New Ward 3 Homeless Families Shelter Site

[Anonymous]

The kd who is alleged to have savagely raped the mother of two fled his small group home. How does small equal good for people in transition? In D.C. it will equal decentralized finger pointing and passing of responsibility. Ugh. I am.so fed up.

[Anonymous]

I mean think about it. These 'wrap around' group homes dotted around the city dont meet these kids needs. Kids flee right and left and stay on a criminal path. But we are to believe the city will conjure up a way to meet the complicated needs of homeless families in small settings? Based in what record? So many pollyannas on this board, not looking out for actual people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What makes you think these will be families who use Eaton? What about mentally ill (who I see wandering Tenlrytown) or drug addicts? Spice, meth, crack? Has anyone specified to you who will be served there?

It's specifically a shelter for families, which by definition means kids. They might not go to Eaton: they might not be elementary-school aged or they might choose to continue to go to wherever they went before (homeless students have certain rights, which include being allowed to stay in a previous school). Their parents might, indeed, be mentally ill, but I do not think they will be active drug users.

Can you cite where there is guarantee that it will only be families? Or no active drug users?

BTW. I'm fine with the location, but lets not be naive.

For starters, here is the original press release: http://mayor.dc.gov/release/mayor-bowser-details-plan-close-dc-general The word "family" or "families" appears 16x. These shelters are intended to replace DC General, which is... wait for it... A FAMILY SHELTER. It's not a shelter for single adults, period. There are other shelters that serve those populations, but DC General is not one of them and neither are 7/8 of the new proposed shelters (the one in Ward 2 is supposed to be a women's shelter, which has never made sense to me but whatever).

Secondly, being a mom with children is not a guarantee that there will not be some drug users among the shelter population. It is also not a guarantee that there will not be mentally ill adults. They will just be mentally ill or drug addicted PARENTS with small children. Not sure that will make PP feel any better, but there it is.

A woman's shelter doesn't make sense to you? Doesn't make sense keeping homeless women seperate from men?

I won't bother, you are just too stupid for this planet.

Hi. I actually work in homeless services. It makes all the sense in the world to have a women's shelter - we have several in DC including one on the campus of DC General. I meant that in the context of replacing DC General and targeting FAMILY homelessness, using one site for women who DON'T have children does not make sense. I think it's a great idea to have another shelter for women downtown. I just don't understand why it's included in THIS plan, particularly in light of the reality that there are many more homeless families than can be accommodated by the 8 replacement shelters even without the women's shelter.

In other words, in spite of the press release using the word family 16x, not all of the shelters are planned for families right from the get go.

[Anonymous]

Why is this on the school's board?

[Anonymous]

Well, OP asked which schools kids living in the shelter would be zoned for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, OP asked which schools kids living in the shelter would be zoned for.

Because she lives EOTP and is strategizing about getting in OOB to Eaton (couple steps above her neighborhood's school on the social stratum) -but- she is concerned about the (homeless) people on the social stratum, who are a couple steps below her, attending her target OOB school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What makes you think these will be families who use Eaton? What about mentally ill (who I see wandering Tenlrytown) or drug addicts? Spice, meth, crack? Has anyone specified to you who will be served there?

It's specifically a shelter for families, which by definition means kids. They might not go to Eaton: they might not be elementary-school aged or they might choose to continue to go to wherever they went before (homeless students have certain rights, which include being allowed to stay in a previous school). Their parents might, indeed, be mentally ill, but I do not think they will be active drug users.

Can you cite where there is guarantee that it will only be families? Or no active drug users?

BTW. I'm fine with the location, but lets not be naive.

For starters, here is the original press release: http://mayor.dc.gov/release/mayor-bowser-details-plan-close-dc-general The word "family" or "families" appears 16x. These shelters are intended to replace DC General, which is... wait for it... A FAMILY SHELTER. It's not a shelter for single adults, period. There are other shelters that serve those populations, but DC General is not one of them and neither are 7/8 of the new proposed shelters (the one in Ward 2 is supposed to be a women's shelter, which has never made sense to me but whatever).

Secondly, being a mom with children is not a guarantee that there will not be some drug users among the shelter population. It is also not a guarantee that there will not be mentally ill adults. They will just be mentally ill or drug addicted PARENTS with small children. Not sure that will make PP feel any better, but there it is.

Yes, yes, I get that Bowser's team used the word "family" as many times as possible to try to sell the plan. But I see nothing that says single adults are not going to be placed there. If it's so clearly going to be limited to families only - and no single adults - I'm sure you can show me where Bowser's plans say that explicitly. Please provide a link. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What makes you think these will be families who use Eaton? What about mentally ill (who I see wandering Tenlrytown) or drug addicts? Spice, meth, crack? Has anyone specified to you who will be served there?

It's specifically a shelter for families, which by definition means kids. They might not go to Eaton: they might not be elementary-school aged or they might choose to continue to go to wherever they went before (homeless students have certain rights, which include being allowed to stay in a previous school). Their parents might, indeed, be mentally ill, but I do not think they will be active drug users.

Can you cite where there is guarantee that it will only be families? Or no active drug users?

BTW. I'm fine with the location, but lets not be naive.

For starters, here is the original press release: http://mayor.dc.gov/release/mayor-bowser-details-plan-close-dc-general The word "family" or "families" appears 16x. These shelters are intended to replace DC General, which is... wait for it... A FAMILY SHELTER. It's not a shelter for single adults, period. There are other shelters that serve those populations, but DC General is not one of them and neither are 7/8 of the new proposed shelters (the one in Ward 2 is supposed to be a women's shelter, which has never made sense to me but whatever).

Secondly, being a mom with children is not a guarantee that there will not be some drug users among the shelter population. It is also not a guarantee that there will not be mentally ill adults. They will just be mentally ill or drug addicted PARENTS with small children. Not sure that will make PP feel any better, but there it is.

Yes, yes, I get that Bowser's team used the word "family" as many times as possible to try to sell the plan. But I see nothing that says single adults are not going to be placed there. If it's so clearly going to be limited to families only - and no single adults - I'm sure you can show me where Bowser's plans say that explicitly. Please provide a link. Thanks.

Exactly. It is not NIMBY to ask for transparency. And given how this whole thing has unfolded, you'll have to forgive people for being skeptical and expecting a bait and switch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What makes you think these will be families who use Eaton? What about mentally ill (who I see wandering Tenlrytown) or drug addicts? Spice, meth, crack? Has anyone specified to you who will be served there?

It's specifically a shelter for families, which by definition means kids. They might not go to Eaton: they might not be elementary-school aged or they might choose to continue to go to wherever they went before (homeless students have certain rights, which include being allowed to stay in a previous school). Their parents might, indeed, be mentally ill, but I do not think they will be active drug users.

Can you cite where there is guarantee that it will only be families? Or no active drug users?

BTW. I'm fine with the location, but lets not be naive.

For starters, here is the original press release: http://mayor.dc.gov/release/mayor-bowser-details-plan-close-dc-general The word "family" or "families" appears 16x. These shelters are intended to replace DC General, which is... wait for it... A FAMILY SHELTER. It's not a shelter for single adults, period. There are other shelters that serve those populations, but DC General is not one of them and neither are 7/8 of the new proposed shelters (the one in Ward 2 is supposed to be a women's shelter, which has never made sense to me but whatever).

Secondly, being a mom with children is not a guarantee that there will not be some drug users among the shelter population. It is also not a guarantee that there will not be mentally ill adults. They will just be mentally ill or drug addicted PARENTS with small children. Not sure that will make PP feel any better, but there it is.

Yes, yes, I get that Bowser's team used the word "family" as many times as possible to try to sell the plan. But I see nothing that says single adults are not going to be placed there. If it's so clearly going to be limited to families only - and no single adults - I'm sure you can show me where Bowser's plans say that explicitly. Please provide a link. Thanks.

I guess I just don't really understand your concern. DC General is a family shelter. Single adults do not get placed there. The other family shelters I can think of in DC are also family shelters where single adults do not get placed. They are two separate systems. Families seeking emergency shelter go through the Virginia Williams Center (http://www.dccfh.org/programs/housing/virginia-williams-family-resource-center), where they are screened for eligibility, including residency. If a single adult shows up there, they will be directed to another program.

Bowser's plans say specifically that it's FAMILY SHELTERS over and over again, with the stated exception of the shelter in Ward 2 every time. Single adult females will be placed there or Harriet Tubman or Nativity or another program specifically for women. Single adult males will be referred to 801 East Shelter or La Casa or another program that is specifically for men.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess I just don't really understand your concern. DC General is a family shelter. Single adults do not get placed there. The other family shelters I can think of in DC are also family shelters where single adults do not get placed. They are two separate systems. Families seeking emergency shelter go through the Virginia Williams Center (http://www.dccfh.org/programs/housing/virginia-williams-family-resource-center), where they are screened for eligibility, including residency. If a single adult shows up there, they will be directed to another program.

Bowser's plans say specifically that it's FAMILY SHELTERS over and over again, with the stated exception of the shelter in Ward 2 every time. Single adult females will be placed there or Harriet Tubman or Nativity or another program specifically for women. Single adult males will be referred to 801 East Shelter or La Casa or another program that is specifically for men.

I don't really understand why you're missing what I'm saying. The other posters and I are not the first people to have raised this question about exactly who will be placed in the shelters that Bowser is pushing, and specifically whether there will be single men in any of them. So it just stands to reason that if these shelters will not house single men, then Bowser's team would have solved the confusion by specifically saying so. The fact that she's has not definitively made it clear that only families will be sited there suggests that she's considering some sort of bait and switch.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess I just don't really understand your concern. DC General is a family shelter. Single adults do not get placed there. The other family shelters I can think of in DC are also family shelters where single adults do not get placed. They are two separate systems. Families seeking emergency shelter go through the Virginia Williams Center (http://www.dccfh.org/programs/housing/virginia-williams-family-resource-center), where they are screened for eligibility, including residency. If a single adult shows up there, they will be directed to another program.

Bowser's plans say specifically that it's FAMILY SHELTERS over and over again, with the stated exception of the shelter in Ward 2 every time. Single adult females will be placed there or Harriet Tubman or Nativity or another program specifically for women. Single adult males will be referred to 801 East Shelter or La Casa or another program that is specifically for men.

I don't really understand why you're missing what I'm saying. The other posters and I are not the first people to have raised this question about exactly who will be placed in the shelters that Bowser is pushing, and specifically whether there will be single men in any of them. So it just stands to reason that if these shelters will not house single men, then Bowser's team would have solved the confusion by specifically saying so. The fact that she's has not definitively made it clear that only families will be sited there suggests that she's considering some sort of bait and switch.

The legislation itself, at least as introduced, explicitly lists each facility and the number of families it will house. Moreover, the new shelters are meant to replace DC General which only houses families. Obviously, nothing can prevent plans from being changed in the future. I suspect that it would be impossible to guarantee that no single man would ever be housed in one of the new shelters. But, that is clearly not the plan at this point.

[Anonymous]

We need more shelters in places like Potomac.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess I just don't really understand your concern. DC General is a family shelter. Single adults do not get placed there. The other family shelters I can think of in DC are also family shelters where single adults do not get placed. They are two separate systems. Families seeking emergency shelter go through the Virginia Williams Center (http://www.dccfh.org/programs/housing/virginia-williams-family-resource-center), where they are screened for eligibility, including residency. If a single adult shows up there, they will be directed to another program.

Bowser's plans say specifically that it's FAMILY SHELTERS over and over again, with the stated exception of the shelter in Ward 2 every time. Single adult females will be placed there or Harriet Tubman or Nativity or another program specifically for women. Single adult males will be referred to 801 East Shelter or La Casa or another program that is specifically for men.

I don't really understand why you're missing what I'm saying. The other posters and I are not the first people to have raised this question about exactly who will be placed in the shelters that Bowser is pushing, and specifically whether there will be single men in any of them. So it just stands to reason that if these shelters will not house single men, then Bowser's team would have solved the confusion by specifically saying so. The fact that she's has not definitively made it clear that only families will be sited there suggests that she's considering some sort of bait and switch.

The legislation itself, at least as introduced, explicitly lists each facility and the number of families it will house. Moreover, the new shelters are meant to replace DC General which only houses families. Obviously, nothing can prevent plans from being changed in the future. I suspect that it would be impossible to guarantee that no single man would ever be housed in one of the new shelters. But, that is clearly not the plan at this point.

Original PP here. This is my point exactly. PPs want to know who will be housed there. Plan says "Families will be housed there." PPs say, "But how do we know for sure?" I don't have an answer to that question. You don't know for sure. All you know is that at this point is that the plan right now is to create multiple smaller family shelters. If the plan was more nebulous and simply said "smaller shelters throughout the city" I would be skeptical, but I haven't seen that language anywhere in any conversation. The 16 mentions of families in the original press release wasn't the Bowser administration trying to be cute. It was them describing the specific purpose of the plan they were announcing. That you for whatever reasons do not understand that or are not willing to accept it is confusing to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We need more shelters in places like Potomac.

Potomac is in Maryland, so DC is not going to be building shelters there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess I just don't really understand your concern. DC General is a family shelter. Single adults do not get placed there. The other family shelters I can think of in DC are also family shelters where single adults do not get placed. They are two separate systems. Families seeking emergency shelter go through the Virginia Williams Center (http://www.dccfh.org/programs/housing/virginia-williams-family-resource-center), where they are screened for eligibility, including residency. If a single adult shows up there, they will be directed to another program.

Bowser's plans say specifically that it's FAMILY SHELTERS over and over again, with the stated exception of the shelter in Ward 2 every time. Single adult females will be placed there or Harriet Tubman or Nativity or another program specifically for women. Single adult males will be referred to 801 East Shelter or La Casa or another program that is specifically for men.

I don't really understand why you're missing what I'm saying. The other posters and I are not the first people to have raised this question about exactly who will be placed in the shelters that Bowser is pushing, and specifically whether there will be single men in any of them. So it just stands to reason that if these shelters will not house single men, then Bowser's team would have solved the confusion by specifically saying so. The fact that she's has not definitively made it clear that only families will be sited there suggests that she's considering some sort of bait and switch.

She has pretty much flown planes accross town saying it will only be families.

Look, I dislike Bowser. Didn't vote for her, don't like her. Think she's an idiot. But, we have a huge homeless problem in DC. When it comes to mothers and children, we all have to help. I have a shelter in my neighborhood (and am about to get a second one) - you need to take one in your neighborhood.

Suck it up and deal with it.