Mayors See Intolerance for Homeless

America’s tolerance for the hungry and homeless is declining as a growing needy population outstrips cities’ ability to help, the United States Conference of Mayors said today.

Its annual report of hunger and homelessness in 30 cities concluded that many people, irritated by panhandlers and despairing of a solution to what appears to be an intractable problem, are losing patience with the needs of the homeless.

“We as an American public don’t reach out to help one another like we used to,” Charlotte, N.C., Mayor Sue Myrick, co-chairwoman of the conference’s Task Force on Hunger and Homelessness, said at a news conference.

“We don’t share like we used to. We’ve become a very selfish nation.”

Boston Mayor Raymond L. Flynn, co-chairman of the task force, said volunteerism is frustrated by the government’s failure to deal with the increasing number of mentally ill on the streets and to provide adequate low-income housing.

“Volunteers are not going to be able to solve the problems of urban America. They cannot provide the medical care for mentally ill people. Volunteers cannot deal with the growing problem of infant mortality in our country. They can’t educate our troubled kids,” Flynn said.

Two-thirds of the 30 cities polled said public attitudes toward the needy had turned negative or were mixed. Nine cities have already taken such actions as keeping panhandlers out of subway stations in New York and prohibiting loitering in public places in Charleston, S.C.

“The NIMBY (not in my back yard) attitude is prevalent,” officials in Phoenix reported.

“A severe anti-homeless backlash has increased dramatically in the past year” due to violence, aggressive panhandling and misuse of parks involving the homeless, said officials from Santa Monica.

Almost all the cities surveyed said expanding programs to feed and shelter those in need fell short of the growing demand. Cities saw little hope for relief as the nation slid into recession, meaning more jobless and homeless and dwindling public funds to help them.

Requests for food aid were up 22% in 1990, while demand for emergency shelter increased by 24%, the survey found.

Meanwhile, emergency food resources were up 4%, and available shelter beds increased by 3%.