Don't know about LA but there are homeless shelters in many places that only shelter a specific kind of homeless, like, men-only or women-only, so if you are a homeless family you are fucked.
Also, a lot of shelters are night-only. You can’t stay there in the day or something.
Also, in my city, "we tried to house them" tends to mean "we gave them the phone number to get added to the shelter waitlists, all the shelters are full"
Yeah. A lot of them also are like, basically just a closet, you can only stay in it for a month, don't even have a bathroom...
When the complaint is "the homeless people take up too much space" as it is here, giving them a "home" they can only bring a single garbage bag full of stuff to isn't an answer, especially when "buy back all the shit you had to throw out" is something they, by definition, can't do.
Invariably, people crying about the homeless just don't get the reality of the situation, once had some dude strung out of his mind on drugs - the only real way to temporarily escape the misery that is being homeless - act weird around them that one time.
Also if there aren't assurances of privacy and security (or even with them), I bet undocumented homeless/unhoused people or runaway kids are probably keen to avoid government-affiliated shelters.
And it's worth noting that many night only facilities aren't reliable as shelters because you can't reserve spots. They'll kick you out at 5:30, even in the middle of winter, and then you need to wait in line every night to get back in and hope they don't fill up or decide that they don't like you.
Yeah I’m interested in this too. My understanding was that LA was doing a better job than your average American city that just uses shelters - they actually were trying to provide housing. LA is a wretched shit lib place, but better than the vast majority of American cities if they actually made an effort at housing rather than sheltering. there must be more to the story
The city handed a homeless man the deed to a million dollar single family home in LA county, and he said "no thanks, I prefer my leaky tent because it'll really piss off some redditors".
"it's not the city's fault some homeless people refused shelter and chose to stay homeless"
:doubt: I wonder what the real story is
Don't know about LA but there are homeless shelters in many places that only shelter a specific kind of homeless, like, men-only or women-only, so if you are a homeless family you are fucked.
Also, a lot of shelters are night-only. You can’t stay there in the day or something.
Also, in my city, "we tried to house them" tends to mean "we gave them the phone number to get added to the shelter waitlists, all the shelters are full"
Most shelters or hotels offered during Covid don't allow unhoused to bring pets. Many have strict no alcohol/drug policies, and strict curfews.
There is a dehumanizing aspect that prevents full use.
Yeah. A lot of them also are like, basically just a closet, you can only stay in it for a month, don't even have a bathroom...
When the complaint is "the homeless people take up too much space" as it is here, giving them a "home" they can only bring a single garbage bag full of stuff to isn't an answer, especially when "buy back all the shit you had to throw out" is something they, by definition, can't do.
Invariably, people crying about the homeless just don't get the reality of the situation, once had some dude strung out of his mind on drugs - the only real way to temporarily escape the misery that is being homeless - act weird around them that one time.
Also if there aren't assurances of privacy and security (or even with them), I bet undocumented homeless/unhoused people or runaway kids are probably keen to avoid government-affiliated shelters.
Also, a lot of shelters are night-only. You can't stay there in the day or something.
Lots of shelters are more dangerous than being in the street IME
Fuck
And it's worth noting that many night only facilities aren't reliable as shelters because you can't reserve spots. They'll kick you out at 5:30, even in the middle of winter, and then you need to wait in line every night to get back in and hope they don't fill up or decide that they don't like you.
Ah, great strategy really, they are clearly trying to solve homelessness
Yeah I’m interested in this too. My understanding was that LA was doing a better job than your average American city that just uses shelters - they actually were trying to provide housing. LA is a wretched shit lib place, but better than the vast majority of American cities if they actually made an effort at housing rather than sheltering. there must be more to the story
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Oh so the city provided homes for free to them?
The city handed a homeless man the deed to a million dollar single family home in LA county, and he said "no thanks, I prefer my leaky tent because it'll really piss off some redditors".
I've talked to homeless people who "refuse shelter" heres a few reasons why:
Shelters are a good place to get assaulted, especially for women.
Shelters are a good place to get robbed.
you have to pray to eat in many
you lose a lot of autonomy
you can't shoot up
they're crowded, and if you're mentally ill, that can be terrifying.
there's a long wait for maybe not getting a bed, and then you're stuck downtown
they're surveilled, and therefore potential routes into prison
camps are communities with job leads, mutual aid, friends. Shelters are collections of strangers.
Also, "offering shelter" isn't the city giving you a room, it's a flier with a list of shelters to call.