Barrow: Stop punishing the poor — even when they work for you

In his recent San José Spotlight op-ed, HomeFirst CEO René Ramirez wrote, “Punishing people for being poor will not make tents disappear.”

He’s right. But poverty isn’t only punished by cities or police. It’s punished inside the very systems that claim to be fighting it.

I know because I used to work for HomeFirst. During that time, I had to call 211 for housing assistance because my paycheck wasn’t enough to cover rent and bills. HomeFirst employees can’t access their own programs, so I had to explain to a stranger that I worked in homeless services but needed help myself. The operator said, “Yeah… you’re definitely not the first.”

That moment told me everything. The people doing the work are oftentimes just as poor and exhausted as the people they serve.

How do you expect staff to sh