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Hope and dignity

Be The Change founder helps lead Oklahoma Citys homeless
population to hope and homes.

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Joey Stipek

March 25th, 2014

On a February morning, Jonathan Roberts braces himself, first for the freezing weather and
then for what he will encounter in a wooded area near northwest Oklahoma City. He is
headed for a homeless encampment created out of signs, shopping carts, beat-up tents and
whatever else can be reclaimed to provide warmth and shelter.
Roberts is executive director of Be The
Change, an OKC nonprofit that focuses on
w hat it calls marginalized citizens, including the
homeless. Outreach teams provide services
that include counseling for substance abuse
and mental illness. The program also
distributes food and directs people to agencies
that might be able to put a roof over their
heads.
W hat Roberts w ill encounter on this day are
tw o people tw o of an estimated 1,300
homeless Oklahoma City citizens w ho say
they are homeless by choice.
Even so, Roberts sees housing as a basic human right. I think everyone deserves shelter.
Everyone has the right to food and clothing, to be treated w ith dignity and respect, he said.
And until w e get to that point, w e w ill continue to have these issues.
Homeless by choice? The first person Roberts encounters is Terry, w ho said he has been
homeless for 15 years. Terry once w as neither homeless nor jobless. He w orked a 9-to-5 job
and paid his bills. He has a 9-year-old son in Florida.
They no longer communicate, Terry said,
because his ex-w ife has turned the child
against him.
Though he is w ithout w hat many w ould
consider a home a mailing address, indoor
plumbing, a heating system Terry does not
consider himself homeless.
Residentially challenged, housing impaired,
but homeless? That says I have now here to
lay dow n. Youve got four w alls and a roof, he
said, pointing to a blue-and-w hite tent
covered in dirt and snow . Thats a home.
Thats w here I go. But to say I am homeless has such a negative connotation to it. It puts such
a negative stereotype to it.
Terry said the Oklahoma City Police harass those living at the encampment and demand that

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they leave, usually w ithin 48 hours.

W here you do you go? he asked.
To raise cash, Terry dives inside Family Dollar dumpsters to scavenge metals and cans. On a
good day, he can resell the scrap for $20 to $30.
A good day for Terry is the company
of fellow encampment resident Monica, a drink of w hiskey and a w arm fire. The definition of a
bad day is being cold and w et w ith now here to go, no money and no w hiskey to drink.
Terrys hands are covered in black grime and lacerations from cutting w ires to scavenge in the
darkness. His hands cause him constant pain.
Terry w ont live in a shelter. At many, he said, the hosts serve up religion as they provide a meal
and a w arm, dry place to sleep.
I aint going to be force-fed the w ord of God, he said.
Terry said his lifestyle is his choice. W hen I read my declaration of independence, the
Constitution said I have the right to life, liberty and happiness, he said. I have the right to be
w ho I w ant to be. They choose to be president, they choose to be congressmen. How come I
cant be w ho I w ant to be? Roberts w alks over to check on a friend, Monica. A self-described
packrat, she points to the shopping carts and bags full of clothes stored inside her tent. Monica
says she, too, is homeless by choice going on three years.
Before that, Monica lived in an apartment w ith her boyfriend in OKC. She told her boyfriend she
could pull them both out of a bad financial situation if she became a prostitute.

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Monicas boyfriend died last year.
Both w ere addicts, she said, citing meth as her drug of choice. These days, she drinks w hiskey
w ith Terry.
Monica also collects metals and cans to scrap and sells marijuana, w hich she said a friend
supplies for her. On her good days, Monica makes $100 dollars selling pot, she said.
Excluding her stays in jail, Monica said she hasnt been clean and sober for nearly 40 years and
isnt sure w hat it w ould take for her to hit rock bottom.

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I lost my boyfriend, and I lost my daughter seven years ago, she said. It hasnt really
changed. I miss them, and it hurts. Maybe its the reason I continue to use.
Like Terry, Monica said she w ont seek shelter. She is not one to obey the rules or observe
curfew s, she said. How ever, she isnt against change.
W hen the day comes w here I decide to become clean and sober, Ill be OK w ith it, she said.
Maybe that day isnt so far off.
Roberts said in a recent follow -up interview that Monica asked him for a housing application,
saying she is trying to get sober.
Change and choices
As addicts and, in some w ays, social misfits, Monica and Terry may not seem sympathetic to
taxpaying citizens. Even so, they are w orth considering because their hardships exact a price
on those taxpayers. From 2009-2010, it cost $28.7 million a year to take care of Oklahoma
Citys homeless population, according to the latest figures available from the city.
Also, $14 million w as spent on law enforcement and emergency services, including ambulances
and the fire department; $2.6 million w as spent on emergency medical services and shelter
costs; and $160,000 alone w as spent on one
chronic homeless individual.
Out of 1,362 homeless people counted in a 2013
survey, 1,069 could be found in emergency
shelters and 293 w ere living unsheltered.
Roberts believes w hen people say
homelessness is their choice, its because they
feel like they have no other options.
W hen people say they dont w ant help, they
actually do w ant help, Roberts said, but only on
their terms. Roberts said outreach volunteers
consistently visit encampments and attempt to
build relationships to show people they have
alternatives.
Roberts said that providing shelter is the w ay to
go as people also have more ready access to
services. Those w ithout services often seek
emergency help, w hich is far more costly.
W hether its medical, police, w e get people on a

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daily basis w ho end up in detox because they

w ind up drunk in public, w hereas people w ith a
home, that is not going to happen, Roberts
said. We are spending more money as a city
and as a state than it w ould cost to house
every single homeless person in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma ranks 23rd overall in homelessness
by state, according to The State of Homelessness in America, a report published a year ago.
Roberts said w hile cities like New York have a larger homeless population than in Oklahoma
City, he believes its significant problem.
Help means more than just a roof
Roberts goal is to get homeless people like Monica and Terry into housing, regardless of their
addictions or possible mental health issues.
Its not just getting someone into housing, Roberts added. Its about helping them stay in
the housing in the long term.
Shelters, by definition, are temporary housing, and they have policies, as Monica and Terry
indicated, that make some people uncomfortable and less prone to w ork w ith the social service
system. A permanent home provides residents w ith a measure of autonomy. And even if they
continue to drink or take drugs, it provides some stability and makes it easier to introduce
better options, Roberts said.
Roberts understands Monica and Terrys struggles better than many.
He, too, struggled w ith alcoholism but has has been clean and sober for almost 10 years.
Roberts thinks that understanding his ow n experiences is an important part in w hat he does for
a living. Helping the homeless is not simply an economic issue; it comes it comes from a mix of
compassion and pragmatism.
Roberts lived in Kenya and w orked w ith children w ho suffered w ith HIV and AIDS and other
disabling conditions. W hen he returned to the U.S., he took a job w ith a local AIDS service
organization that provided case management and support for the homeless living w ith HIV.
Roberts and his friends started Be The Change in 2008.
One of our founding principles w as that w e w erent trying to reinvent the w heel, he said.
The aim is to fill gaps in services and provide support in the absence of other services.
Food is a good w ay to start the conversation w ith homeless people, Roberts said. The Regional
Food Bank of Oklahoma City provides food to Be The Change, w hich helps outreach w orkers
engage people in a conversation about their situations and how they can be changed.
Be The Change partners w ith 26 different agencies to provide everything from mental health
coverage and substance abuse recovery to legal aid to those w ho are homeless.

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