[Mpls] homeless

[m1r3201]

David, you can post this later, as I know this is my third one.

   My irritation at having to prove the obvious was outweighed by my irritation with some of the ridiculous comments I have seen posted regarding people who are homeless:
   Per Simpson Emergency Shelters Website : " We offer shelter to people from all backgrounds. Some are abused, mentally ill or forgotten. But many are people not that different than you, except they have suffered terrible luck. Each of the nearly 100 people served daily is offered a safe place, clean bed, shower, warm meal, resource referrals and, perhaps most important, the simple dignity of being addressed by name. Sadly, we need to turn away almost as many as we serve every night because of lack of resources."

Per the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless web site which posted a letter by Michael Dahl their director to the Star and Tribune dated Feb. 12,2003 "Each night over a thousand people are turned away from Minnesota's sheltering programs because of a lack of resources. With the governor’s slashing of $300,000 from emergency services, hundreds more will find their home on the streets, in abandoned cars, or be forced to resort to “survival skills” — prostitution, drugs — just to secure their next place to stay."
   
In a Star Tribune Article dated December 15,2002 - "Every night, Minnesota shelters become home to about 7,000 people, said Dahl. About 1,000 are turned away."
  In the same article there is a conversation with a woman staying at Simpson Shelter; "If I weren't here, I could be dead, too." said Loretta Schneider...Schneider..knew of someone who had died this year.One man they'd met in the shelter froze to death while sleeping under some bushes in St. Paul. Shelters were full, Schneider said, so he had to sleep outside.(my personal note: I have been a shelter advocate in both Mpls and St. Paul, it is very common for people desperate for shelter to go between both cities (catching a ride, begging a bus token or hitchhiking) in their search for shelter ..so yes this does include a Mpls issue.)
  Monica Nilsson, director of Simpson Housing Services said in the same article "I probably knew about 17 people (who died) this year...Mike came from a white middle class suburb. He was sleeping on a roof in Loring Park and rolled off and died. Beck was a young woman who stayed with us...she's the woman found at the recycling plant. She had been picked up (by a recycling truck) while she was sleeping in a dumpster."
   The article continues..<< Demand for shelter is so intense that Simpson has a lottery over who can get in...Every Friday, people come to the shelter and are given a number, and those chosen can stay for the rest of the month..For every person who gets a mat, two are turned away.>>>
    From the National Homeless Civil Rights Organizing Project ..."In the state of Minnesota, the number of persons in homeless shelters available in one night more than quadrupled between 1985 and 1997. Still, the resources failed to meet the growing demands for emergency beds and services." (you can go on their web site for this report).
     On Housing Day on the Hill in February, I spoke with John who is homeless..John told me he has tried seven times in the last month to "win" the lottery at St. Stephens shelter and lost.
    John reflects many people's view who are homeless "I give up even trying to get in because I have to walk there, try to get in and if I lose try to figure where I can go after that." Often people such as John resort to alleys, doorways, dumpsters, see if they can sit up in a diner all night--often shelters hand out blankets to people they have to turn away.
    We had several homeless people who camped out with us at the Campout on January 30th--several of them were tired of trying the shelter lottery and losing so stayed with us. One couple tried to get into shelter but it was full so theyshowed up later in the evening and stayed with us.
    So, David...yes I can say that people were turned away last night from shelters, either literally or by virtue of giving up.
    I doubt that this will satisfy you... and that is sad,,, but you got your answer. Yes people were turned away last night.
     Also, people are turned away due to mental health issue that may lead to behavioral issue the shelters cannot handle or due to drug or alcohol use. In Philadelphia, the laws require that these people be given shelter despite those issues, when the temp drops below a certain point.
     The story about the people who are homeless shelter hopping for the sake of doughnuts and coffee is absurd... If you want me to respond to why it is absurd in detail.. I will do so in vivid detail on another post.
     I am appalled that the issue continues to be about "proving that these horrible conditions exist" when you know they do exist. So do something about it instead of having word competitions with me.
    Again I ask, where is the outrage about these conditions?
        Margaret Hastings-Minneapolis-Kingfield