5 ms·

> an oversupply of homeless shelters that people refuse to use (due to restrictions on substance abuse etc.) There's a lot hiding in that "etc". Some other rea

• throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  Shelter won't let you drink, even in moderation.
  • mjevans 5y ago
    I get the reasons for that, even ignoring the moral mission ones; it's too much effort to monitor for abuse and just easier to issue an outright ban. A substantially different world if we had friendly AI to do that monitoring and maybe individual tiny-houses or apartments rather than a bunkhouse free-for-all like Squid Games.
    • convolvatron 5y ago
      who really cares about abuse at this point? if you demand that people who have ruined their lives through substance abuse quit on a dime before you let them in - you can't expect them to ever be ready to do that. for me the real issue is that some of these people - users and not, are quite messed up, and can really end up doing horrible things to the staff and the other residents. policing that seems pretty impossible
• agumonkey 5y ago
  I've seen this first hand and its difficult to comprehend. Some people would rather sleep in dead cold winter than to be in shelters. That's worth investigating...
  • zwkrt 5y ago
    I worked on a shelter in Seattle for a year. The biggest reason people wouldn’t come in is because they needed to check in at a regular time every day, which is a ridiculous requirement. Other shelters were even more stringent, with no smoking (tobacco) or breathalyzer tests, needing to attend daily prayer, and/or daily social worker check-ins. The shelters are run like the residents are children. The problem is that the rich people who give money to the shelter have moral stipulations along with their money, since they want to feel like they are “rehabilitating” people with the money they throw st the problem. If I had to operate under the same requirements as the shelter to keep my apartment, I would be on the streets too.
    • ianhawes 5y ago
      This is spot on. My experience volunteering at shelters is very similar. The worst one was also the largest. They had a waitlist (effectively). You had to sign up in the beginning of winter, arrive between 7pm and 8pm, and mandatory breathalyzer. If they suspected you of using, urinalysis was also mandatory. There was a 3 strike policy but generally they would give you the boot after 1 infraction. The majority of the people I interacted with there were chronic homeless, owing to the bureaucracy around being at that particular shelter. That, and the egos associated with most directors of homeless shelters and soup kitchens.
    • StanislavPetrov 5y ago
      Violence is a huge factor why people avoid shelters here in New York. They are filled with people who should be on Riker's Island or were recently released who regularly prey on other shelter dwellers. Incompetent City Hall bureaucrats are unwilling to address the problem, waving their finger in the air and crying about abolishing prisons. Having the autonomy to come and go as you please and live the way you want in a shelter is important, but even more important is feeling relatively confident you won't be robbed, raped or stabbed.
• Gigachad 5y ago
  The shelters _are_ unsafe and I wouldn't blame the average person for choosing a tucked away park over a hive of mentally ill and violent people. The solution is difficult though. I'm thinking we need some way to provide secure shelter. Something like those pod hotels where you get a private, lockable pod so you don't have your phone stolen or get raped in the middle of the night.
• BurningFrog 5y ago
  Shelters are pretty terrible. The real solution is to legalize massive housing construction, so everyone can sleep in a home, however simple.