“Sleeping on grandma’s couch was the norm for our culture,” says Mattie Broxton. Ms. Mattie Broxton serves as the Social Services Coordinator and former Director of the homeless shelter for the Salvation Army in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties within Florida.
Broxton explained that within the last 10 to15 years, she has seen more black people seeking the Salvation Army’s help because they are experiencing homelessness. But years prior, the trend of homelessness was prominent with caucasian men and women.
“You didn’t see a whole lot of homeless black men or women. Now, somewhere along the way…it has been more [blacks] and when I look at the reason why some are homeless, it’s drugs and alcohol but a lot of it is, low income and family disconnections. Because if someone got into hard times the family would step in and help, but that isn’t the case now,” says Broxton.
Originally, when I was tasked to write this story, I was seeking a black woman to interview to tell me about her experience with homelessness and to see how COVID-19 has impacted her current circumstances. But after I called several shelters and spoke with various agencies I found out that many black women weren’t seeking housing at these shelters. Some shelters or agencies were even reluctant to speak to me because they had to get clearance from directors or upper management. So, if they weren’t staying at the shelters then where did the black women go when times got hard? So, I turned to Ms. Mattie Broxton for those answers.
Ms. Mattie stated, “A lot of people don’t realize that sleeping on grandma’s couch [means that] you’re still considered homeless. And a lot of times when you tell someone you’re homeless they are not in that reality because sleeping on grandma’s couch or Uncle Bob’s, or Mary’s couch was the norm for our culture. You know, we could go to big mama’s house and be okay because big momma is going to make sure we’re okay, but that’s not the case now.”
Ms. Broxton says, “It’s more of a disconnect because a person has caused hurt or harm in their family, and then there is disassociation with that person.” A lot of black homeless people actually have jobs but the problem is with their wages explained Broxton.
She stated, “A lot of people have jobs but with the low wages and high cost of housing- it is a divide. It’s hard to pay $800 [for] rent or $700 to $800 for rent making minimum wage. And Florida has a state minimum wage which is higher than the federal minimum wage…And Alabama is right next to us so their minimum wage is still set at $7.75. So we have people coming to Florida to make that eight something or potential of $9.00 per hour.”
Being homeless and going from couch to couch is tough especially when you do have a job but can’t afford housing. So how do you deal with the financial frustrations and the instability? Surely, it takes a toil on you emotionally and sometimes it feels like you just can’t catch a break.
Ms. Mattie says the Salvation Army offers help by providing counseling. “We can do spiritual counseling, we call it pastoral care. [But] I am a licensed Evangelist but not a Salvationist. But the Salvation Army officers are pastors and they also have a youth pastor. We do offer financial counseling because a lot of times a person is receiving $783 a month and they are on HUD or Section 8 and their rent is $115. But then they have a car payment that is $300 or $400 a month. So I try to get people to understand what “basic needs” are verses leisure needs. And yes, a car and car insurance are a necessity to [help you] to get back and forward to work, but it does not overrule shelter, utilities and food.”