Senior Displacement:

How to Prevent Displacement

and/or Transition Successfully if

Displacement Occurs

Presenter:Lynn Alexander

"Understanding the link between health, housing

and homelessness in Detroit, Michigan: Findings from Qualitative Research."

Tam E. Perry

June 5, 2015

Fudan University,

Shanghai China

Research Focus

Housing transitions and Older Adults

Homelessness

Interest One: Concerns of Homelessness

• Research Question: How do men experiencing homelessness

after the death of a parent navigate survival in Detroit?

• Methods:

• Qualitative Interviews

• Service Providers: n=5

• Men experiencing homelessness: n=5 (total expected: n=10)

• Data Analysis

• Independent review of interviews

• Collaborative discussion of key themes

Detroit

File:Detroit, USA Taken From Windsor, Canada.jpg

Uploaded by Haljackey

Detroit

"http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/AbandonedHouseDelray.jpg/193px-AbandonedHouseDelray.jpg

"ThompsonHome" by Andrew Jameson at en.wikipedia. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org

Detroit

Shrinking city???

In what ways???

Surviving In DetroitMen experiencing homelessness after

the death of a parent

Collaborators

• Tam E. Perry, Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work

• Justin Petrusak, LMSW – Macro and Clinical, Program Manager

with Neighborhood Service Organization’s Tumaini Center

• Luke Hassevoort, MSW Graduate Research Assistant

• Thank you to the Humanities Center for sponsoring this project!

• Thank you to the Study Participants!

Background

“Usually there’s been some kind of trauma, traumatic event that leads to [homelessness]. Whether it be issues with family, um, one

person told me about how his mom died when he was young and he just kept bouncing around different family members’ houses

through his whole life since he was young. He talked about how he never really had a stable environment.” – Case Manager

Identity

Identity: Restoring Documents

• State ID Card, Birth Certificate, Marriage License, School Records, etc.

• Who has the power to legitimize identity?

“… once you get that stuff restored it feels so good. Like, you know if it’s lost, I remember times losing my ID and once I finally found a place, a shelter, somewhere I knew was gonna’ be permanent for a minute, then I would restore my items and keep ‘em…. Yeah, it felt good, ‘cause there’s no worse feeling than walking around with nothing stating who you are. We’ve had consumers tell us ‘I haven’t had an ID in 20 years!’” – Peer Support Specialist

Identity: Possessions

“I’ve never seen a homeless person with a file cabinet.” – Case Manager

“It might be all they really have left in their life. You know, it might hold some sentimental emotional value, it might be something that was given to them maybe… then you can’t keep it so might start feeling more low, more down, more depressed.” – Case Manager

Identity

“I see a lot of people think it defines who they are. Like, whoever they were before they got here, they don’t feel like that person anymore. So, maybe they were a mom, or a student, or an employee, you know. It’s like those things no longer apply to them and they define themselves as being homeless. And I hope that that goes away after they’re housed, but I don’t know if it does.” – Case Manager

Survival

Survival: Be(com)ing Homeless

“Major belongings would just be left. Just grab the clothes that you can, and maybe a few keepsake items, and maybe a few important documents and that’s it. Just walk away from everything. You kinda’ have to start over.” – Peer Support Specialist

“It may be a cultural shock… they have to sit next to a guy with bugs on him, they have to endure the smell, the odors. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the shower, it’s not too inviting.” – Peer Support Specialist

Survival: Be(com)ing Homeless

“So, there might be times when somebody comes in and they’re looking a certain way, and that’ll catch [a business owner’s] attention, ‘Oh you can’t come in here, you can’t do that here, we know what you’re doing.’ And other times they’re so busy they don’t see you come in, those are the times I usually tried to catch ‘em.” – Peer Support Specialist

Survivors: Be(com)ing Formerly Homeless

“They’ll be smiling, excited, jumping around, and sometimes dancing. Just like, ‘Yeah, I’m getting my place!’” – Case Manager

“It’s like those things no longer apply to them and they define themselves as being homeless. And I hope that that goes away after they’re housed, but I don’t know if it does.” – Case Manager

Survival

What do people do while waiting?

Interest Two: Concerns of Housing

• Understand experiences of moving among African Americans in Detroit

• Understand concerns of involuntary relocation due to development

Acknowledgements

Study Participants

Study Mentors:

Dr. Letha Chadiha, University of Michigan School of Social Work

Dr. Cathy Lysack, Wayne State University Institute of Gerontology

Research Assistants

Dimensions to Residential Moves

Meaning of Home and

Possessions

Triggers (Voluntary vs.

Involuntary nature of

move)

Reasons for moving:

amenities, near family, need care

Contexts for involuntary

moves: natural disaster, closing of facilities

Processes: Older Adult &

Kin

Study Context

• Detroit, Michigan

• 701,475 people

• 11.5% over 65

• 82.7% Black or African Americans

Narratives

Narratives of Loss

Eve:

But I didn’t have the money, and I had to go along with all the programs that was goin’ on, it was very stressful, I cried many a night, you know, I watched friends die, you know because they didn’t wanna move, and I watched this one lady just… sat, day by day, I watched her deteriorate, and we couldn't get her out of that depression…you know what I'm saying, It's like she just gave up, she said ‘I’m gonna die here, I don’t wanna move,…

Narratives of Loss

Narratives of Gain

Wendy: the area was rather depressing…okay a lot of uh burnt out uh houses, um you had uh packs of dogs, I mean rockwilders (sic) and pit bulls that ran in packs so when I left out in the morning it’s like I’m checkin’to see if any dogs. In fact, there were only 8 houses on the block where I lived, you know.

Researcher:and if you could approximate, like, how many houses would that…if it was full, would fit on that block?

Wendy: oh, a good 30.

…I bought a rub board and I would wash them out in the bathtub and hang them up so I didn’t have to take them downstairs to wash.

Narratives of Gain

ADVOCACY

SHP – DETROIT is a coalition of organizations and individuals who are dedicated to the preservation of

affordable senior living in Detroit. Known for advocacy, the members of SHP-DETROIT have come together

to increase awareness as to the displacement of Detroit seniors and to communicate the need for action to

protect their rights and well-being.

TRACKING PROJECT

Relocation Amidst Revitalization: Recreating Social Worlds

for Older Adults

Tracking residents (Post-move)

Change AGEnts

Initiative (John A. Hartford

Foundation)

Partners in Research

(CBPR)

Student Involvement

(Team Ethnography)

Next Steps:

In-process Relocation Adding biomarkers Testing Assessment Tool

How do we support older adults in residential transition if they need to move?

How do we plan and build housing choices for those across socioeconomic spectrums?

Thank you. Any questions/comments?

To Follow This Research:Click here: The Relocation Lab (therelocationlab.com)

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