Robert raises an excellent point. Homeless people are just as homeless during the day as they are at night. There are a few drop in centers in Phillips and Elliot Park but not nearly enough to cover the volume.
As a resident in the capital of homeless shelters I can tell you that most of the shelters in my neighborhood make people leave by around 8:00 a.m. Generally, they are not welcomed inside again until around 6:00 p.m. or so. Under this scheduling, the homeless people who have chemical dependency problems plaguing them usually head for the liquor store in the early morning or to K-Mart or Super Valu to buy mouthwash or sterno if it's Sunday. They go to one of the parks or find places in the neighborhood and get drunk or high. Some have to panhandle or do a little mugging to get some money to buy their drug of choice. They spend the afternoon attempting to sober up because if they are not at least partially sober, they will not get into the shelter. Many do this by finding a porch, garage, yard, car, park or bus shelter to sleep it off. If the person is rejected from the shelter because they are too drunk or high, they are left to their own devices in the neighborhood. The homeless people who aren't chemically dependent go to their jobs in the morning hoping no one will know they are homeless, and hope that soon they will find an apartment they can afford so that they don't have to sleep next to the drunks and drug addicts. Somewhere between the drunk and drug addict homeless and the working homeless there are the mentally ill homeless. They too are forced to wander the streets aimlessly. And meanwhile, the churches and ex-nursing homes in most neighborhoods (38th St. and 4th Av.) remain empty at night because people don't want these shelters or supportive housing facilities in their neighborhood. Hennepin County turned the Armory that could have housed hundreds of people into a parking ramp. And now, it looks like the City Council wants to reconsider releasing the $4 million dollars from the NRP Affordable Housing Fund. Check out the minutes from the Committee of the Whole meeting yesterday and call your council member. Go figure. Barb Lickness Whittier ===== "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." -- Margaret Mead __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Greetings - Send FREE e-cards for every occasion! http://greetings.yahoo.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
