Reply to Tenleytown Library homeless issue

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I don’t understand why there can’t be day homeless shelters. Set up a facility so homeless can go to the bathroom and hang out in instead of using libraries and public transportation.

People need to have more sympathy for the poor/working class who use public transportation and want to use libraries. They should have a right to use these public places without vagrants interfering with their quiet enjoyment [/quote]

As someone who's worked with the unhoused for years, I can tell you many don't want shelter. There are almost always significant mental health challenges that contribute.

Police used to arrest them for minor offenses, when others find them to be inconvenient and call 911, like the smell and blocking people when walking into to a public facility (merely being there isn't trespass but blocking public right of way is). But that is a bad "solution" for a lot of reasons. Not the least of which is they are back on the street in a matter of hours. So what was the point other than to give them a criminal record?

It's a mental health issue butting up against multiple constitutional issues. And there truly isn't an easy answer.

[/quote]

Yep. Most of these people could benefit from a serious tune-up at St. E's.[/quote]

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