WHO'S REALLY HOMELESS?
Southern Nevada's homeless committee is going to extraordinary measures to beef up the numbers
BY HEIDI HARRIS

Heidi Harris frequently appears on Fox News Live and Fox News Live Weekend. Look for her soon-to-debut radio show in Las Vegas soon. Visit her website www.heidiharris.com. Other stories by Heidi Harris

The look in her eyes is something hard to describe. Crazy? Desperate? Who knows? What I do know is she appears out of nowhere on East Sahara Avenue, walking aimlessly between cars, using a hand-to-mouth gesture to indicate hunger. Her tattered clothing and filthy appearance makes her the poster child for homelessness. What I feel is not disgust, but curiosity. How did she wind up begging on Sahara, and what if anything can be done for people like her? 

Conservatives are often accused of ignoring the "homeless problem," but nothing could be further from the truth. Where conservatives and liberals part company is in their approach to the problem of homelessness. Conservatives want solutions to implement change, and aren't satisfied by programs that provide unlimited "funding" or "housing," which only perpetuates the problem. The homeless industry focuses on rhetoric; we're focused on reality.

Depending on whose statistics you believe, there are upwards of 15,000 homeless people in Nevada, but how many are really homeless? The Southern Nevada Regional Planning Commission's Committee on Homelessness will be conducting a new count this month. Needing large numbers to justify their existence, the Committee is going to extraordinary lengths to find the "homeless" this time. 

Not satisfied with the usual headcount under the overpass, they're planning to include inmates and even (by telephone survey) people who are living with others because they can't afford their own places! 

Attention all 19-year-olds still living at home - you're homeless! 

If homeless advocates want to create sympathy, they're going to have to be honest about who's really homeless and why. A grievous example occurred in a Dec. 19 article in USA Today, which carried the headline "Homelessness catches families even amid affluence." The headline sounds like a line from a John Edwards' "Two Americas" speech. The sympathetic article chronicles a homeless mother's difficult life in a shelter. We learn of her long day which begins at 3:45 a.m., when she gets ready for work. At 5 a.m., she wakes the kids to get them ready for the bus, etc. Sounds like a tough life. 

Statistics about homeless families are cited, along with stats on the lack of government programs and housing for the homeless (of course). Everything is mentioned except the reason she's homeless. We have to read 16 paragraphs before we are told that she's a never-married, high school dropout with 6 illegitimate kids. Six! If the woman quadrupled her income, she would still be poor, and always will be. How many times do I have to say it? Illegitimacy is the top cause of poverty. When are news outlets going to be honest about the situation? 

When homeless advocates warn that most of us are "only a paycheck away" from being on the streets, that's an absolute lie. Responsible working people generally have a network of family and friends who could lend assistance if there truly were an emergency in a person's life. It's a funny thing about responsible people - they don't tend to have a lot of those "emergencies." 

Except for the mentally ill, people who are chronically homeless are there for one simple reason: they refuse to follow the rules the rest of us do in order to live indoors. 

If you're homeless because you're chemically dependent, an unwed parent with no job skills, or just generally lazy, I'm sorry, but you've put yourself there, and you shouldn't be included in any homeless head count. Frankly I'm getting a little tired of all the phony sob stories designed to make me feel guilty. Let's do an accurate count of the homeless. We'll include only the mentally ill and those who need emergency shelter. Let's get real: the guys living under the overpass know where the booze, the cardboard and the homeless shelter can be found. They choose not to avail themselves of a bed if it means leaving their chemicals behind. 

Every television or print story about homelessness should include a stern warning about behaviors that lead to a life on the streets. Stay in school, stay off drugs, don't have kids before you're married and your chances of winding up homeless are virtually nil. Everyone (except homeless advocates) knows this. Denial will not solve the problem. 

If the homeless industry wants to really make a difference, and bring legitimacy to their cause, they'll have to finally be honest in identifying the sources of the problem and hold people accountable for their decisions. LW