“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.”
Ms. Broxton says some people would make their car payments over other bills when they are experiencing financial hardship because most of the time you can get assistance with rent, mortgage and utilities. “When we do an intake and ask them what is the emergency or crisis in which you’re not able to pay the electric bill? The first thing they say is ‘Well, I had to pay my car note and insurance…” She says most agencies only fund basic survival needs and they do not see having a vehicle as basic necessity. She says utility companies are trying to help people during their hardships but people need to help themselves.
So why is it so hard for people to transition from homelessness into a stability situation? Ms. Mattie says part of it is the lack of education.
“I’m going to give you an example that I always use. “Mary” had her first baby when she is 14 or 15 and no one is there to mentor her at that place. So now “Mary” is in Oakwood Terrace [the projects]. Now she is 35 with five children. So “Mary” didn’t complete school and she isn’t reading at a level for herself to be able to help her children. “Mary” is frustrated, she really can’t help her children. So “Mary” either takes her frustrations out on her children or out on herself. [She does that by]…being with someone who doesn’t really love her and just wanted to get with her. And she do not hear what he is saying [to her]. “I want to get with you, he didn’t say he wanted to stay; and I love you and care about you and I want to take care of you. So,“Mary hasn’t dealt with her brokenness and so it’s a generational thing. And I tell people, I don’t believe in a “generational curse.” I now believe in “generational actions.”
When you are dealing with homelessness or a financial crisis sometimes it’s hard to overcome the challenges; but there is hope. Ms. Broxton says the Salvation Army has offered financial stability lifeskill classes since 2007. The Salvation Army brings in banking institution experts to help provide knowledge to those in need. She believes,“There is no excuses now because if you don’t know how to cook, you can learn how to cook and [we have] someone from a banking institution [that can teach you things].”
She says, “If you don’t have a relationship with your money, your money will leave and you wouldn’t know where it went. Poverty is more than financial. It’s mental, emotional, spiritual, physical and financial because you can have plenty of money and then commit suicide [like Robin Williams].
So if “poverty is more than financial” as Ms. Broxton puts it. Then what is a homeless person struggling with or lacking in their time of need? She tells me some people are homeless because they did not want to follow the rules, or they were not taught the basic survival skills of life, nor taught how to be financially prepared for their latter years of life.
Ms. Mattie says, “As a society we have a lot of work to do [because] some people have checked out on life and said it is what it is.”When I asked Ms. Broxton what should be done to help the homeless community? She gave me the least expected answer, which isn’t money. She gives me a short story and replies, “Again, the breakdown is at the home. The first teacher is at the house and then as you’re learning at home, you also learned at the church it was a big part of our lives.”
“You learn how to speak and those Easter and Christmas speeches go hand-and-hand when you have to stand before a crowd. Before you went to school you were taught at home and taught at church and then the school did their part. And then here comes life, so you were better prepared. But see, now the breakdown is at home and mom or dad is a single parent, she says.”
“But back in those days, when I grew up, there was always had a watchman. Somebody was watching the home. Kids could stay at home and you wouldn’t dare go across that yard. We don’t do community policing anymore. We don’t police our community to see who is in our area. We don’t get to know our neighbor, we don’t talk to our neighbor. We don’t watch for strange cars coming into our area or people that are walking around. And our seniors are like our forgotten children. We no longer value their wisdom. [We say] Oh, they are just nosey. They may be nosey, but I bet nobody would go into that house. But they are suffering and I think the pandemic has uncovered some things. And we’ve always known racism was there but it uncovered a lot more. We saw people in a different mental state and we knew something wasn’t right with them, but they were playing it cool. But isolation does something to people and again, how are you isolated when everybody in the world got a phone? Call up somebody. Just call up to the nearest laundromat or Walmart and just tell the people, I just want to call and see what y’all got on special today. So how do we get so isolated? Because we try to live on an island by ourselves, [saying] I don’t need nobody. But everybody needs somebody. And I think that’s the key to most homeless people. They want a hand out but not a hand up.”
Ms. Broxton sums homelessness up by saying, “Homelessness is a situation but if the mind of the person doesn’t change, then the situation isn’t going to change.