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Shelters are full of rules. People need houses and freedom, even if they are very very small. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YbjKxdfE8Q https://www.youtube.c

Shelters are full of rules. People need houses and freedom, even if they are very very small. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YbjKxdfE8Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YbjKxdfE8Q A big innovation would be to add campground-like amenities (showers, water + power hookups, basic laundry nearby) to those "safe parking lots" - basically urban and suburban RV parks - would seriously help a lot of people. It's better to prevent new people from landing on the actual street than to wait until they get there to do stuff.

joenot443 3y ago
My understanding is that the most meaningful and controversial of those rules, the one which states you can't do illegal drugs or be under their influence while at the shelter, is one which is frequently demanded by the shelter residents themselves. I mean it makes sense, if my child and I are homeless and I'm sharing a room with people in my situation, my preference would certainly be for them not to be smoking fentanyl right next to me. "People need freedom" is a nice truism, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect the "freedom" provided to shelter residents be similar to the "freedom" one might expect in other types of shared housing.
- liveoneggs 3y ago
  I guess my own biases came through because when I read "people not going in shelters" my mind went to "addicts in tents". I assume a sober-enough homeless person, especially one with a child, which means the adult is more likely to be a woman, has access to some level of emergency shelter and is using it. I 100% agree with you that I would rather not be next to someone doing drugs, which is why they are annoying out in the streets! Addicts would rather do drugs on the street than not do drugs no matter what the incentive (the infamous "rock bottom"). Literally the only way to get them indoors is to allow drug use or arrest them.

joenot443 3y ago

My understanding is that the most meaningful and controversial of those rules, the one which states you can't do illegal drugs or be under their influence while at the shelter, is one which is frequently demanded by the shelter residents themselves. I mean it makes sense, if my child and I are homeless and I'm sharing a room with people in my situation, my preference would certainly be for them not to be smoking fentanyl right next to me. "People need freedom" is a nice truism, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect the "freedom" provided to shelter residents be similar to the "freedom" one might expect in other types of shared housing.

liveoneggs 3y ago
I guess my own biases came through because when I read "people not going in shelters" my mind went to "addicts in tents". I assume a sober-enough homeless person, especially one with a child, which means the adult is more likely to be a woman, has access to some level of emergency shelter and is using it. I 100% agree with you that I would rather not be next to someone doing drugs, which is why they are annoying out in the streets! Addicts would rather do drugs on the street than not do drugs no matter what the incentive (the infamous "rock bottom"). Literally the only way to get them indoors is to allow drug use or arrest them.