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Just talked with a street-level provider about the Mayor's comment that allowing public camping "isn't working."
That's true from for people made uncomfortable by the sight of tents under overpasses, but for the unhoused and providers who care for them, it very much is working. https://twitter.com/statesman/status/1352294581904302080
That's true from for people made uncomfortable by the sight of tents under overpasses, but for the unhoused and providers who care for them, it very much is working. https://twitter.com/statesman/status/1352294581904302080
These groups of people live in completely different realities. People who only interact with the unhoused when they pass them on the street have no real conception of how life-changing amending the public camping ordinance has been for people experiencing homelessness.
Increased stability in the lives of PEH allowed for by public camping has been profound.
An example from a source: you could spend weeks getting someone ID. But then they're forced to relocate bc they are living in a place where camping is prohibited. The ID is lost in the move
An example from a source: you could spend weeks getting someone ID. But then they're forced to relocate bc they are living in a place where camping is prohibited. The ID is lost in the move
Then the provider has to spend weeks getting their client a new ID. That's wasted time and resources for the provider AND the individual that could have been avoided if they were allowed to stay in one place.
This kind of thing happened all the time before decriminalization.
This kind of thing happened all the time before decriminalization.
But people made uncomfortable by tents in parks don't think about that stuff. They only think about the effect decrim is having on THEM.
But that's not why Council voted to amend the ordinances. They did it to help the most vulnerable people in our community.
But that's not why Council voted to amend the ordinances. They did it to help the most vulnerable people in our community.
This debate is about whose interests Council serves. Is it the more well-off class who worry about the effects visible poverty has on their capital?
Or is it the needs of vulnerable people, whose lives are improved through the stability gained from allowing public camping.
Or is it the needs of vulnerable people, whose lives are improved through the stability gained from allowing public camping.
