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Cole VanAmberg

Hayg Oshagan

Oral Communication: Basic Speech - Sec 501

4 April 2023

Expanding Public Space for the Homeless

Like many people my age who are beginning to learn how to support themselves

financially, and many of you as well, I work in the service industry. I am a barista at Starbucks. I

used to work right down the street at Woodward and Mack. If you have not heard, that location is

now closed. When I was told that I would have to transfer for safety reasons, it made me stop

and reflect about the type of people that come into a public place in Midtown, Detroit. As a

barista, I was no stranger to the homeless population, and I actually knew many of the people

who would come in by name. Unfortunately, these interactions are not always positive. As

corporate started to pay more attention to the reports that we filed, the policies on letting people

stand in the store became stricter. One morning, a homeless woman came in and asked to see my

supervisor, whom she knew by name. My supervisor was forced to tell her that if she was not

going to purchase anything, she had to leave. I was in the back room when I heard shouting and a

coworker defending my supervisor. All the other people on shift came into the back as well,

fearing for their safety. The woman only left upon one of my coworkers calling the police.

Although I was scared in that moment, I also couldn’t help but feel bad. Coffee shops are

supposed to be a place to hang out and chat. They should be open to anyone who wants to spend

their time there. It made me realize that nowadays, public spaces are quickly disappearing. There

are so few places that you can go without having to pay or justify your presence. This leaves
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many homeless people displaced, and that is exactly what I want to talk about today. I will argue

that public space needs to be expanded, and it can start by investing in those that already exist.

There is currently an increasing awareness of the homeless population in many major

cities. This is evidenced by the rise of complaints in regards to homeless people, whether it be

for loitering, disturbance, or trespassing.

*CHANGE SLIDE HERE*

According to a study published in the American Sociological Review, although the rate of

homelessness stays relatively constant, the rate at which complaints are filed against these people

has increased drastically. After these complaints are filed, what happens? In San Francisco, for

example, there is a section of the police force dedicated to dealing with these complaints.

However, there is not much that police can do to solve this problem on their own. More often

than not, all they can do is ask the homeless person to relocate. Even in the case of arrests, the

homeless person likely only stays detained up to 8 hours. This does nothing but shuffle homeless

people around the city, creating a cycle that is not only pointless, but actively detracts from local

law enforcement. If a person does not comply, they may be issued a citation, which may seem

meager to us as financially stable individuals, but to the homeless is a guarantee that they will

not make it out of poverty, making the problem worse rather than actually solving it. Although

some officers are trained to point homeless people in the direction of shelters or welfare, this

does no good if these places are understaffed, underfunded, and over capacity. This makes it

abundantly clear that with the expansion of public spaces, there would be less complaints filed,

less time wasted, and homeless people would have somewhere to relocate, even if only

temporarily.
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So what exactly would this public space look like? Well, it can be defined in 5

dimensions:

*CHANGE SLIDE HERE*

Inclusiveness, which includes access to the space and non-discriminatory policies; meaningful

activities, which means supporting activity and sociability in the space; comfort, both physical

and mental; safety, primarily physical safety but also the feeling of security; and pleasurability,

which is achieved by having more than one provided activity, and by having general spatial

quality. In other words, proper public spaces should work to address the needs and concerns of

the community. Despite homelessness being a very visible crisis, many homeless people

responded to a study published in the International Journal of Social Psychiatry that they felt

overlooked and lonely. This feeling is incredibly dehumanizing. Imagine being a person on the

streets just looking for someone to be genuine with you, but everyone that walks by simply

refuses to make eye contact. The social isolation that homeless people face can also lead to

physical and mental conditions deteriorating, adding insult to an already terrible situation.

Expanding public spaces in our communities would work to alleviate these issues by offering

shelter and safety to those without it, and engaging the general population. It would allow

homeless people to participate in community activities and increase their mental and social

well-being, which is extremely important. The best part is that we do not have to start from

scratch. These spaces already exist. One major player in this are public libraries.

You may wonder why I chose to talk about libraries instead of homeless shelters. This is

because the main goal of homeless shelters is to keep residents safe temporarily, rather than

looking to move them into secure, long-term housing or get them back on their feet. In addition,

many homeless shelters close during the day, once again displacing people out on the street. Not
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only that, but shelters are consistently underfunded, understaffed, and working to full capacity.

Informal attempts to connect with public libraries as an extension of homeless shelters have

already begun throughout the country. As libraries are open throughout the day, provide free

Internet, bathroom access, and a place to stay without requiring anything of the patron, it is a

logical counterpart and fulfills all of the criteria for a good public space. Homeless people need a

space to return to without fear. It is noted by shelter staff that when they leave for the day, they

are often going back to high-risk environments. Libraries are one of the few places that these

people can go, yet they are also faced with the issues of running limited hours and with low

funding. That is where we must come in as a community. I ask that you pay attention when your

local library asks for more funding. Participate in programs put on by your community. We all

thrive when we show that we value these spaces. I want to ask you to volunteer at a soup kitchen.

I want to tell you to donate to homeless charities, and I desperately want you to go to your local

government meetings and bring these issues up, but I know that that is unrealistic. It’s a lot to ask

of anyone, especially students who are involved in so much already. However, you go to school

in a city that has a huge homeless population. So what I am actually going to ask you is this: next

time you are approached by someone asking for money, if you feel safe, engage with them. Give

them a kind word. Acknowledge their existence.

*CHANGE SLIDE HERE*

“I mean, just put yourself in our shoes. Think about, I mean, actually think about how hard it

would be to be out here… People don’t think about when it rains. People don’t think about it

when it snows. People don’t think about that.” The problem and solution is right in front of us.

*CHANGE SLIDE HERE*

You just have to look around.

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Works Cited

Herring, Chris. "Complaint-Oriented Policing: Regulating Homelessness in Public Space."

American Sociological Review, vol. 84, no. 5, 2019, pp. 769–800. JSTOR,

https://www.jstor.org/stable/48602115. Accessed 1 Apr. 2023.

Hodgetts, Darrin, et al. "A Trip to the Library: Homelessness and Social Inclusion." Social &

Cultural Geography, vol. 9, no. 8, Dec. 2008, pp. 933–53. EBSCOhost,

https://doi.org/10.1080/14649360802441432. Accessed 31 Mar. 2023.

Mark A. Giesler (2019). "The Collaboration Between Homeless Shelters and Public Libraries in

Addressing Homelessness: A Multiple Case Study." Journal of Library Administration,

59:1, 18-44, DOI: 10.1080/01930826.2018.1549405. Accessed 31 Mar. 2023.

Mehta, Vikas. "Evaluating Public Space." Journal of Urban Design, vol. 19, no. 1, Jan. 2014, pp.

53–88. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1080/13574809.2013.854698. Accessed 1 Apr.

2023.

Tate A, Edwards K, Holmes N, et al. "'Even a smile helps': Exploring the interactions between

people experiencing homelessness and passersby in public spaces." International Journal

of Social Psychiatry, 2022;68(3):525-532. doi:10.1177/0020764021989385. Accessed 31

Mar. 2023.