San Francisco spends (very roughly) $100,000 a year per homeless person and that doesn’t “end homelessness” there. It doesn’t even come close. These dollar estimates are all unrealistic because the issue is generally not that there’s insufficient funding. It’s that the sort of person who is homeless long-term is often not the sort of person who would want to be housed in any housing that the government could reasonably provide.
Here in NYC there was controversy because the city government was telling some homeless people that they could choose between going to a shelter or being arrested but they couldn’t remain camped where they were. If you want to end homelessness, you can’t just build housing. You have to force these homeless people to live in it. Are you willing to do that?
Shelters are not housing. Shelters are routinely abusive to homeless people. It is not at all surprising that they would resist going there instead of being able to camp near services or jobs.
the sort of housing that government could relatively provide.
The sort of housing the government is willing to provide.
choose between going to a shelter or being arrested but they couldn’t remain camping
Given the a choice between restricted temporary housing or imprisonment, it’s no wonder someone would choose independent living on one’s own terms. People need support for independent living not being forced into a soulless shelter room shared with strangers and a dictated schedule, where they can’t bring their children, pets, or dependent substances. It’s the same reason folks dread being shuttled off to a nursing home.
Yeah. What I do when I’m out walking downtown, I carry a special measuring stick. Just wave it near a homeless person to calculate the value of their life. It’s the basic version, so it’s missing the autoeuthanize features, but it does make me feel better about myself just to have it.
There are actually two separate homeless issues. The first is a lack of services for people who just need a little help getting back on their feet. In this case, temporary housing is a way to treat the issue.
But, the second homeless issue is way more complex. The chronically homeless aren’t just people who are down on their luck. They’re people with severe mental illness, drug addiction, or both. Some people straight up don’t want to be part of society at all. For those people, throwing housing at them isn’t going to be an end to their situation.
San Francisco spends (very roughly) $100,000 a year per homeless person and that doesn’t “end homelessness” there. It doesn’t even come close. These dollar estimates are all unrealistic because the issue is generally not that there’s insufficient funding. It’s that the sort of person who is homeless long-term is often not the sort of person who would want to be housed in any housing that the government could reasonably provide.
Here in NYC there was controversy because the city government was telling some homeless people that they could choose between going to a shelter or being arrested but they couldn’t remain camped where they were. If you want to end homelessness, you can’t just build housing. You have to force these homeless people to live in it. Are you willing to do that?
Shelters are not housing. Shelters are routinely abusive to homeless people. It is not at all surprising that they would resist going there instead of being able to camp near services or jobs.
The sort of housing the government is willing to provide.
Given the a choice between restricted temporary housing or imprisonment, it’s no wonder someone would choose independent living on one’s own terms. People need support for independent living not being forced into a soulless shelter room shared with strangers and a dictated schedule, where they can’t bring their children, pets, or dependent substances. It’s the same reason folks dread being shuttled off to a nursing home.
Be careful. Lemmy hates it when you point out that not all homeless people are those temporarily down on their luck.
Yeah. What I do when I’m out walking downtown, I carry a special measuring stick. Just wave it near a homeless person to calculate the value of their life. It’s the basic version, so it’s missing the autoeuthanize features, but it does make me feel better about myself just to have it.
I have no idea what you’re talking about.
There are actually two separate homeless issues. The first is a lack of services for people who just need a little help getting back on their feet. In this case, temporary housing is a way to treat the issue.
But, the second homeless issue is way more complex. The chronically homeless aren’t just people who are down on their luck. They’re people with severe mental illness, drug addiction, or both. Some people straight up don’t want to be part of society at all. For those people, throwing housing at them isn’t going to be an end to their situation.