Community Kitchen, said wireless phones often serve more negative ends, either as status symbols or as a means to buy methamphetamine or crack cocaine.
While the phones permit a user to contact drug dealers more easily, he said, the devices often are sold to acquire drugs.
"I see so many people who will not pay for their psychotropic medications, or who will not buy themselves some laundry detergent to wash their clothes ... but they will pay for that cell phone," he said. "Any homeless person that tells you that they have to have a cell phone is not using the cell phone (properly)."
The city has offered Community Voice Mail since 1998, a service that lets the unemployed and homeless establish free voice mail they can check from any phone so that potential employers and social service providers can contact them. Nearly 200 people use the service in Chattanooga, and Ruby Mitchell, who manages the program for the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition, said the wide availability of wireless phones has helped.
"As long as they're using (wireless phones) for the purpose of completion of goals, I'm happy," she said.
Mrs. Mitchell admitted that "a small percentage" of homeless people may be misusing their wireless phones, but she said that the vast majority are not.
"Everybody that's homeless is not a drug dealer," she said. "Some people are homeless because of circumstances."
LeBron Bush, 53, bought his wireless phone a year ago to help him find day jobs and to stay in touch with his children. He said the bill usually comes to about $50 a month, which he affords through on-and-off day jobs, most of which pay $45 to $50 a day.
"It is a burden, (but) you need to communicate," he said. "People are homeless, but they will do work."
BY THE NUMBERS
* On any given night in Chattanooga, 394 people are estimated to sleep outside.
* About 180 people now use Community Voice Mail.
* Nearly 4,000 people in this area experience some type of homelessness each year.
Source: Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition
| Agency Name: | Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition |
|---|---|
| Street Address: | 801 N. Holtzclaw Ave. Bldg B |
| City, State, Zip: | Chattanooga, TN 37404 |
| Telephone number: | (423) 752-4807 |
| Fax number | (423) 698-5527 |
| Email address: | rmitchell@homelesscoalition.org |
| Web Site: | www.homelesscoalition.org |
| Contact: | Ruby Mitchell (423) 698-2498 |
| Days and hours of operation: |
Monday-Friday 8am-4:30pm |
Cities/Towns Served: |
Chattanooga, Cleveland, Dayton |