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Here's another take on the question of whether we
need a day shelter for the homeless in or very near downtown
Minneapolis.
The link to this article has expired, but I printed
itout so those who are interested could read it:
The library:
Tacoma's new shelter for homeless January 09, 2002 Tacoma News Tribune Kathleen <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Merryman; The News Tribune Word has spread among the homeless about a safe daytime drop-in center - Tacoma Public Library's main branch at 1102 Tacoma Ave. S. In December, attendance rose 27 percent while circulation dropped 3 percent. More people are going, and they aren't there for the books. "They're taking up every space we have," said library director Susan Odencrantz. "There is no place for anyone else to go. We have seen an increase in drug traffic in the men's room and a slight uptick in prostitution in the ladies' room." Not to mention disruptive behavior, disrobing, theft, littering, panhandling, bathing, eating, sleeping, public urination, even defecation. The overwhelming need is destroying our institution," said Odencrantz, who has called for help from the city, Tacoma Rescue Mission, Nativity House, Hospitality Kitchen, Catholic Community Services and the Martin Luther King Ecumenical Center. The situation cannot continue, she said. Don't get Odencrantz wrong. She is not trying to boot homeless people out of Periodicals. Libraries welcome everyone willing to abide by the rules. That is part of their function in the world, and Tacoma's librarians support that mission. "But it is not working for the people who need shelter," Odencrantz said, "or for the library." You should come and see what it's like, she said. So I did. At 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, a crowd was waiting for the doors to open at 9. One man had been drinking. Another was shaking while he held his bag of belongings in one hand and his blanket in the other. He spends nights outside, awake. Most days he can't stay awake in the library, where sleeping is against the rules. He gives librarians a choice: Answer a reference question or wake a homeless person. The doors opened. Upstairs, David Kappenman, J. Robert Hinton, John Berry, Daryl Johnson and David Stevens tipped dominoes onto a table. "We all used to go to Nativity House," Berry said. "Now there's nowhere else to go." Nativity House, a drop-in center that served 200 people a day, closed in November to make way for convention center construction. It will build a new home, but has no interim location. The dominoes players like to read - mysteries by G.M. Ford and Janet Ivanovich are favorites - and once visited the library occasionally. Now they come all the time. "When we used to come, there was hardly anybody here," Kappenman said. "Now it's full. Every table is full." So they were. All over the library, people were pulling out sandwiches, pastries, chips, sodas, much of it from feeding programs. Eating there is against the rules, but if librarians told people to put the food away, it would only come out later. Kappenman's group was not eating. They try to stick to the rules, but say they're a minority. "The bathrooms are ridiculous," he said. "You go to use them, and they're full of people who are there for other reasons." He means drugs. "Besides," he said, "there are only three stalls, and 100 homeless people are coming in out of the rain. A library shouldn't be used for a homeless shelter." It's not the only place being misused. "I spent a couple of nights at Tacoma General Motel," Stevens said of the hospital. He watched television. A nurse brought him a pillow and a blanket. It was wrong, but when you're cold, you find a way to get warm. You don't just disappear. We can ignore this and use our libraries and hospitals as shelters, or we can build a more efficient solution. - - - Reach Kathleen <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Merryman at 253-597-8677 or kathleen. [EMAIL PROTECTED]. Wendy Adamson Seward
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