As a former full-time employee of St. Stephen's (6 years) and current occasional contract employee, maybe I can shed some light on the shelter "full or not" issue. Every shelter operates differently, but I can give a snapshot of St. Stephen's, which is a men-only shelter (simply because there is not much privacy for people, with 40 bunkbeds crammed next to each other.)
So, say someone who is experiencing homelessness comes to St. Stephen's for shelter. At 7 p.m. every night, 365 nights a year, a lottery is held to give the beds out. The majority of beds are for 30 nights in a row--this is to provide a period of stability for people and a period of time for the advocates to get to know them & their issues and to assist them in accessing appropriate affordable or supportive housing. (Many, many of the people we see are struggling with mental health issues; many others--over 60%, are working full-time, but at wages around $7.50 average.) In addition to the 30-night beds, there are always five beds reserved for "one-night" emergency stays. These five beds--and any 30-night beds that have become available--are open to the lottery every night. There are always more people than beds--there has not been an empty bed in advocates' memory since the early 90's--and even then it was rare. Around 7:15, St. Stephen's hears from two other nearby shelters about whether they have available beds. If so, names are drawn for those, too--this saves people who are looking for shelter lots of extra walking around. If none of these church-based shelters have room for everyone, people usually go down to "Secure Waiting", the Catholic Charities run shelter downtown. When that fills up--and it always does--people then go to the "Overflow" shelter, also run by Cath Charities, on the other end of downtown. This building is windowless and bathroomless, though there are 2 plastic porto-potties in one room. When Overflow is full, people are out of luck. Estimates by street outreach workers, Dept of Children Family & Learning, and MN Coalition for the Homeless, have consistently numbered hundreds, (lately around 500) of people sleeping outside, in cars, under bridges, after all the shelter beds are given away. This is what I know about shelter for single homeless adults. If you are a woman with children, my understanding is that Hennepin County is, by their own mandate, required to shelter you. Hope this helps-- Margaret Miles Whittier TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
