DC is a magnet for the homeless

[Anonymous]

Gee this lengthy report from the MWCOG goes into great detail about the reasons for increases and decreases by jurisdiction.

Funny, it never mentions the issue of eligibility as the cause. It lists lots of other causes. I wonder if it's possible that the posters here don't know what they are talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm getting worried by the fact that DC is one of three cities that promise unconditional shelter, by the huge price tag, and by the amount of homeless in our neighborhood. Why can't we make DC general.nice? Either rehab it or raze and rebuild? All services consolidated. Separate wings for families and those with higher need? And then focus on mixed income housing, with conditions.and supports, in emerging neighborhoods for families that seek it. To me, you should be willing to work or enroll in school/job training to get an independent living , subsidized apartment. And also be good tenant.
Petula Dvorak sounding off in today's Post...does she live in DC? Pay DCtaxes?

There is a very dragged out discussion about that space: http://dmped.dc.gov/page/hill-east-district-redevelopment

I haven't seen anything recent about the status of the redevelopment. What I can say is that working out there, there's a ton of stuff that is just abandoned and not used. Obviously construction projects take time and none of that would happen instantly even if it was green-lit this afternoon.

I actually like the idea of creating a larger facility with services that help families with higher needs. I think you might be confused about what happens at DC General - it's not a general shelter. It's a family shelter. So everyone staying there is a family. There is a women's shelter on the DC General campus as well, but it's in a separate building around the corner. There are services at DC General, but I think that they could be made more effective.

Realistically, though, what you're talking about requires a lot of money and a lot of support that really isn't there. You're also focusing on 2 separate projects: one that "fixes" DC General and one that creates more sustainable housing across the city with supportive environments. It's the difference between preventative care and emergency medicine. There is a major housing crisis in DC at the moment. The Housing Authority is closed to new applicants. Its waitlist is 40,000 people long - that's down from 75,000 in 2013 when they closed to new applicants, and most of the movement was going through the list to see who is still in need of a voucher.

As for Petula Dvorak, she's an opinion columnist. She has strong opinions, which is why she has the job she has. She's not WRONG about most of the things she says, even you find her tone offputting. As far as I know, yes, she lives in DC and pays taxes. Not really sure what that has to do with it. I live in DC and pay taxes and agree with yesterday's column.

They have been building like crazy in Southwest DC and Navy Yard, and 30% of the hundreds and hundreds of units being built are set aside as "affordable housing". Yet that never seems to be counted in anyone's accounting and many other parts of DC are all about NIMBY where it comes to development with very little going on. I think some of the other wards are due to step up to the plate. Ward 6 has done more than its fair share.

So what I want (thank you for responding) is large facilities for the homeless (different categories) with all the services there for efficient delivery. I also want the mixed income and subsidized housing for those who 'graduate' for want of better words. These people would be expected to work or study and would receive some support since likely they would be working poor, and would need help to not fall back through the cracks. I do not want a bunch of mini shelters with wrap around services that wil cost 620 million over the thirty years, come with no conditions, open to all, and leaving the city holding the bag at the end with no lasting investment return (everything going back to the developers). So ludicrous.
Rehab DCgeneral or raze it and build a new facility. Start there. Has to cost far less and deliver far more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Urban Zombies

When they start branching out to the suburbs, you've got problems.

Yesterday I was hit up by 6 in a 2 block area. 4 seemed to be professional panhandlers. They wanted cigarettes and change.

The suburbs send them to DC.

People are so ignorant about who the homeless are. Of those 8,350 homeless people, only 1500 of them are chronically homeless - which includes people homeless for a year or more, or people homeless on four separate occasions. So assuming that half of them have been "shipped" from the suburbs, you still have 7,600 of your own. Nobody is shipping a homeless mother and two kids to DC.

That 1500 chronically homeless is grotesquely disproportionate on a per capita bases, as compared to the number of chronically homeless in the adjacent municipalities. It's a pretty significant statistical anomaly.

[Anonymous]

The redevelopment plan for the area around DC General has ZERO accommodation for homeless.

http://dmped.dc.gov/page/hill-east-district-redevelopment

That's a problem. Council should not let them move forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should check out San Francisco sometime.

stinks like urine everywhere.

You should check out DC General to get a flavor for DC homeless addicted to drugs, watching soaps in the waiting room, etc. In fact, check out any ER room around here.

Last time I went to San Francisco (about a year ago) it was un-freaking-believable. Feces in the streets. Open inter-venous drug use. Aggressive begging. Gnarly looking pitbulls.

+1.

Dear Mayor Bowser,

I may be wrong, but I don't believe you ran on a platform to make DC the next SF as the regional magnet for the homeless?

[Anonymous]

Perhaps they should look at providing incentives for staying with family members. And if they don't have family in DC, then why stay here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should check out San Francisco sometime.

stinks like urine everywhere.

You should check out DC General to get a flavor for DC homeless addicted to drugs, watching soaps in the waiting room, etc. In fact, check out any ER room around here.

Last time I went to San Francisco (about a year ago) it was un-freaking-believable. Feces in the streets. Open inter-venous drug use. Aggressive begging. Gnarly looking pitbulls.

+1.

Dear Mayor Bowser,

I may be wrong, but I don't believe you ran on a platform to make DC the next SF as the regional magnet for the homeless?

Bowser loves being generous with other people's money. Seems like there is nothing she likes more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The redevelopment plan for the area around DC General has ZERO accommodation for homeless.

http://dmped.dc.gov/page/hill-east-district-redevelopment

That's a problem. Council should not let them move forward.

Why? Show me another area of the city which has new development that accommodates the homeless? DC General is an old hospital and needs to be torn down. It is sitting on prime river front real estate. Why should one neighborhood have to shoulder the burden of all the city's homeless. I live near DC General and the sad fact is all the homeless families are a significant drain on the local neighborhood. I think the smaller shelters around the city are better for the homeless and the city (although I agree Bowser's plan is less than perfect). Smaller shelters allow homeless families to not be so isolated and ostracized.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And I do agree with her that DC general should be rehabbed -as permanent transitional housing. It is near metro and services can be consolidated. A school bus can pick up kids. This scattering of eight shelters through the city is seeming more and more like wasteful nonsense that helps developers. People should be in an efficient transitional shelter like DC General, and then apply for subsidized affordable housing with conditions if able to make the move to independence.

DC General sits on the water. Developers have been itching to get their hands on that property for years. They want DC general and the DC jail. They will get both. There will be no rehab for the homeless on this prime property sitting on a river and a metro stop. Not going to happen

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This problem of homelessness is great in many big metro areas. SF is terrible and Seattle is even worse. LA too.

Some cities do "dump" their hmeless elsewhere by giving them a one-way bus ticket out of town. It's shameful.

NYC under Giuliani. That's how he cleaned up Times Square and turned it into Disney Land North.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The redevelopment plan for the area around DC General has ZERO accommodation for homeless.

http://dmped.dc.gov/page/hill-east-district-redevelopment

That's a problem. Council should not let them move forward.

Why? Show me another area of the city which has new development that accommodates the homeless? DC General is an old hospital and needs to be torn down. It is sitting on prime river front real estate. Why should one neighborhood have to shoulder the burden of all the city's homeless. I live near DC General and the sad fact is all the homeless families are a significant drain on the local neighborhood. I think the smaller shelters around the city are better for the homeless and the city (although I agree Bowser's plan is less than perfect). Smaller shelters allow homeless families to not be so isolated and ostracized.

Aren't families in shelter concerned with a) basic shelter and health b) getting their kids to school (school bus to serve them all) c) job placement or schooling? (job counseling/ed to serve them all)
I would think isolated and ostracized is the least of their concerns. These small shelters are meant to be what? Lemonade on the porch and howdying the neighbors? I have a home and we barely see the neighbors; when we do it's awesome, but not integral to our getting ahead in life. Homeless is not a permanent condition. One large, one stop shelter to address people's needs and move them on their way into neighborhoods (yours and mine) where they will not be isolated and ostracized. Your plan is for someone to make it a forever home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This problem of homelessness is great in many big metro areas. SF is terrible and Seattle is even worse. LA too.

Some cities do "dump" their hmeless elsewhere by giving them a one-way bus ticket out of town. It's shameful.

NYC under Giuliani. That's how he cleaned up Times Square and turned it into Disney Land North.

Can we please trade Giuliani for Bowser?

[Anonymous]

Homelessness is DC seems less bad than most other cities I've lived in. In fact, it really didn't here exist until Reagan kicked the people out of St. E's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps they should look at providing incentives for staying with family members. And if they don't have family in DC, then why stay here?

Really, who in their right mind would move to a place they have never been to before, with no money and no connection to anyone? It's one thing to have no family. It's another to have no one who can give you a job, no friends to lean on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps they should look at providing incentives for staying with family members. And if they don't have family in DC, then why stay here?

Really, who in their right mind would move to a place they have never been to before, with no money and no connection to anyone? It's one thing to have no family. It's another to have no one who can give you a job, no friends to lean on.

Hello?

Anyone right outside DC who can get a better deal here.

Wouldn't you do the same?