Lived experience: critics of shelters miss the point
Image by Wikimedia Commons
P. W. Robinson is a homeless advocate and was formerly homeless himself. He responds to the misguided criticism that some politicians (including SJ councilpeople) raise about shelters, while offering a clear-eyed perspective on why shelters may not be right—right now—for all our unhoused neighbors. From CalMatters.
For those who take a dim view of homeless shelters, I can only suggest they spend a night or two sleeping in alleys, under bridges or on freezing beaches, shivering and starving, with no bathroom facilities and predators of all kinds circling.
In the desperate journey of a homeless person, these shelters provide safety and the basic necessities of life. Since attaining housing is rightfully regarded by most as a pipedream, these shelters can also provide a sliver of hope to the hopeless.
In any decent shelter, a person is treated like a human being, often for the first time in many years. They suddenly have the dignity of running water, toilets, showers, food, mail, etc. If ever they might dare to hope again, that’s the time.
Go Deeper:
- Salvation Army on the role of shelters in a meaningful homelessness strategy
- SF hotels that took part in city's interim housing schemes got trashed, still closed awaiting millions in repairs
- Opinion on SJ homeless nonprofit flops: We don't just need “more shelters”—but better financed/managed shelters
Are these folks “service resistant” or are they just suffering?
In order to grade the quality of a shelter, we have to throw out stats like rate-of-housing, because shelters have no part in creating housing opportunities. Their housing estimates rely on the projections provided by housing authorities, developers and contractors. When new housing units fail to become available, no one can move out of a shelter. That is a system failure, not a shelter failure.
I was provided with a pipeline to housing, and eventually attained it. If I hadn’t had a place to sleep safely, send and receive mail, and eat and shower and advocate for myself, and get help from case managers, I might not be housed even today, a couple years later. That’s how shelters are supposed to work.
Read the whole thing here.
Follow Opportunity Now on Twitter @svopportunity
We prize letters from our thoughtful readers. Typed on a Smith Corona. Written in longhand on fine stationery. Scribbled on a napkin. Hey, even composed on email. Feel free to send your comments to us at opportunitynowsv@gmail.com or (snail mail) 1590 Calaveras Ave., SJ, CA 95126. Remember to be thoughtful and polite. We will post letters on an irregular basis on the main Opp Now site.