4 ms·
> because some shelters are so chaotic it is better to be out on the streets. This is an important bit that people will usually fail to consider. I've read so
by MSFT_Edging 2y ago
> because some shelters are so chaotic it is better to be out on the streets.
This is an important bit that people will usually fail to consider. I've read so many stories where living on the street can be the safer option for both your bodily health and general well being. I don't know how it is in the UK, but in the US, shelters will often require people to allow the shelter to hold their belongings for safe keeping.
What often happens is the shelter staff will throw away, lose, or downright steal those belongings. I've read stories of IDs, phones, and notebooks that have been held onto for years going missing under the watch of the shelter.
In shelters that don't require this, your things are now at the mercy of your fellow shelter borders. And things can go missing just as easily.
It makes sense people would want to avoid shelters and sleep outside if this is what happens when they choose the shelter.
These kinds of losses are extremely demoralizing and damaging. Same deal with Homeless encampment cleanups. People will lose their medicine, documents, cell phones, etc and have to start back from square one, often destroying any progress they could have made. It basically makes the homeless "problem" even worse and pushes people down worse paths. This kind of stress causes all sorts of mental illness in return, creating a cycle of poverty-> homelessness -> stress -> mental illness.
- closewith 2y ago> This is an important bit that people will usually fail to consider. This is explicitly covered by Housing First, which does not involve shared shelter accommodation. Instead, the point is that every homeless person gets their own apartment, without preconditions.
- pydry 2y agoThis is also why the UK is very, very far away from housing first. The war on affordable housing is alive and well there. Pretending that guaranteeing shelter where you are at significant risk of being raped and robbed is almost the same thing as guaranteeing an apartment of your own is dishonest. There isn't really another way to describe it.
- MSFT_Edging 2y agoWhich is actually great for a huge number of people driven to homelessness. If it's implemented in a way where it can act fast without years of waiting lists, it'd be hugely beneficial to people recently knocked off their feet being able to recover without falling deeper.
- safety1st 2y agoAre the budgets so small that they can't afford to provide each tenant with their own lockbox? I feel like being able to secure a small amount of personal property is the sort of thing which would pay for itself in terms of enabling people to get back on their feet and get out of the shelter faster
- MSFT_Edging 2y agoSometimes a small lockbox isn't enough when you carry everything you have to your name on your back everywhere you go.