When you attend a community meeting and listen to people’s objections to having housing for people experiencing homelessness in their neighborhood, you realize they don’t actually see them as humans. The stuff they imagine people will do is incredible. + https://twitter.com/sdut/status/1315487993264664576
“I don’t want homeless people in my neighborhood!” When you provide housing to people experiencing homelessness, they are no longer homeless. “We don’t want them to park their shopping carts outside!” Why would they have shopping carts when they have a home for their belongings?+
More *actual conversations* from a community meeting: “What happens when they decide they want to go back on the street? Then they’ll be homeless in our neighborhood.” Why would someone reject housing they could afford to go back on the street? +
“Are you going to give them in and out privileges?” Yes, we’re providing a home, not a prison. “They’ll smear feces all over the walls in the neighborhood.” (Yep, that was one concern!) Whyyyyy would you think someone would do that because they were once homeless???
“I don’t want addicts and mentally ill people living in my neighborhood.” You have addicts and mentally ill people living in your neighborhood now, believe me. In supportive housing, residents have access to care. “They’ll go down into the canyons and make fires.” What?! Why?!
I swear to you these were actual concerns of residents over a permanent supportive housing project in Clairemont. None of these worries come to pass because (get this!) people in stable housing behave quite differently than when dealing with the chronic trauma of homelessness.
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