Thread by @sunnshiiny

Question:

Instead of advocating for homeless people to set up an encampment in a public park, why aren’t activists advocating for immediate shelter to be provided to people who have nowhere to go?

https://twitter.com/TorontoStar/status/1407385313278939140

Living in a tent in a public park is not a right.

It’s a public health hazard and endangers the people living there as well as other citizens.

Human waste and garbage accumulates and creates a health hazard.

In a wealthy nation, shanty towns are not a solution.

If the shelter provided for the homeless is substandard, why aren’t activists demanding better resources accommodations for the homeless?

In what world is advocating for an encampment’s continued existence advocacy?

How is calling out the police helping the homeless? It isn’t.

But it is perceived to be helping socialist policy demands by using the homeless as a backdrop to force acquiescence to those demands.

You have “well meaning” social justice warriors who want UBI and instant housing options for the homeless. Except that’s not how policy development works.

They believe by keeping the homeless in people’s faces, that will shame the federal govt into caving to their demands.

Also, not how policy development works. Developing policy takes time and a lot of information.

These people are not actually helping the homeless. They’re exploiting the homeless to force their political agenda.

That’s some messed up mental gymnastics.

I’ve been homeless. When you’re homeless, the only thing that you want is a safe place to sleep and keep your stuff.

People don’t like shelters because they aren’t safe and there is no place to keep stuff from being stolen.

Why society continues to accept shelters as an option is part of the problem.

Shelters are basically temporary nightly prisons. The homeless aren’t given a safe place to sleep, they’re given a mat and a space on the floor so the public doesn’t have to fear them at night.

Maybe they get a meal, maybe they have access to a washroom to shower. But mostly shelters are a place to keep the homeless from being in the face of the public.

The shelter service model is based on charitable policies developed in the 19th century.

When people were treated like scum if they were poor and the belief was that they brought it n themselves.

Originally it was churches who provided shelter and food accompanied by proselytizing to save their soul. Help to escape poverty was withheld until they accepted Jesus.

Shelters accept people in a building to sleep. That’s it. They aren’t welcome to stay during the day. Usually it’s 9 pm to 9 am and then they are on the street. Only those who are willing to comply with programming receive additional help.

Many homeless people have severe substance abuse issues, mental health issues, or have been sexually and physically abused so horribly, they have no faith or trust in fellow human beings.

Asking people with severe problems to jump through hoops for help is cruel.

If advocates want to actually help the homeless, they’d demand reform of the shelter system. People who are homeless need help now. Not when they’re ready to jump through hoops.

Many homeless are refused shelter if they are inebriated. So when they are at their most vulnerable.

No one chooses to be homeless willingly. Except maybe activists trying to make a point.

So trotting homeless people around public spaces is an indignity they can do without.

If the hotels available for shelter are substandard, then organize a volunteer effort to fix them up.

Fundraise for the required money to purchase supplies. Petition local and provincial governments to provide the funds. Social welfare is a provincial and municipal responsibility. Not federal.

Feds already bought the hotels.

Help make these hotel rooms inviting enough for people who are homeless to use. That might require asking the homeless what would make it more inviting.

Stop pushing your own agenda. You can either help the homeless with immediate needs or you can advocate social policy.

You can’t do both at the same time. People who need help don’t care one damn bit what the policy is. They just want a safe space to sleep and keep their belongings.

It’s you who cares what the policies are. So pick a lane. And stop using homeless people as props.

Homeless people may be plagued with substantial problems, but they aren’t stupid. They know they’re being used by people when all they need to do is make themselves seen.

You want to help people then help. You want to change society’s perception of the homeless, write policy.

Most people have been socialized to ignore the poor and indigent. If you’re young and socialized to perceive the homeless as people worthy of human compassion, then you’re part of a new generation. And you’re a minority.

Changing perception is even more difficult than policy.

You’re fighting an uphill battle. Making a paradigm shift in the public’s attitude and perception is going to require time and effort. And it sure as hell won’t be accomplished by shaming or guilting people.

UBI is a policy that could assist the homeless.

But that won’t be resolved overnight. So putting all your efforts into shaming the current government to instantly change their policy and begin offering it is a waste of your time and unfairly raising the hopes of the homeless.

Yes pressure to adopt the policy is required.

But expecting it to materialize instantly is unrealistic and a great source of frustration for those of us who have worked on policy development for the homeless for decades. Change is painfully slow. Because attitudes and beliefs are hard to shift.

You aren’t helping anyone but your own political agenda by calling out police who have been tasked to evict squatters on a public park space. Defunding the police isn’t going to solve homelessness.

So decide where you want to put your efforts.

Help with immediate need or work to change social acceptance of the poor and homeless through policy development and public education. It’s you who needs to persuade others that homeless people are human beings. Not the homeless by displaying their poverty. That is exploitative.

Give homeless people dignity and compassion. Quit moralizing, because NO ONE listens to smarmy self righteous do gooders.

Quit listening to demagogic populists that tell you homelessness can be solved immediately. Because it can’t. It requires an attitude adjustment first.