r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Garey_Coleman • 10d 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/doubledoc5212 9d ago

Colorado has similar laws - it's unlawful to sleep in public places. The cops will literally wake people up at 2am because they're sleeping in a park and force them to hike elsewhere. Where: who knows? And god knows you're going to have a hard time actually getting your life back together when you never get to finish a REM cycle.

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u/whitedolphinn 9d ago

That's fucked.

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u/Slightly-Adrift 9d ago

Colorado is in an extra sucky position because people will freeze to death outside, so we really don’t want people on the streets at night during the winter, but we’ve provided next to no resources to actually address that as an issue

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u/brettinbrooklyn 9d ago edited 9d ago

I don't believe that for a fucking second. If you call Lawrence Street they would immediately help you. Denver invests heavily in the homelessness crisis and it is getting better.

I don't know what this perverse obsession is with people saying cities are doing nothing to help homeless. Aside from being wrong and perpetuating misinformation, its a slap in the face to the countless people who are working on this.

I don't know what your motive is or what you are hoping to gain. But rather than lie, could you please just shut the fuck up on the subject? You are not helping and are just doing heartless and sadistic performance bullshit.

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u/xenogra 9d ago

It is possible to both do a lot, and also, not nearly enough. It's a big problem, and doing a lot in one place doesn't necessarily do much for people in other places who might not be able to access that help.

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u/etcpt 9d ago

TIL Denver is the only place with homeless folks in a hundred thousand square mile state.

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u/Stunning_Scheme_6418 8d ago

Okay I'm going to tell you that someone that was homeless in Denver in 2016 it is the best place in the state to be homeless there are a lot of resources. However those resources are usually get you a bed for the night get you a meal get you clean clothes maybe get you a shower. The Stout Street clinic was pretty good I'll give credit where it's due. But even so everything up there is short-term nothing is geared towards getting you anything permanent. It's still not great and it's still very dehumanizing. Pueblo tho and Colorado Springs awful.

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u/Stunning_Scheme_6418 8d ago

Yep here in the springs we lose three or four every year to freezing. The warming shelters don't turn on until it's like under 20° or something ridiculous like that and there's no real public transportation to get you there. You can call a cop but then it's a toss up whether they're going to take you to jail just harass you or take you to a warming shelter.

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u/MidorriMeltdown 9d ago

That's literal torture.

Cruel and unusual punishment for the "crime" of being homeless.

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u/Professional-Tax-615 Down with Gambling ads 8d ago

Torture and abuse is really what it is. That's the kind of tactics that the Nazis used in World War II, and also the Vietnam people used against their prisoners of war. Not allowing them to sleep.

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u/Super_Mario_Luigi 9d ago

It's common sense. There are other places to sleep than the street. I promise you.

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u/Stunning_Scheme_6418 8d ago

Yeah? Where? The shelter? If there is space you are likely to get eaten by bed bugs or robbed. You wouldn't be on the actual street sleeping if you had willing family to help or a vehicle. So where?

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u/selfly 9d ago

Is that recent? Last time I was in Denver there were a ton of homeless people with tents in the middle of the sidewalks.

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u/Popular-Departure165 9d ago

The camps have mostly been cleared out of downtown.  The city bought/rented a bunch of hotels to house them, but there are still a lot of people camping underneath overpasses and a long the bike paths.

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u/HungryIndependence13 9d ago

And it gets mighty cold there, too. 

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u/beepichu 9d ago

it’s just pure unfiltered sadism. it’s easy to torture vulnerable people who have no other options.

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u/Hot_Ad1621 9d ago

They sleep everywhere else. Parks are just off limits to sleep at night. They don’t want the parks to be taken over by the homeless