The bridges have sadly been "home" to many chronic alcoholic homeless folks. They hide under there and die of alcohol overdoses, violence, and literally freezing to death. The folks that are homeless due to economic conditions tend to be a lot more resourceful- many move to warmer climes for the winter or find shelter in vehicles or empty buildings. Old vans and RVs can be dirt cheap and several homeless folks live in them here on the Northside. Over the years I've also seen several empty but accessible spaces in Minneapolis. One that comes to mind offhand is about 80,000 square feet with rest rooms, heat, and even air conditioning and has sat empty for years. Look around at all the empty space in our city- some of those big buildings are near impossible to secure...
But we can do better as a city than direct the homeless to cheap old vehicles and empty buildings. If Minneapolis were hit by a natural disaster and thousands made homeless within hours shelters would be opened. Homelessness is an unnatural disaster that demands an even greater response. There is nothing stopping our mayor and council from declaring a housing emergency and taking appropriate action to alleviate the crisis. But I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for them to do so.
stoking the fire in Hawthorne,
Dyna Sluyter
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