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There were a few hundred shelter beds available last night in SF to anyone who wanted to sleep indoors. The problem is the people who sleep outside the library
by 0xB31B1B 3y ago
There were a few hundred shelter beds available last night in SF to anyone who wanted to sleep indoors. The problem is the people who sleep outside the library don't want to sleep in shelter, because the shelters don't allow drug use. The people sleeping outside the library want to get high and we do not have an effective means to compel people into shelter or treatment.
- dijit 3y agoThere can be many reasons that homeless people avoid shelters, it's not entirely fair to say that it's only one reason. I grew up in a very bad place in the UK and I knew many homeless people (different than homeless people in the US for sure, much lower propensity for mental health issues for example) but they avoided shelters because many homeless shelters aren’t safe. Any possessions you have will be stolen while you sleep. Women are molested and raped. Lice are all over. There are limited beds so giving up your "sure-fire" place in an underpass for a potential bed is not ideal. You have to leave at 7 am and can’t return until 5pm at the earliest, and they’re first come first serve. Some shelters make you attend religious services. Some shelters will "encourage" you to pay a fee to go to them. It's very easy to become homeless and very difficult to get out of it (I mean, who has the finances to have 2 months rent, a deposit and enough to cover a failed background check), so it's not good to tar all homeless people with the "drug-use" brush.