r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Garey_Coleman • 8d ago

Where are the homeless supposed to go?

Cities have been cracking down on homeless people so they can’t have encampments or stay on sidewalks. At the same time usually the shelters are full. So those who are unable to get into a shelter, where are they supposed to go?

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u/Possible_Resolution4 8d ago

I don’t think it’s because shelters are full, it’s that they don’t want to live in the shelter.

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u/Ok_Cod4125 8d ago

I have found it is a mix of both those things. Some don't want to go to the shelter because their stuff can not be stored and it is at risk of being stolen or trashed. Shelters also can be dangerous, so some folks would rather risk being in a hidey hole they have made for themselves in the woods or a building. And some do not want to abide by the shelter rules, so stay on the street. However, where I am, the teen shelter and women's shelter is full. Teenagers and women have to risk getting to the shelter and finding out there isn't a space, and then try to get back to their previous spot, hoping it hasn't been taken.

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u/Possible_Resolution4 8d ago

You also can’t get high in a shelter. On the street you can do what you want.

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u/Ok_Cod4125 8d ago

That's what "some do not want to abide by the shelter rules," means.

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u/FrankNumber37 8d ago

A lot of homeless folk are addicted to drugs because doing drugs takes the edge off the horror of living in the streets. We would never expect a housed person to kick drugs cold turkey with no support, but then we act like it's a choice to not go to the shelter.

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u/Ok_Cod4125 8d ago

When package/liquor stores status was changed to essential during Covid, I had hoped some folks would become more aware of the issues most alcoholics face when quitting. I'm both shocked and jealous that people have never had to process what withdrawal looks like AND how dangerous it can be.

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u/StormMaleficent6337 8d ago

I was homeless in my early 20s after college

Let me tell you, you don’t want druggies and drunkards in homeless shelters

Mostly because it’s very unfair for the non-addicts who are just homeless and have to live there

The drunks start drinking around noon, every single day… they puke in the bathrooms, they puke in the kitchen and dining area, they puke in the hallways and the lobby… they puke outside on the steps and surrounding sidewalks… they piss all over the bathroom floor and then stumble out, sometimes just passing out in the hallway and not even making it back to heir bunk

The addicts are probably not as bad… they just want to shoot up dope and enter their self-medicated state of bliss in their bed and be left alone… but the problem with them is once they start using again, when they start to get withdrawals, it can be really bad… they’ll be ranting and raving all day and night about crazy shit, they’ll do anything and steal anything to get money for their next needle to feed their arm, and they beg and cry to social workers 24/7

Usually the drunks and addicts get kicked out quickly enough and enter rehab programs somewhere else… then after rehab they are back in some shelter, and they repeat this process forever until they die or by some miracle they get subsidized shelter after being on the list for a while

Human life, this is it… I’m just glad I never had kids and added to all this insanity

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u/Mr_Tetragammon 7d ago

Some of the same people are homeless because of the drugs they use to take the edge off being homeless

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u/FrankNumber37 7d ago

Perhaps. But would that change anything? Even if you have no compassion for human suffering, it would remain bad policy for addressing concerns of blight.

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u/Mr_Tetragammon 7d ago

There is nothing I said that suggests a way to "fix" homelessness. You said some homeless people get addicted to drugs to ease the pain of doing drugs. I pointed out that some homeless are homeless because of an addiction to drugs and they're still using the same drugs. BTW, homeless people do have a choice wether or not to go to a shelter. I'm not aware of anyone forcing homeless people into shelters. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

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u/FrankNumber37 7d ago

Not saying this to rude, but this is a threaded conversation. Each comment assumes what is written above it.

Literally no part of this conversation is about fixing homelessness. It is about the immorality of sweeping encampments. Any suggestion that the homeless can leave the camps and go to shelters ignores that they can't go in dirty and they can't get clean there. It's not a real option, it's just something people say to justify the brutality.

Whether they got hooked on the streets or ended up on the streets because they got hooked is immaterial to the fact that they cannot go to the shelters.

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u/rain_upahead 8d ago

Alot of homeless are youth escaping abusively overbearing families so of course kids are going to not want to have to follow strict rules that's why they ran away from home to begin with

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u/HungryIndependence13 8d ago

If you work with the homeless you will absolutely find addicts. Some became homeless because of the addiction and others got so depressed by their situation that they accepted drugs as an escape. 

You will also find a lot of people who aren’t crazy or addicted to drugs. 

They aren’t the enemy. They are people who need help. 

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u/SprawlWars 8d ago

Would you stop with that bullshit narrative? It's not true that most homeless people are addicts. I have already shared this elsewhere on this thread, but here: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2024-AHAR-Part-1.pdf

Read something with facts and stop fucking spreading disinformation.

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u/[deleted] 8d ago

[deleted]

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u/SprawlWars 8d ago

Take your lazy ass to the link and find it yourself. lol

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u/HeadUnderstanding859 8d ago

Think! You're SO close!!