Homeless tents creeping into the nice/residential part of DC

[Anonymous]

Challenge anyone who has an issue with people experiencing homeless living in tents in DC to try a couple of things: 1) Go visit one of the DC shelters (a non- Ward 3 one) and see if you would like living in one. They are essentially like prisons ( you cannot even leave or enter past 9:00 pm in some of them- how are you supposed to work your second shift job with those restrictions? ) 2) Go to the DCHA website and try to navigate the registration for a housing voucher on your phone or on a public library computer - it’s an incredibly difficult process 3) Try to apply for SNAP and TANF on your phone, then find the monthly allotment for a single person and try to feed yourself on that allotment without using your kitchen (many homeless people are living in motels without kitchens)… 4) Have a 15 minute conversation with a homeless person, they are human beings and deserve dignity and safety.

A tent provides more safety and freedom than the shelters. The public assistance systems that DC has is like a Kafkaesque nightmare where one is pushed from one agency to another so panhandling can actually give you a better chance of having some income versus the “public safety net.”

Most people who live in tents don’t want to live there- it’s just the best option they have of a host of terrible options. It’s really astonishing to me with so much wealth, education and power in this area, how many people only care about their own personal comfort versus the health of the community as a whole.

Donations to non-profits serving the poor are down while the incomes of the top income earners are up. The lack of concern for and compassion for the poor in this country is deeply troubling-the only hope I do see is in the young kids (12-22). We can learn a lot from them and I hope they don’t lose their empathy as they get older.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Challenge anyone who has an issue with people experiencing homeless living in tents in DC to try a couple of things: 1) Go visit one of the DC shelters (a non- Ward 3 one) and see if you would like living in one. They are essentially like prisons ( you cannot even leave or enter past 9:00 pm in some of them- how are you supposed to work your second shift job with those restrictions? ) 2) Go to the DCHA website and try to navigate the registration for a housing voucher on your phone or on a public library computer - it’s an incredibly difficult process 3) Try to apply for SNAP and TANF on your phone, then find the monthly allotment for a single person and try to feed yourself on that allotment without using your kitchen (many homeless people are living in motels without kitchens)… 4) Have a 15 minute conversation with a homeless person, they are human beings and deserve dignity and safety.

A tent provides more safety and freedom than the shelters. The public assistance systems that DC has is like a Kafkaesque nightmare where one is pushed from one agency to another so panhandling can actually give you a better chance of having some income versus the “public safety net.”

Most people who live in tents don’t want to live there- it’s just the best option they have of a host of terrible options. It’s really astonishing to me with so much wealth, education and power in this area, how many people only care about their own personal comfort versus the health of the community as a whole.

Donations to non-profits serving the poor are down while the incomes of the top income earners are up. The lack of concern for and compassion for the poor in this country is deeply troubling-the only hope I do see is in the young kids (12-22). We can learn a lot from them and I hope they don’t lose their empathy as they get older.

So your opinion is housing is worse than living in a tent on public land and defecating in the streets. You progressives have lost your mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Challenge anyone who has an issue with people experiencing homeless living in tents in DC to try a couple of things: 1) Go visit one of the DC shelters (a non- Ward 3 one) and see if you would like living in one. They are essentially like prisons ( you cannot even leave or enter past 9:00 pm in some of them- how are you supposed to work your second shift job with those restrictions? ) 2) Go to the DCHA website and try to navigate the registration for a housing voucher on your phone or on a public library computer - it’s an incredibly difficult process 3) Try to apply for SNAP and TANF on your phone, then find the monthly allotment for a single person and try to feed yourself on that allotment without using your kitchen (many homeless people are living in motels without kitchens)… 4) Have a 15 minute conversation with a homeless person, they are human beings and deserve dignity and safety.

A tent provides more safety and freedom than the shelters. The public assistance systems that DC has is like a Kafkaesque nightmare where one is pushed from one agency to another so panhandling can actually give you a better chance of having some income versus the “public safety net.”

Most people who live in tents don’t want to live there- it’s just the best option they have of a host of terrible options. It’s really astonishing to me with so much wealth, education and power in this area, how many people only care about their own personal comfort versus the health of the community as a whole.

Donations to non-profits serving the poor are down while the incomes of the top income earners are up. The lack of concern for and compassion for the poor in this country is deeply troubling-the only hope I do see is in the young kids (12-22). We can learn a lot from them and I hope they don’t lose their empathy as they get older.

So your opinion is housing is worse than living in a tent on public land and defecating in the streets. You progressives have lost your mind.

At no point in their post did they say anything even remotely resembling "housing is worse than living in a tent on public land." In fact, they said the exact opposite, that housing is very difficult for them to get and a tent is a worse option but the only option for many.

I think the only person who seems to have lost their mind is you. You clearly just made up an argument that you wanted to hear with no basis in reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Challenge anyone who has an issue with people experiencing homeless living in tents in DC to try a couple of things: 1) Go visit one of the DC shelters (a non- Ward 3 one) and see if you would like living in one. They are essentially like prisons ( you cannot even leave or enter past 9:00 pm in some of them- how are you supposed to work your second shift job with those restrictions? ) 2) Go to the DCHA website and try to navigate the registration for a housing voucher on your phone or on a public library computer - it’s an incredibly difficult process 3) Try to apply for SNAP and TANF on your phone, then find the monthly allotment for a single person and try to feed yourself on that allotment without using your kitchen (many homeless people are living in motels without kitchens)… 4) Have a 15 minute conversation with a homeless person, they are human beings and deserve dignity and safety.

A tent provides more safety and freedom than the shelters. The public assistance systems that DC has is like a Kafkaesque nightmare where one is pushed from one agency to another so panhandling can actually give you a better chance of having some income versus the “public safety net.”

Most people who live in tents don’t want to live there- it’s just the best option they have of a host of terrible options. It’s really astonishing to me with so much wealth, education and power in this area, how many people only care about their own personal comfort versus the health of the community as a whole.

Donations to non-profits serving the poor are down while the incomes of the top income earners are up. The lack of concern for and compassion for the poor in this country is deeply troubling-the only hope I do see is in the young kids (12-22). We can learn a lot from them and I hope they don’t lose their empathy as they get older.

So your opinion is housing is worse than living in a tent on public land and defecating in the streets. You progressives have lost your mind.

At no point in their post did they say anything even remotely resembling "housing is worse than living in a tent on public land." In fact, they said the exact opposite, that housing is very difficult for them to get and a tent is a worse option but the only option for many.

I think the only person who seems to have lost their mind is you. You clearly just made up an argument that you wanted to hear with no basis in reality.

NP. Since your public school education failed you, the OP compared the housing to prison. It is generally accepted that prison is extremely undesirable.

Nice gaslighting though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Challenge anyone who has an issue with people experiencing homeless living in tents in DC to try a couple of things: 1) Go visit one of the DC shelters (a non- Ward 3 one) and see if you would like living in one. They are essentially like prisons ( you cannot even leave or enter past 9:00 pm in some of them- how are you supposed to work your second shift job with those restrictions? ) 2) Go to the DCHA website and try to navigate the registration for a housing voucher on your phone or on a public library computer - it’s an incredibly difficult process 3) Try to apply for SNAP and TANF on your phone, then find the monthly allotment for a single person and try to feed yourself on that allotment without using your kitchen (many homeless people are living in motels without kitchens)… 4) Have a 15 minute conversation with a homeless person, they are human beings and deserve dignity and safety.

A tent provides more safety and freedom than the shelters. The public assistance systems that DC has is like a Kafkaesque nightmare where one is pushed from one agency to another so panhandling can actually give you a better chance of having some income versus the “public safety net.”

Most people who live in tents don’t want to live there- it’s just the best option they have of a host of terrible options. It’s really astonishing to me with so much wealth, education and power in this area, how many people only care about their own personal comfort versus the health of the community as a whole.

Donations to non-profits serving the poor are down while the incomes of the top income earners are up. The lack of concern for and compassion for the poor in this country is deeply troubling-the only hope I do see is in the young kids (12-22). We can learn a lot from them and I hope they don’t lose their empathy as they get older.

So your opinion is housing is worse than living in a tent on public land and defecating in the streets. You progressives have lost your mind.

At no point in their post did they say anything even remotely resembling "housing is worse than living in a tent on public land." In fact, they said the exact opposite, that housing is very difficult for them to get and a tent is a worse option but the only option for many.

I think the only person who seems to have lost their mind is you. You clearly just made up an argument that you wanted to hear with no basis in reality.

You're totally wrong. Fact is that most of the homeless are hard-core drug users. You can't smoke meth in the shelter, so they rather pitch a tent. They should be moved along and told to do their drugs elsewhere if they refuse our city's very generous housing and social services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Challenge anyone who has an issue with people experiencing homeless living in tents in DC to try a couple of things: 1) Go visit one of the DC shelters (a non- Ward 3 one) and see if you would like living in one. They are essentially like prisons ( you cannot even leave or enter past 9:00 pm in some of them- how are you supposed to work your second shift job with those restrictions? ) 2) Go to the DCHA website and try to navigate the registration for a housing voucher on your phone or on a public library computer - it’s an incredibly difficult process 3) Try to apply for SNAP and TANF on your phone, then find the monthly allotment for a single person and try to feed yourself on that allotment without using your kitchen (many homeless people are living in motels without kitchens)… 4) Have a 15 minute conversation with a homeless person, they are human beings and deserve dignity and safety.

A tent provides more safety and freedom than the shelters. The public assistance systems that DC has is like a Kafkaesque nightmare where one is pushed from one agency to another so panhandling can actually give you a better chance of having some income versus the “public safety net.”

Most people who live in tents don’t want to live there- it’s just the best option they have of a host of terrible options. It’s really astonishing to me with so much wealth, education and power in this area, how many people only care about their own personal comfort versus the health of the community as a whole.

Donations to non-profits serving the poor are down while the incomes of the top income earners are up. The lack of concern for and compassion for the poor in this country is deeply troubling-the only hope I do see is in the young kids (12-22). We can learn a lot from them and I hope they don’t lose their empathy as they get older.

So your opinion is housing is worse than living in a tent on public land and defecating in the streets. You progressives have lost your mind.

At no point in their post did they say anything even remotely resembling "housing is worse than living in a tent on public land." In fact, they said the exact opposite, that housing is very difficult for them to get and a tent is a worse option but the only option for many.

I think the only person who seems to have lost their mind is you. You clearly just made up an argument that you wanted to hear with no basis in reality.

You're totally wrong. Fact is that most of the homeless are hard-core drug users. You can't smoke meth in the shelter, so they rather pitch a tent. They should be moved along and told to do their drugs elsewhere if they refuse our city's very generous housing and social services.

I am so sick of the canonization of the homeless -- most are drug addicts or alcoholics who aren't spending their time in the library looking for SNAP benefits or a section 8 voucher. They are panhandling, taking anything they can from any charity that they can sell or trade for money or drugs or alcohol. I would much rather have them in a tent rather in proximity to anyone they can harm in a drug or alcohol stupor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Challenge anyone who has an issue with people experiencing homeless living in tents in DC to try a couple of things: 1) Go visit one of the DC shelters (a non- Ward 3 one) and see if you would like living in one. They are essentially like prisons ( you cannot even leave or enter past 9:00 pm in some of them- how are you supposed to work your second shift job with those restrictions? ) 2) Go to the DCHA website and try to navigate the registration for a housing voucher on your phone or on a public library computer - it’s an incredibly difficult process 3) Try to apply for SNAP and TANF on your phone, then find the monthly allotment for a single person and try to feed yourself on that allotment without using your kitchen (many homeless people are living in motels without kitchens)… 4) Have a 15 minute conversation with a homeless person, they are human beings and deserve dignity and safety.

A tent provides more safety and freedom than the shelters. The public assistance systems that DC has is like a Kafkaesque nightmare where one is pushed from one agency to another so panhandling can actually give you a better chance of having some income versus the “public safety net.”

Most people who live in tents don’t want to live there- it’s just the best option they have of a host of terrible options. It’s really astonishing to me with so much wealth, education and power in this area, how many people only care about their own personal comfort versus the health of the community as a whole.

Donations to non-profits serving the poor are down while the incomes of the top income earners are up. The lack of concern for and compassion for the poor in this country is deeply troubling-the only hope I do see is in the young kids (12-22). We can learn a lot from them and I hope they don’t lose their empathy as they get older.

So your opinion is housing is worse than living in a tent on public land and defecating in the streets. You progressives have lost your mind.

At no point in their post did they say anything even remotely resembling "housing is worse than living in a tent on public land." In fact, they said the exact opposite, that housing is very difficult for them to get and a tent is a worse option but the only option for many.

I think the only person who seems to have lost their mind is you. You clearly just made up an argument that you wanted to hear with no basis in reality.

You're totally wrong. Fact is that most of the homeless are hard-core drug users. You can't smoke meth in the shelter, so they rather pitch a tent. They should be moved along and told to do their drugs elsewhere if they refuse our city's very generous housing and social services.

I am so sick of the canonization of the homeless -- most are drug addicts or alcoholics who aren't spending their time in the library looking for SNAP benefits or a section 8 voucher. They are panhandling, taking anything they can from any charity that they can sell or trade for money or drugs or alcohol. I would much rather have them in a tent rather in proximity to anyone they can harm in a drug or alcohol stupor.

+1

I have posted this a few times but I’ve seen multiple aggressive homeless people yell, spit, and punch minimum wage workers at coffee shops near where I worked in downtown DC. These twenty something’s just trying to make sandwiches are being attacked physically and verbally. They don’t deserve that treatment either.

[Anonymous]

https://www.usich.gov/homelessness-statistics/dc/

DC's official homeless population isn't even 1% of the total population. With the amount of wealth and highly educated people, we have in this area, we could completely eradicate homelessness and also provide drug treatment , mental health services, and employment training to those who need it. Also, while drug use rates in the US are comparable between Whites and Blacks, if you are a BIPOC person and caught doing drugs, you are 3X as likely to go to jail. Once you go to jail, your chance for employment and housing options narrow considerably. The path from jail spirals into drug use and living on the street sadly, all too often.

https://www.hamiltonproject.org/charts/rates_of_drug_use_and_sales_by_race_rates_of_drug_related_criminal_justice

Also, the DC's rapid rehousing program is a joke. It can take 5 years to get in, but you only have 12 months of subsidy. After that, you are on your own again. If you have mental health or substance abuse issues, a year is an unreasonably short amount of time to try to find employment or go into treatment especially when you have to navigate the byzantine DC bureaucracy to get those services.
https://dhs.dc.gov/page/rapid-rehousing-individuals

Tents make homeless people more visible because they used to live under bridges or wooded areas. Their visibility makes some people annoyed that despite their own wealth, power and status having to see poor people as their neighbors does not work with their image of what a "nice neighborhood" should be.

It's more of a question of values: what kind of city do we want to be? One that ignores, despises and makes those who have fallen onto hard times navigate never ending hurdles to gain access to services/puts them on a one-way bus to somewhere else or a city that wants to truly care for all of its citizens in the ways that they need it and give readily access to services for them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.usich.gov/homelessness-statistics/dc/

DC's official homeless population isn't even 1% of the total population. With the amount of wealth and highly educated people, we have in this area, we could completely eradicate homelessness and also provide drug treatment , mental health services, and employment training to those who need it. Also, while drug use rates in the US are comparable between Whites and Blacks, if you are a BIPOC person and caught doing drugs, you are 3X as likely to go to jail. Once you go to jail, your chance for employment and housing options narrow considerably. The path from jail spirals into drug use and living on the street sadly, all too often.

https://www.hamiltonproject.org/charts/rates_of_drug_use_and_sales_by_race_rates_of_drug_related_criminal_justice

Also, the DC's rapid rehousing program is a joke. It can take 5 years to get in, but you only have 12 months of subsidy. After that, you are on your own again. If you have mental health or substance abuse issues, a year is an unreasonably short amount of time to try to find employment or go into treatment especially when you have to navigate the byzantine DC bureaucracy to get those services.
https://dhs.dc.gov/page/rapid-rehousing-individuals

Tents make homeless people more visible because they used to live under bridges or wooded areas. Their visibility makes some people annoyed that despite their own wealth, power and status having to see poor people as their neighbors does not work with their image of what a "nice neighborhood" should be.

It's more of a question of values: what kind of city do we want to be? One that ignores, despises and makes those who have fallen onto hard times navigate never ending hurdles to gain access to services/puts them on a one-way bus to somewhere else or a city that wants to truly care for all of its citizens in the ways that they need it and give readily access to services for them?

The homeless living on DC's streets are living there because they chose to, not because DC does not have other options for them. We as a city or even a country do not want to believe this, but we have a HUGE mental health loophole that these people have fallen through. At the end of the day you cannot effectively treat people who do not volunteer for those services. If you don't want mental health treatment, you end up on the streets and the city does nothing about it.

So this less than 1% that someone was talking about earlier, it will always exist until we start involuntary treatment. Until then as a city we have decided to accept the issue.

[Anonymous]

💯 agree that there is an enormous issue with mental illness in the population that is living on the streets. There are also far too few public health mental health providers/practitioners. I think only Unity Health and Mary’s Center, two non-profits, have street medical care. Here is one of the official providers for mental health services for DC- as the PP said, you have to opt-in. If you are in a psychotic state, I am pretty sure that you aren’t going to have the mental faculties to be able to take the time to fill out the intake form, look for the email for your appointment options and then take public transportation to the center. https://metrohealthdc.org/for-patients/

So for those who hate seeing tents in your nice neighborhoods, how are you helping to address the issue of homelessness? Just having more shelters and housing programs isn’t going to solve it… it’s a multifaceted and complex community situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:💯 agree that there is an enormous issue with mental illness in the population that is living on the streets. There are also far too few public health mental health providers/practitioners. I think only Unity Health and Mary’s Center, two non-profits, have street medical care. Here is one of the official providers for mental health services for DC- as the PP said, you have to opt-in. If you are in a psychotic state, I am pretty sure that you aren’t going to have the mental faculties to be able to take the time to fill out the intake form, look for the email for your appointment options and then take public transportation to the center. https://metrohealthdc.org/for-patients/

So for those who hate seeing tents in your nice neighborhoods, how are you helping to address the issue of homelessness? Just having more shelters and housing programs isn’t going to solve it… it’s a multifaceted and complex community situation.

How are we are helping to address it: We are already paying massive taxes so that DC can provide generous homeless and mental health services. Making more PB&J sandwiches and handing them out is just a feel-good measure.

Is it a complex situation? Yes and no. What we really need is the collective political will to make social services more mandatory. Most meth addicts will simply refuse treatment and choose to do more drugs. We should not make trashing our public spaces such an easy option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:💯 agree that there is an enormous issue with mental illness in the population that is living on the streets. There are also far too few public health mental health providers/practitioners. I think only Unity Health and Mary’s Center, two non-profits, have street medical care. Here is one of the official providers for mental health services for DC- as the PP said, you have to opt-in. If you are in a psychotic state, I am pretty sure that you aren’t going to have the mental faculties to be able to take the time to fill out the intake form, look for the email for your appointment options and then take public transportation to the center. https://metrohealthdc.org/for-patients/

So for those who hate seeing tents in your nice neighborhoods, how are you helping to address the issue of homelessness? Just having more shelters and housing programs isn’t going to solve it… it’s a multifaceted and complex community situation.

How are we are helping to address it: We are already paying massive taxes so that DC can provide generous homeless and mental health services. Making more PB&J sandwiches and handing them out is just a feel-good measure.

Is it a complex situation? Yes and no. What we really need is the collective political will to make social services more mandatory. Most meth addicts will simply refuse treatment and choose to do more drugs. We should not make trashing our public spaces such an easy option.

DC can build a resort style institute to house and rehab the homeless. Provide upscale living environment, hiring doctors, nurses, and all kind of supporting stuffs. Open bars and spas. One can leave freely but cannot live outdoor in public area. It can be build on the Mall.

[Anonymous]

Many homeless I've met have told me the D.C. shelters are frightening places, with many violent and mentally ill inside. They feel safer on the streets than they do in the shelters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.usich.gov/homelessness-statistics/dc/

DC's official homeless population isn't even 1% of the total population. With the amount of wealth and highly educated people, we have in this area, we could completely eradicate homelessness and also provide drug treatment , mental health services, and employment training to those who need it. Also, while drug use rates in the US are comparable between Whites and Blacks, if you are a BIPOC person and caught doing drugs, you are 3X as likely to go to jail. Once you go to jail, your chance for employment and housing options narrow considerably. The path from jail spirals into drug use and living on the street sadly, all too often.

https://www.hamiltonproject.org/charts/rates_of_drug_use_and_sales_by_race_rates_of_drug_related_criminal_justice

Also, the DC's rapid rehousing program is a joke. It can take 5 years to get in, but you only have 12 months of subsidy. After that, you are on your own again. If you have mental health or substance abuse issues, a year is an unreasonably short amount of time to try to find employment or go into treatment especially when you have to navigate the byzantine DC bureaucracy to get those services.
https://dhs.dc.gov/page/rapid-rehousing-individuals

Tents make homeless people more visible because they used to live under bridges or wooded areas. Their visibility makes some people annoyed that despite their own wealth, power and status having to see poor people as their neighbors does not work with their image of what a "nice neighborhood" should be.

It's more of a question of values: what kind of city do we want to be? One that ignores, despises and makes those who have fallen onto hard times navigate never ending hurdles to gain access to services/puts them on a one-way bus to somewhere else or a city that wants to truly care for all of its citizens in the ways that they need it and give readily access to services for them?

The homeless living on DC's streets are living there because they chose to, not because DC does not have other options for them. We as a city or even a country do not want to believe this, but we have a HUGE mental health loophole that these people have fallen through. At the end of the day you cannot effectively treat people who do not volunteer for those services. If you don't want mental health treatment, you end up on the streets and the city does nothing about it.

So this less than 1% that someone was talking about earlier, it will always exist until we start involuntary treatment. Until then as a city we have decided to accept the issue.

This. Our whole approach to mental health care fell apart in the 1980s when many mental hospitals were closed, driven by BOTH a desire to reduce costs AND calls for more "autonomy" for the mentally ill. Camping in public space should not be an option and is not "compassionate". Options for the unhoused should be (1) placement in a drug-free shelter; (2) detox; (3) mental hospital. And yes, I realize that all of these options need to be available, which sometimes they are not now. Also mentally ill/addicted should not be in the general population shelters.

[Anonymous]

Hey Op,

How much money do you donate to help the homeless and less fortunate?