It is important to be aware of the anxieties people have about going to shelter, whether real or imagined.
The motivation behind this article is twofold
1) to have more compassion for street people as they struggle with the idea of finding shelter.
2) to collaborate in a positive manner with shelters , and help provide volunteer services like yoga meditation skills training to improve rather than always judge, and where it seem poor management is happening to point this out, directly but also in a spirit of collaboration remembering that shelters have noble intentions after all.
SHELTERS in many cases reintegrate people back into society with many helpful services. Wonderful stories of family and work reintegration and substance rehab are some of their outstanding results but statistics are hard to come by as to whether these are minority results and to what extent, At the same time personal accountability by clients is also a factor and shelters cannot be held accountable for all "failures"
At the same time, unless the public is encouraged by shelters to take more interest in collaborating and communicating with shelters about perceived problems , with the positive intent to help improve, and take more interest in public participation in shelter processes, policies will remain either or both stagnant or might not be enacted always in the most efficient or client centred approaches. An example, developed by a 3rd party is this Homeless Evaluator Tool
Reading suggests that those on the street for a longer time, perhaps even having spent half a life time on the street, (chronic homelessness) have a more difficult time going through the shelter process, than those only having been living on the street for shorter times.
Shelters seem to have far more success with the latter (shorter term street people)
Even so most street people find many aspects of shelters extremely difficult, and some shelters perhaps provide a better environment than others in some respects.
At the same time, rarely are shelters transparent about the same issues, or do they dialogue with the public and street people about issues that make some street people resist them one one hand or find them inaccessible on another. Perhaps also because the public themselves do not show much interest in the subject.
Kylyssa Shay is a passionate writer about homelessness, who , having been homeless herself (sleeping rough ) and also worked in shelters, and later took people into her house for 20 years, 80% of whom found their way off the street and also reintegrated into society, recounts " The worst experiences I had with taking in over twenty different homeless people into my home over about a twenty year period were that one kid took twelve dollars from my purse and another made long distance phone calls without asking."
Her Blog article "Why Don't Homeless People Use Shelters?"
is in extreme depth and one hopes that were shelters all over the world to study it , as few accounts can be so in depth, many of the problems would change CLICK HERE TO READ
you can also download it CLICK HERE
The difficulties she outlines in the above article are as follows:
Lack of any beds at most in winter
Staff Assumptions about Drug Use and Criminality
An Invasive and Disrespectful Check-In Process
Drug Addictions
Danger of Theft
Separation of Family Members
Religious Differences
Lack of Privacy and Fear of Crowds
Lack of Control
No Pets Allowed
Denied Entry Due to Mental Illness
Rules That Unfairly Endanger Disabled Individuals
Discrimination Against LGBTQ People
Fear of Contracting Parasites like Lice, Scabies, Pubic Lice, or Bedbugs
Hours of Operation Incompatible with Work Hours
Danger of Rape or Assault
Fear of Contracting Disease
Lack of Handicapped Accommodations
Some Service Dogs are Barred from Entry
The motivation behind this article is twofold
1) to have more compassion for street people as they struggle with the idea of finding shelter.
2) to collaborate in a positive manner with shelters , and help provide volunteer services like yoga meditation skills training to improve rather than always judge, and where it seem poor management is happening to point this out, directly but also in a spirit of collaboration remembering that shelters have noble intentions after all.
SHELTERS in many cases reintegrate people back into society with many helpful services. Wonderful stories of family and work reintegration and substance rehab are some of their outstanding results but statistics are hard to come by as to whether these are minority results and to what extent, At the same time personal accountability by clients is also a factor and shelters cannot be held accountable for all "failures"
At the same time, unless the public is encouraged by shelters to take more interest in collaborating and communicating with shelters about perceived problems , with the positive intent to help improve, and take more interest in public participation in shelter processes, policies will remain either or both stagnant or might not be enacted always in the most efficient or client centred approaches. An example, developed by a 3rd party is this Homeless Evaluator Tool
Reading suggests that those on the street for a longer time, perhaps even having spent half a life time on the street, (chronic homelessness) have a more difficult time going through the shelter process, than those only having been living on the street for shorter times.
Shelters seem to have far more success with the latter (shorter term street people)
Even so most street people find many aspects of shelters extremely difficult, and some shelters perhaps provide a better environment than others in some respects.
At the same time, rarely are shelters transparent about the same issues, or do they dialogue with the public and street people about issues that make some street people resist them one one hand or find them inaccessible on another. Perhaps also because the public themselves do not show much interest in the subject.
Kylyssa Shay is a passionate writer about homelessness, who , having been homeless herself (sleeping rough ) and also worked in shelters, and later took people into her house for 20 years, 80% of whom found their way off the street and also reintegrated into society, recounts " The worst experiences I had with taking in over twenty different homeless people into my home over about a twenty year period were that one kid took twelve dollars from my purse and another made long distance phone calls without asking."
Her Blog article "Why Don't Homeless People Use Shelters?"
is in extreme depth and one hopes that were shelters all over the world to study it , as few accounts can be so in depth, many of the problems would change CLICK HERE TO READ
you can also download it CLICK HERE
The difficulties she outlines in the above article are as follows:
Lack of any beds at most in winter
Staff Assumptions about Drug Use and Criminality
An Invasive and Disrespectful Check-In Process
Drug Addictions
Danger of Theft
Separation of Family Members
Religious Differences
Lack of Privacy and Fear of Crowds
Lack of Control
No Pets Allowed
Denied Entry Due to Mental Illness
Rules That Unfairly Endanger Disabled Individuals
Discrimination Against LGBTQ People
Fear of Contracting Parasites like Lice, Scabies, Pubic Lice, or Bedbugs
Hours of Operation Incompatible with Work Hours
Danger of Rape or Assault
Fear of Contracting Disease
Lack of Handicapped Accommodations
Some Service Dogs are Barred from Entry