Anonymous
Post 06/12/2016 17:20     Subject: Let's join forces to scrap the current homeless shelter plan and start over

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Anonymous wrote:I see this thread has devolved into the expected moralizing. Can't wait to get back to inventing reasons why this plan is worse for the homeless than DC general.


No inventions. Many very legitimate, substantive, serious and non-NIMBY points have been raised about many aspects of the plan. They were not addressed.

If you want to get back on topic and defend your off-base "invented" comment then maybe you ought to think about coming up with some better answers.


NIMBYs always think they have a case. Saying the city needs to figure out the magic answer to homelessness in order to be worthy of putting a shelter in your neighborhood is a red herring.


Still no answers, I see... Just build 8 mini DC Generals without dealing with why DC General was such a horrific mess in the first place. You don't understand anything.


How many days or nights have you spent working in a homeless facility? I have done hundreds.

I have spent enough time working in homeless shelters to know that smaller ones are less prone to problems. It is the same phenomenon that you see in large housing complexes and large schools. The bigger the institution, the more dramatic the effect of the bad apples. Do you not recall Relisha Rudd? She's dead now. And it is plainly obvious that the size and scale of the DC General Family Shelter had something to do with a janitor being able to walk off with a child.

I also know that some of DC general's problems are that the facilities are a total mess. Seriously, the place needs to be torn down. Raccoons roaming the halls would cause any other facility to be declared uninhabitable. Insect bites? Heating out for weeks at a time. Overflowing showers.

And families with children should not be housed adjacent to a meth rehab clinic or a jail.

Lastly, the facility was built as a hospital. It is not structured to provide housing. That is why there are lots of places for vulnerable children to be preyed upon.

Each of these things can be addressed by smaller and properly designed shelters.






Do you think a properly designed shelter includes private bathrooms and sufficient bath tubs for each family? The DC General facility is deplorable. At the same time, Bowser's proposal included design elements which still leave families vulnerable yet allowed the city to evade the zoning restrictions. Should a mom have to wake and take all children to the bathroom? Are 2 bath tubs really sufficient for 40 families?


Yes, I support adding bathrooms. That's not an excuse to block the shelters. It is reason to fight for bathrooms.


Including bathrooms will require zoning approval and Bowser + the developers wanted to evade and avoid


Zoning is not an issue for any property zoned to hold more than one family.


Duh. But the original Ward 3 prop was zoned for single families, so they were trying to evade the restrictions by touting it as a boarding house.
Anonymous
Post 06/12/2016 16:37     Subject: Re:Let's join forces to scrap the current homeless shelter plan and start over

Let alone the 60 to 90 days Cheh cited.