“Real change, not spare change”

I think a perfect example of this, is a facility that I am familiar with in Colorado. I can’t speak for what it may stand for today, as the founder passed away in 2013 and sometimes vision leaves with those whose eyes and mind saw, but as best I can tell through my research and from hearing others speak about him, Bob Cote was a man beaten down by substance abuse and homelessness, also believing that you can’t coddle the homeless into rebuilding their lives.

More “mantra” than “slogan”, Mr. Cote’s words to describe how the homeless needed to be treated were tied together in one small sentence, “A hand up, not a hand out.” The philosophy was simple, "Work works" – whereby residents are required to pay rent and be employed – received accolades from the Wall Street Journal to Readers Digest. A place to live, three meals a day, job training. In the beginning, the road to change might have looked something like this — making coffee in the morning and the responsibilities grew from there. As long as a man continued to progress, Bob continued to help. But stop working and Bob gave his aid to the next guy.

Bob Cote’s short road to homelessness

Bob grew up in Detroit, MI, and was a well-known boxer, after deciding it was time to move on, he headed to Denver, and it was during this time where addiction took hold of Bob and would chart a different course for his life -- a course marked by adversity and, ultimately, triumph.

Consumed by his addiction, this former Golden Gloves boxer wound up homeless, living on the streets homeless, far from the streets in Detroit where he was making a name for himself boxing. In a moment of clarity he saw the demise and occasional death of other homeless addicts. Bob knew he might suffer the same fate so he emptied his bottle to become and remain sober. He would recruit others in his effort to help homeless addicts gain their sobriety which led to his founding of Step 13.

Coté rejected any government funding for Step 13 declaring taxpayer dollars enabled non-profits to become addicted to government money and were unnecessary to run an effective program.

President George H.W. Bush designated Step 13 one of his "Thousand Points of Light." ABC's 20/20 and John Stossel featured Bob and the simple, yet effective approach to helping residents become sober and self-reliant.

Bob parlayed this recognition into tackling an issue near to his heart: Reforming Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Bob witnessed firsthand the devastating effect SSI had on the homeless: Individuals receiving SSI – originally designed to help those with disabilities – were using their checks to purchase drugs and alcohol. His outspoken passion caught the attention of then-Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, who tapped Bob to lobby Congress and successfully incorporate changes to SSI under the Welfare Reform Act of 1996. [1]

Bob’s “hand-up” was his program that didn’t exist, or if it did, it just hadn’t made its way to Colorado. What Bob Cote saw, was the homeless being given hand-outs. He had a program for his clients to bring them back to functioning lives by steadily adding work responsibilities.

Residents were required to labor (work) to earn their keep. The hundred or so men (It was, and still is, a men’s only facility / peer recovery program) who occupy the building at any one time pay rent for their rooms, which increase in comfort and luxury as the tenants proved their personal advancement to Cote.

So, as you can see. That was one example of a program for the homeless that didn’t involve peppering the homeless with “gifts” — a free lunch, and no road to recovery.

There is another program in Boulder, Colorado that shares some of the same thinking, the Bridge House, Ready to Work program in Boulder. That program for the homeless and working poor has a more guided approach.

In Mr. Cote’s program, the homeless had a strict “if you don’t like it, leave” house rule that governed nearly any situation where a resident would challenge the program.

Drug tests were random using a “lottery-type” system, making it harder to game. As a Case Manager of the Ready to Work program often says (paraphrasing), “Let’s be real, someone who is an alcoholic or drug user WILL FIND a way to get their drug — and that takes quite a bit of intelligence to do that sometimes, the odds are seemingly insurmountable — just think of all the crazy ways you know about where addicts have overcome impossible odds to get their substance, be it alcohol or drug.” Alcoholics (in Step 13) were required to go on antabuse, a drug that makes residents feel extremely sick if any alcohol touches them — even a “honey bun” has the potential to make you blow-positive on a breathalyzer test.

Antabuse The reaction is so unpleasant that most users would rather abstain from drinking than feel profoundly sick. In addition, the drug stays in the body for up to two weeks, making the alcoholic sick all over again anytime he or she consumes any alcohol during that period. The entire Step 13 facility has non-alcoholic hand sanitizers, non-alcoholic mouthwash (only) is permitted, any little bit of alcohol, can mean more suffering than a hangover. [2]

Step 13

Slip up and you get punished, also known as one-and-done . Their answer: If you don't like it -- you can leave.

. Their answer: Residents pay rent for their military-squad-bay-type beds, which can be exchanged for a room when personal and program advancements are met. This is a form of encouragement and morale builder. Their answer: If you don't like it -- you can leave.

Was 2-years in length, but is currently 1-year in program length (2016).

In contrast…

Bridge House, Ready to Work

Doesn’t believe in the one-and-done philosophy. The way this is successfully incorporated into their program is by looking at the gamut of causes for the slip, while finding a road to recovery that incorporates the causes and solutions into the program, because a large percentage of the homeless nationwide is due to “mental illness”. Why would you throw a person struggling with their brain chemistry adjustments and they get time under their belt for sobriety into a cold and unforgiving winter? A large percentage of those homeless are military veterans, as well as those suffering from domestic abuse, extreme health conditions, depression or various mental illnesses and you may be the last place they can turn to before they decide to “check-out” from life.

Doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all program, as every resident and program participant is considered “unique” in their needs/requirements to move away homelessness, substance abuse, incarceration, and so forth.

Doesn’t limit residency/program participation by gender.

Doesn’t limit residency/program participation by duration. Some graduate earlier, some graduate later. This is where the needs analysis during internship and the assessment for program acceptance works in the program’s favor.

Uses the “Housing First” concept. This is where a program gets it’s complete edge for exactly what you asked: Is giving to the homeless and beggars always a good thing or will it encourage them to not change their lives?

Is giving to the homeless and beggars always a good thing or will it encourage them to not change their lives? The philosophies of empowerment, understanding, recovery, and life-building are the core of many programs, especially the Bridge House, Ready to Work program whose goal is set in stone, to make sure you get a home at the end of your 1-year in their program — Step 13 has no transitional residency program, which means when you walk out of their doors onto the streets of the Larimer bar district — you’re on your own.

Footnotes

[1] Robert Coté's Obituary on Denver Post

[2] Antabuse by John Russell Burgreen III on Resources and Definitions