Hogares sin Barreras Celebrates 12 Years of Struggle
Today, even cultures that contain strong safety nets for preventing homelessness are finding that more and more people are slipping through cracks in the structures of family, community, and faith that used to protect them and finding themselves on the streets. And when individuals from such a culture come to this country lacking even the benefit of language skills to help them navigate the perilous shoals of our more socially indifferent culture, they are likely to find themselves truly at sea.
Twelve years ago, a group of such people came together in a San Francisco shelter to try to improve their lives and the lives of others like them. The resulting organization, Hogares sin Barreras, quickly became a strong element of the San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness. Its goal: to mitigate the lack of support and services for Latino immigrants, fight legislation designed to further marginalize these people, and provide a point of entry into life in the City for those who would otherwise find themselves unable to bridge the gap between cultures.
A Spanish Lesson for Our Times
In fact, a brief examination of the names of the two groups of which we are speaking provides an interesting object lesson in the nature of this gap:
Hogares sin Barreras becomes, in English, Housing Not Borders, or, more literally yet, “Housing Without Barriers”—a construction that works beautifully to capture two problematic aspects of the Latino immigrant experience of the United States.
In contrast, translating Coalition on Homelessness into Spanish proves surprisingly difficult—or rather, appropriately conveying the concept of “homelessness” in the Spanish language is not nearly as simple as it might seem. Because, when you think about it, “sin casa”—literally, “without house”—is simply not at all descriptive of the shared experience of life as it is lived by the growing numbers of people of every cultural background on the streets of this country today.
That’s probably the rationale behind the formulation actually used by the folk at Hogares when speaking of the Coalition as a whole: “la Coalicion de Desamparados de San Francisco.” Because when you look closely at the definition of the word “desamparado” in a Spanish-English dictionary, you discover the same kind of fine shades of meaning that come through in the group’s name for itself.
Desamparado adjectivo
[persona] helpless, defenseless
[lugar (place)] exposed
Clearly, the experience of feeling helpless and defenseless—not to mention the addition of exposure to the elements, as well as to the potentially censorious eyes of the public at large—captures the essence of homelessness in America far more accurately (not to mention, more evocatively) than that of simply lacking a roof over one’s head.
Think about it.
La Fiesta (y el segundo lección en Español)
Last month’s highly successful Hogares fundraiser, 12 Años de Lucha, was a moving testament to the work of this organization. (Incidentally, it also offers another useful language lesson. The “12 Years” part is straightforward, of course. But it just so happens that Lucha is another one of those Spanish words that offers the would-be translator at least two interesting shades of meaning. More specifically, a quick return visit to the Spanish-English dictionary yields the finding that the word lucha can be used to signify either “fight” or “struggle”—another amazingly apt achievement at capturing the nature of the Coalition’s work in general and the work of Hogares Sin Barreras in particular.)
Held August 21 at the Mission District’s Capp Community Center, this event featured everything from salsa dancing lessons to skits spotlighting various elements of the immigrant experience to impassioned speeches about the need for international community in the face of governmental indifference to the plight of individuals.
In fact, the evening offered a heartwarming glimpse of what such community could look like. There were smiles on the faces of all the attendees, from the tiniest niños in arms to a duo of giggling, singing, and dancing teen heartthrobs of mañana to the scores of proud parents and other adults enjoying the dinner and subsequent dancing.
As happy as the occasion was, though, there was a somber context. True, the fiesta marked a milestone of achievement, but it also reflected the need for redoubled effort in the face of today’s increasingly grim socioeconomic realities; it was designed as a fundraiser to help line the much-depleted coffers of the Coalition on Homelessness, thus ensuring that Hogares and other Coalition projects can continue to do much-needed work.
Hogares Sin Barreras Overview
Hogares Sin Barreras, Housing Not Borders, works to defend the rights of homeless and poor immigrants in San Francisco and to fight for social and economic justice with the help of community organizations and legal and social agencies. The group works in four fundamental areas:
- Outreach
- Community organization and
- defense of civil rights
- Political education
- Training/workshops
Outreach
Outreach forms the basis of Hogares activities. Through outreach in the streets, shelters, and a variety of social agencies, the group is able to stay on top of the current difficulties experienced by its community, provide information about its offerings to people in need of them, and, in general, inform Latino homeless people of their rights. Outreach also provides an opportunity for members of the community to become personally involved in carrying on and extending Hogares’ efforts.
Community Organization and Civil Rights Defense
Hogares helps its constituent community to organize in defense of its rights, tackling a variety of governmental agencies and policies that negatively impact the lives of homeless and poor Latinos.
Political Education
Believing that political awareness is a key to self-determination, Hogares holds monthly educational sessions that cover not only the experience of Latino immigrants in the United States, but also the prevailing politics and current socioeconomic situations facing those still living in Latin America.
Workshops/Training
Hogares shares its knowledge of immigrants’ rights and relevant workings of the legal system as a whole with its constituents through a variety of educational offerings. These sessions provide an important forum, allowing older, more experienced members of the Latino community to share their acquired knowledge and wisdom with more recent immigrants.
In addition to its efforts on behalf of the immigrant community at large, Hogares provides more personal assistance in the form of needed letters of reference and homeless certifications. The group also offers assistance in finding housing, as well as follow-up to ensure that the transition from the streets to live under a roof is a smooth and lasting one.
Anne