The new safe sleeping areas and the motel in Barrio Logan are steps in the right direction. We need more like that. The idea that the homeless have a right to sleep anywhere they choose on public property is ludicrous. Some restrictions as to where they can sleep are appropriate.
They're a step, alright. A step to maybe inherent the 500 people losing their shelter as the city closes Golden Hall. How's that math work out? Oh, now there will be even more unhoused people. The idea that thousands of senior citizens and disabled people are being tossed in the street is extremely inappropriate.
Only homeless people AND the police officers who arrest them have no idea at any given time if there are any beds available.
Also - if it's unlawful to sleep in parks, beaches, open land, near schools, near shelters, near transit . . then where IS it lawful to sleep? I think all that's left are business districts and residential neighborhoods. The problem is all they do is tell people where they can't go and they don't give people enough options of places they can go. Offering 136 tent sites to thousands of homeless persons and blaming the ones who don't get in for not being there is unfair.
It's a work in progress. Have some patience. Don't expect miraculous achievements overnight. 400 more campsites are coming online soon. There are other projects in the works.
John, the motel in Barrio Logan is a better option, but it doesn't add any additional shelter beds. 546 beds at Golden Hall and 350 beds elsewhere will no longer be available so these rooms in Barrio Logan were found to move existing shelter residents. They still haven't figured out where to move the other 700 residents who will be displaced by end of year.
The tent camps have some advantages. They offer protection from police harassment, they are the only place where couples or adult family members of different genders can remain together. But it's not safe for them to be on that hot asphalt. There were definitely options, including just a can of paint, that could have made it much safer.
There are also serious issues with how the site is being filled. Currently there are empty beds but anywhere from 80 - 400 persons on a waiting list and not being allowed to enter. They are restricting referrals to only those from police, PATH and Downtown Partnerships. Others eligible but just not a police or downtown nuisance, are forced to languish in place as they aren't the chosen ones.
It's absolutely cruel to deny shelter beds to ALL disabled persons to ALL caretaker couples to ALL persons unable to manage activities of daily living (i.e incontinent) and then to make it criminal for them to even exist. Do we want to help people get out of homelessness? This is not helping any. Sending police after persons with no place to go is futile, expensive, counter-productive and cruel.
The new safe sleeping areas and the motel in Barrio Logan are steps in the right direction. We need more like that. The idea that the homeless have a right to sleep anywhere they choose on public property is ludicrous. Some restrictions as to where they can sleep are appropriate.
They're a step, alright. A step to maybe inherent the 500 people losing their shelter as the city closes Golden Hall. How's that math work out? Oh, now there will be even more unhoused people. The idea that thousands of senior citizens and disabled people are being tossed in the street is extremely inappropriate.
If there are no shelter beds available, they can still sleep on the streets! Just not in certain places. Makes sense to me.
Only homeless people AND the police officers who arrest them have no idea at any given time if there are any beds available.
Also - if it's unlawful to sleep in parks, beaches, open land, near schools, near shelters, near transit . . then where IS it lawful to sleep? I think all that's left are business districts and residential neighborhoods. The problem is all they do is tell people where they can't go and they don't give people enough options of places they can go. Offering 136 tent sites to thousands of homeless persons and blaming the ones who don't get in for not being there is unfair.
It's a work in progress. Have some patience. Don't expect miraculous achievements overnight. 400 more campsites are coming online soon. There are other projects in the works.
John, the motel in Barrio Logan is a better option, but it doesn't add any additional shelter beds. 546 beds at Golden Hall and 350 beds elsewhere will no longer be available so these rooms in Barrio Logan were found to move existing shelter residents. They still haven't figured out where to move the other 700 residents who will be displaced by end of year.
The tent camps have some advantages. They offer protection from police harassment, they are the only place where couples or adult family members of different genders can remain together. But it's not safe for them to be on that hot asphalt. There were definitely options, including just a can of paint, that could have made it much safer.
There are also serious issues with how the site is being filled. Currently there are empty beds but anywhere from 80 - 400 persons on a waiting list and not being allowed to enter. They are restricting referrals to only those from police, PATH and Downtown Partnerships. Others eligible but just not a police or downtown nuisance, are forced to languish in place as they aren't the chosen ones.
It's absolutely cruel to deny shelter beds to ALL disabled persons to ALL caretaker couples to ALL persons unable to manage activities of daily living (i.e incontinent) and then to make it criminal for them to even exist. Do we want to help people get out of homelessness? This is not helping any. Sending police after persons with no place to go is futile, expensive, counter-productive and cruel.