Homeless Shelters Are Not the Answer

Homeless shelters are only the band aid on a more serious problem. A few years ago, the city of Dayton, Ohio tried an experiment with the homeless. The city rehabilitated 60 apartments, and asked the community to donate household items to furnish the apartments. The community was more than generous with donations.

Six mothes after these 60 homeless persons had moved into their own apartments., 30 of them had found employment and were able to start paying rent. Fifty per cent is a success story in my opinion. It goes to show that our society tends to expect this to work “backwards.”

When a person is homeless, and must struggle to survive, it becomes a FULL TIME JOB to keep moving. They must be at certain places to get a free breakfast, and move onto another location to reach a place for a noon or evening meal. Some of these places that serve free meals can be miles apart, and they must walk to them. Most shelters require that a homeless person register before a certain time to reserve a bed for the night. They can stand in line for hours to do this. They are put out of the shelter early in the morning.

When the whether is cold, it is a life and death decision as to where to go simply to stay warm. There is no time to find a place to clean up, put on presentable clothes for a job interview. Not having an ADDRESS is not a good start in trying to get a job. The odds are all against them.

Putting the homeless into their own apartment puts a whole new twist on their motivation, self esteem and determination to find a job. Shelters are only good for a temporary fix, one night at a time. The cost of running a shelter is far more expensive than providing an apartment that gives a homeless person self worth, and hope of getting back on their feet.