Posted on 02/21/2002 12:06:49 PM PST by Utah Girl
Shelters during Games minimal, jobless man says
They haven't been herded onto buses out of town or rounded up by police, but several of Salt Lake's homeless say they are feeling little more than cold comfort from the city's effort to provide shelter during the Olympics.
"The shelters are meager and minimal at best," said Jim Newfeld, an out-of-work electrician spending nights at the 500 West emergency shelter. "Not only that, the city is using us to pat themselves on the back about all they're doing. But it's not much, and it's all going away after this is over, anyway."
Newfeld and a group of aggravated residents at the convereted mattress warehouse known as the Serta Site on the west side were reacting to a Wednesday news conference there during which Mayor Rocky Anderson praised volunteers who have come to town to help the homeless. He said area social service agencies and hundreds of volunteers they coordinate have "set an Olympic record for caring for the homeless."
Had the volunteers not been there, said Pamela Atkinson, head of the Olympics homeless outreach program, "people would have been freezing to death on the street the past few weeks."
"That may be," said Mark Trujillo, who said until a couple weeks ago he had an apartment near LDS Hospital but lost his job and is temporarily disabled due to a leg injury.
"This ain't me," he said. "It's a place to go, but there are a lot of
people who want to work and can't find a job. If they really wanted to help they'd be handing out cell phones so we could chase jobs. If you don't have a phone number, or if you say you live in a shelter, they (employers) want nothing to do with you."
"We feel like we're under house detention," said a man who didn't give his name. "We're just kind of being set aside. There's a subliminal message in that sign out front. 'Perfect Sleeper.' They just want us all to be perfect sleepers and not say anything."
He said the shelter residents also resent the fact that anyone who wants to stay there must pass through a metal detector. "But none of you guys did. You just walked right on in. They think we're more likely to be criminals. But the easiest thing for a terrorist would have been to come this morning dressed like an Americorps volunteer."
The group said they don't have access to basic services such as hot water and bathroom facilities, which are limited inside or they are relegated to three portable toilets outside.
"How are we supposed to be getting our lives together?" said a woman who would only give her name as Hope. "They had plenty of time to prepare for this, and they had the money. Where is it? Where are all the shining examples of people they've helped? And when you can't even get your body clean, that is the worst," she said, adding that it appears to her several women at the shelter appear to be on the verge of suicide because they feel hopeless.
Community service agencies don't deny that homeless issues are long-range and difficult to solve. But they also say they at least deserve credit for facing up to them with the whole world watching. They report handling 200 to 300 more residents per night at shelters than is usual this time of year and they have all committed to providing help for the needy after the Games-goers have gone home.
One of the things the mayor said he is proudest of is living in a community that didn't hide the fact that there are homeless people here, noting that it is the first host city that provided overflow shelters for the expected increase in need during an Olympics. "We have set an example to every host city in the future," he told reporters at the news conference.
If there is a crunch time during the Games for the homeless, it's right now, said Atkinson, a retired health-care administrator who has volunteered and coordinated efforts for the indigent all her life. "But I think we've probably peaked. There are the constant problems of finding jobs and permanent shelter, "problems that were here before the Games and will remain afterward. But Salt Lake should be proud of the way it and the state and the contributors have stepped up."
Matthew Minkevitch, executive director of The Road Home, formerly Traveler's Aid Society and main shelter provider on the Wasatch Front, said the overflow shelter is designed to be temporary. But the commitment to making progress after the Games, and perhaps using momentum about the issue created by them along with the increase in need spurred by the declining economy, might spawn some permanent solutions.
A report released Wednesday lists Utah as one of the 10 worst welfare states in the country. The National Campaign for Jobs and Income Support says Utah has one of the worst combinations of welfare policies on the books. The low-income advocacy group said Utah has used welfare funds to pay for other programs; it has set less than federally approved time limits for welfare recipients and has cut back welfare to work programs.
Idaho ranked as the worst state.
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HAHHAAHAHAHA, I love it. Homeless critics!
EEEHHHH, this steak is a wee bit cold. I don't have to take this!!!!!
But some feel that is just a ploy to keep them off the streets during the day.
This is an example of an "accusation" that, once you think about it, makes you say "And your point is...?"
Hey, in Beijing they will simply kill any vagrants that become nuisances. Here in the U.S.A., we feed 'em.
This, to me, is like hearing your crazy old Aunt Harriet, who wears tin foil under her beanie and hears voices all her waking hours, complain that you're just bundling her off to a nice motel with room service for the night because you want her out of the way when your boss is coming over for dinner.
Like I said: "And your point is...?"
YES, where's our MONEY dammit!!!!!! It's OURS!!!!
How unusually!!! Hope they never try to fly or get into a Olympic venue. Can't have them upset over being treated just like everyone else.
My personal solution would be to help these people out temporarily, but make them take budgeting classes. It is a sad situation, and I do realize that some are mentally ill, others are alcoholics and drug addicts. We are enabling their lifestyles by just giving them everything they want.
And I have seen pictures of the shelter in the empty mattress factory. It is really basic, a whole bunch of cots on the floor and that is about it. But it is inside out of the cold weather.
OOPS!!!! Should read "How unusual!!!!". Must check my spelling and syntax.
words escape me. (it may be a first.)
What do you want, breakfast in bed? Being homeless is supposed to suck. That's the incentive to not do it. Yeah, I know, the whole world owes them a living because they are so liberated in their lack of fear to be different. Having a job is overrated I guess.
Holy cow...I have been gainfully employed for most of my adult life, and can't find enough in my budget for a cell phone. It's outrageous that this guy thinks that somehow he's owed one.
Homeless people are like artichokes, in a sense: You have to do a whole lot of pulling and peeling before you get to the heart -- that is, the heart of the reason why they are outdoors rather than indoors. While there certainly are people who have legitimate and heart-breaking reasons why they sleep in the street, more often than not, the reasons have more to do with substance abuse, mental disorders that aren't honestly dealt with, and shockingly poor life choices.
I am quite sure there is more to the story of Mr. Trujillo's plight than just losing his job and being temporarily disabled. There almost always is. For instance, I will never forget an interview that Barbara Simpson (aka "The Babe in the Bunker") conducted when she was on S.F. area TV, back in the 80's. She interviewed a woman who was part of a group of homeless people who were living in the park area outside S.F. City Hall. They were protesting lack of affordable housing. Simpson asked her how she came to be homeless. The woman said that she had come to S.F. from St. Louis after being promised a position. The position had disappeared by the time she had moved here, and she was offered another job -- one that paid $9,000 less per year. She thought that salary was beneath her dignity. So she turned it down, and hit the streets. Simpson was visibly shocked, and the woman became indignant when Barbara inquired as to why she chose the street over a job.
Michael Savage attributed this line to a man who had worked his way off dope and the sidewalks: "The longer you lay in the gutter, the higher the curb gets."
LOL! :^)
And I finally broke down and got a cell phone, just for safety's sake when I drive alone. I got a break through work on the price, but they can be darn expensive if one isn't careful.
And the guy asking for a cell phone is clueless. Homeless shelters are being a little more savvy now, and getting voice mail for the homeless so they have a legitimate phone number for employment purposes.
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