Reply to New Ward 3 Homeless Families Shelter Site

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'll probably continue to donate warm clothing to ensure that DC's homeless community has what they need to survive during these winter months and I'll probably continue to refer any homeless veterans I come across to the Community Resource and Referral Center (CRRC) on Franklin Street...oh...wait...did you mean what was I going to do to help the poor, downtrodden and destitute people who have homes in Ward 3 near the newly proposed shelter?   Oh well yeah I'm not going to do shit for them they've got a roof over their heads what are they complaining about?[/quote]
If you really want to help homeless people, you'll support policies that create more living situations and support for them, not stupid political window-dressing.  And let's be clear: Bowser's plan of "a shelter in every ward" is just stupid political window-dressing.  The insistence on putting a shelter in every ward is what's slowing down the process, and it is what's driving up costs.

Way back in 2014, Vincent Gray proposed a series of small shelters to replace DC General.  He specifically proposed focusing on properties DC already owns, and projected that his plan would close DC General by the end of 2016.  Here was Gray's plan from 2014 - https://www.scribd.com/document/242972582/DC-General-Replacement-Plan-Final-10-14-14

Bowser won the mayor's office in 2014.  So what did she do with Gray's plan?  Nothing.  It sat on her desk for 2 years, and DC General continued to fester.  That's totally Bowser's fault.  When Bowser finally got around to doing something about DC's homeless population in 2016 (two years later!), she basically just put Gray's plan back into play.  But she did nothing to improve the substance of Gray's plan.  The only change she made was to add this "shelter in every ward" concept to Gray's plan.  What's been the result of that change?  Nothing good.  It's slowed down the process even further and increased costs.

If Bowser really wanted to do something to help the homeless, she'd have put Gray's plan in place two years earlier.  If she'd acted sooner, DC General would already be closed and the series of small shelters would already be functioning.  And on top of that, it would have cost less.

Bowser's just playing politics here.  She rearranged Gray's plan for purely political reasons: (1) she juggled the sites to benefit real estate developers who give her financial backing, and (2) she added this "shelter in every ward" idea so she can claim some sort of "equity" prize.  Those were both terrible policy decisions.  She should have just admitted those were bad ideas and changed course.  But now, we're stuck bickering over how to waste money.  And DC's homeless population is still stuck in DC General.

If you want to help DC's homeless, then support smart policy.  Don't just pat yourself on the back for donating your old blankets; you're just supporting a crony-based political system that uses the homeless as pawns.  If we'd had smart policy, over 700 homeless citizens would now have homes.  But because we've got stupid politics-based policy from Bowser, our fellow citizens are still trapped in DC General.[/quote]

Well looks like the shelter in Ward 3 is going up despite all those wonderful points you made so once it gets up and running I'd say the best way for you and other nearby residents to help the families who will be living there is not to treat em like crap.  By all means take your ire out on Mayor Bowser and the Council and whatever other politicians you have issue with if it's not too much trouble try not to shit all over people who are just trying to get their lives back together. [/quote]

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