Ready, Willing & Able | The Doe Fund

The only way to read the decision is that work is bad for able-bodied, able-minded homeless people. So what should I do with the almost 300 men in Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, who are required to work for a decent wage in exchange for staying in one of our residences? Do I fire them? I can picture it now:

"Thank you all for coming on short notice. I know we brought everyone in from the field, from the upper East Side to the upper West Side, where you work at no charge to taxpayers to keep the city's streets clean. "I have some bad news - although for members of the Coalition for the Homeless, it's good news. You all have to turn in your blue uniform with the American flag on the sleeve, your cleaning equipment and your trainee's identification card. We are no longer going to require you to work. We are no longer going to pay you. We are no longer going to require that you save every month, and, of course, we won't match your savings dollar for dollar anymore."

Many of the men will be stunned. "George, what are you talking about?" one will demand.

"You are socially dysfunctional," I'll respond. "Let me read to you from an opinion handed down last week by Justice Sklar, who ruled that the city is not allowed to require capable homeless individuals to work, as we do here. Here's how he defines what you have: 'A type of dysfunction, which is distinct from mental or physical impairment, and which renders a person socially dysfunctional - i.e., impaired, in his or her ability to act correctly, or in his or her best interests in society.'"

"But George," someone will protest. "We were all socially dysfunctional. I used to rob people." "And I was a heroin addict," another will say. "For me, it was crack," a third will chime in. "I once sat on a subway track, ready to commit suicide!" a man whom I've especially come to admire will add. "And we all lived on the streets for months, some of us years!"

Then another man will shout out, "George, it was work that made us functional! It was everyone at Ready, Willing & Able who respected us enough to tell us to get off drugs and get up every morning and get to work. It was the chance to hold a paycheck in our hands, something most of us hadn't held for years.

"It was having enough money to finally take our son or daughter to the movies or the zoo. It was the chance to go to the upper East Side in a sharp blue uniform and see the rich people smile at us, even say hello, instead of turning their eyes from us like we're a disease. It was work that did all that."

Then I'll reply, "Stanley Sklar says you don't know what you're talking about. And that's justice."

-- McDonald is the founder and president of The Doe Fund, which operates Ready, Willing & Able, a work and residential program for homeless individuals.