Sheila, a family friend, a neighbour, a mother - stolen from her family as a child during the #sixtiesScoop - a woman who did everything she could to care for her community - our community, was left impoverished and without any help from the same state that destroyed her family.
She was couch surfing, staying with my uncle when his house caught fire in the middle of the night. The others barely made it out. Sheila did not.
Sheila was the first friend to go during the pandemic. There have been 9 more since then. I haven't even been able to begin process Sheila's passing.
I'm greatly looking forward to this permeant public reminder of a friend, but more importantly a role model - a person who despite having very little, gave it all. The same cannot be said about most.
May her death bring positivity, and foster a sense of community over consumption.
It really is simple: "Too often, policymakers ignore the obvious solution to homelessness — housing — in favor of immediate (and generally ineffective) responses, such as criminalization. Forced displacements and criminalization move people from one place to another, increasing their trauma and exacerbating the barriers they face to housing, while doing nothing to solve the underlying problem. "
Resolving the #homeless crisis in #America 🇺🇸 is more complicated than “ban homeless tents in public” or “let homeless tents remain in public” as both only address the symptoms.
When I visited #Singapore 🇸🇬 last year, I saw very few homeless people. When I inquired about it, I was told that the government paid for temporary housing for homeless citizens.
Finland has basically solved this problem by...surprise, surprise...providing people homes & then necessary services like employment help, addiction recovery, mental health services, etc. It's called #HousingFirst
I once attended the bachelor party of a friend. He just wanted to go golfing with his buddies, but his friends were partiers and insisted that drinking and a bar be part of the event. The bar cart at 2:00pm started the drinking, and he gave himself over to their care. Long story short… by 9:30 the groom was unconscious and no one else was sober enough to respond so I took him to the hospital and drove him home in the wee hours after he recovered.
Today's eviction day for the homeless in #Halifax public spaces.
I was there the last time. I saw the police pepper spray innocent children passing by and hold hostages to force compliance. It was ugly and brutal and felt like a piece of the future.
The city unquestioningly would want that again except for all the negative publicity it created. Armed goons pepper spraying children was a bad look.
What I know is hitting down is the strategy of bad people, the ones nobody should ever trust.
#HousingFirst : Das Konzept funktioniert, wie Finnland beweist (1).
Dass es in Deutschland immer und immer und immer wieder Rückschläge, bestenfalls "Schneckentempo" gibt (2)(3), belegt für mich das, was auch seitens Regierung und Opposition (sowohl die Opposition IN der Regierung, als auch die tatsächliche Opposition aus Rechtspopulisten und mittlerweile mehrfach gesichert rechtsextremistischen Elementen) täglich in Taten und Worten zeigt: Es ist so gewollt.
How about if these business owners remember that these "homeless" ARE THEM! It's their former neighbours, grocers, teachers, children - and their current community members and fellow human beings.
Homeless people are fucking people! They need somewhere to not freeze to death, just like you demand, in your vacant hotel.
In Deutschland sind etwa 50.000 Menschen obdachlos - und es werden immer mehr. "Housing First" heißt ein Konzept aus den USA, das dagegen helfen soll. Wie funktioniert das in einer Metropole wie Berlin? Von Andreas König.
LOL a woman just rang my doorbell canvassing for my vote for Seth Fleetwood, Bellingham, Washington's incumbent mayor.
I handed her the leaflet back and said I wouldn't be voting for him because of how he mismanaged clearing an encampment of the unhoused on City Hall property, among other issues.
She asked, which side are you on?
I said, "I'm on the side that disagreed with giving the encampment a deadline of Friday, then coming in with a surprise attack on Thursday AM - complete with militaristic cop formations, rooftop snipers aimed at the encampment, and heavy equipment to haul away people's belongings."
She left real quick.
The attached photos are taken from news reports at the time (Jan 28, 2021).
If you didn't know the context, would you assume they depicted a city's response to assist unhoused people in moving their belongings to a new location?
🇩🇪 schafft sozialen Wohnraum: In #Niebüll entstehen nach dem #HousingFirst-Ansatz 14 #Wohnungen unter anderem für obdachlose und von Wohnungslosigkeit bedrohte Menschen. Die künftigen Mieterinnen und Mieter erhalten zudem wohnbegleitende Unterstützung. #GuteBeispiele#SozialerWohnungsbau (1/2)
In the case of Hamburg, it's specifically meant to ban speculation and stop landlords from creating vacancies.
Demolition won't likely get permitted without applying for building new housing with equal if not more space & units or if the building has been subject to criminal neglect.
Something new from us.😍 ARTIST SPOTLIGHT videos feature Seattle area street musicians, buskers, artists, poets, and creative folks who live (or have lived) on our streets. We want to put a spotlight on their creativity and talent and help bring attention to their gifts as well as contributions to the rich tapestry of humanity. If you know someone with amazing talents in Seattle that you feel we should feature on ARTIST SPOTLIGHT, please contact us for consideration.
It’s interesting reading articles critical of #HousingFirst policies that look at Salt Lake City’s experience and conclude that while it was initially successful, it stopped working when they stopped giving it resources, as if that is an indictment of Housing First policies and not just how every policy works.
“What can we do about this? 90% of respondents say the biggest barrier to finding a home is housing costs. Half say their bad credit makes it even harder to find a rental, while a third say their criminal records also get in the way. Half also say that all the affordable housing is unsafe, or too far from their communities or care providers.”
Especially poignant for me as a new homeowner and thus new peer of “I’m not against affordable housing, but” types:
“America treats housing as an asset rather than a human right, creating a world of haves and have-nots. The haves are dedicated to increasing the value of their assets by restricting the supply, and by reducing the protections offered to tenants”