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PITDC20110127

Page history last edited by jerry 13 years, 1 month ago

PITDC20110127

 


 

Introduction/Definition/etc

 

Point In Time survey of unsheltered homeless in Washington, DC

Seemed to be a press event this year :-(

 

20110130 in middle of the night

20110131 cleanup and additions by Jerry

 

Photos

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/NoVAPeers/PITDC2011Training?authkey=Gv1sRgCLeczKXj9JalUA&feat=directlink

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/HomelessAbodes/PIT20110126?authkey=Gv1sRgCIfM4fLdyaW3zwE&feat=directlink

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/HomelessAbodes/PIT20110127?authkey=Gv1sRgCOmN3t_Q0pC54wE&feat=directlink

 

 

Body

 

Day after the snow storm, we went out looking

for unsheltered homeless in Washington, DC.

Others counted the facilities, shelters, etc

as I had done going on a decade ago

when working one seasonal shelter...

 

Impressions

 

Teams of people went in an area,

a much too big area to find people staying outside,

especially on foot...

 

It seemed really disorganized.

The training didn't really talk about how to find people,

nor did I ask, as last year I had many too many questions,

most were college students,

I guess doing service hours or for class or something

and they had a lot of questions, how to "rouse" people,

i.e. wake them safely, jiggle their foot (and easy way

to get kicked, IMHO).

Very few, if any, of the organizers seemed to have ever been

homeless, sheltered, or otherwise.  They were providers

and researchers, basically bean counting...

 

"Engagement"

 

One trainer use the term "engagement" to describe

encounters with unsheltered homeless,

and I started having issue with it.

You are not marrying the homeless,

as in engaged to be married,

nor is the homeless person an enemy,

as in military operations.

The term used in "Rules of Engagement" may be a TV show

about romantic and married relationships, but it seemed to breed

fear of the people you might encounter...

 

This is because providers consider the client

separate and different, studied, sometimes pitied,

but somehow different, less than, needy, incompetent,

etc, as opposed to one of us.  There was the concept

that people are our neighbors, which was one of the most

friendly parts of the training.

 

Basically, in my view, if you treat the person

with respect, there is less likelihood to be problems.

You are basically breaking and entering into someone's

home, so why wouldn't they be offended/ defensive/

angry, etc?

 

Preaching Politics

 

The big wigs presented, preached and professed

that the stuff we were volunteering was used,

valuable, etc.  Then reminders of the counting process,

questions and their [ hidden ] meanings and the responses

they wanted.

 

After everyone in Downtown being reassigned,

and the last kid picked on the playground,

because the big wigs got the area closest to the NY Avenue

Presbyterian Church, last year it was near UPO

(United Planning Organization),

the ones that do the hypothermia van service over

in North East, off Rhode Island Avenue and

South East of Howard University...

 

At least at UPO there was a little parking,

but with the winter storm and trying to get home after the 2 AM

finish time, you basically had to own a car

or get there somehow, as biking to during rush hour

and then home after dark was dangerous,

not only because of the ice and late hours,

but the drunks I saw partying and trying to get cabs late... 

Even closing the survey earlier at 12 midnight,

Metro was closed.  I saw a Metro pickup truck with a

shopping cart on it, and worried about what

was being done with a homeless someone's belongings...

(and wished I'd gotten a photo)

 

Team Huddle and Searching

 

Assigned late, the team meeting, hit the bathroom and

we were to meet at one location, and

the team lead was directionally challenged.

A GPS might have helped that some,

and some night vision.

 

I basically helped with directions,

the other person probably could have too.

 

So I basically guessed at areas

that might have people, and found stuff,

but not always people.

I "knocked" in some semi humorous

show of respect.

 

Most of the places were so noisy,

I'm not sure how people would have heard us. 

Cars and under bridges, and/or under a lot of stuff.

 

Two people we found, and I actually talked to,

But will not be discussed, as privacy and confidentiality

concerns.  Mostly I'm concerned with documenting

those that we didn't find and the process...

 

And then we ran into the other part of the team

who was not in the area where they were

supposed to be, IMHO (In My Humble Opinion).

 

Obviously, safety is a concern.  Drilled into us

was leaving an exit, and not going into alleys, etc

alone.

 

Politics and Obama's State of the Union

 

Part of the politics ad press was the Veteran's Administration and

Secretary of HUD, associated public relations and photographer(s),

CNN and other press like StreetSense were on hand,

and I was trying to stay off camera. 

I haven't seen CNN to see if it was aired. 

Maybe the blog has it?

(A quick search finds that most don't report on it...

But I'm guessing Street Sense will have an article due out this week...)

 

I don't see how it was a good objective count

(meaning the people funded to help the people served

were not the ones trying to locate people,

basically like a financial conflict of interest

which MetroAccess and Metro can't seem to)

oversee their own affairs, denying stuff,

until the press got involved.

We were required to sign a waiver, no workers comp,

no insurance, etc, we are not DC government employees

and if we were, not job related...  Doing this for humanitarian

reasons...

 

If Obama talked about homeless,

in the State of the Union address the night(s) before,

and the various organizations involved, I missed it...

 

I did hear something about streamlining government,

how many agencies deal with X? 

Well, there is the Executive Branch,

Legislative Branch, and the Judicial...

Which one do you propose we eliminate?

Checks and balances, and some overlap

may be necessary. How about Independent Counsel?

 

Comm Tech

 

I haven't felt a lot of respect from some of the people.

I didn't get the message that the count was

canceled/ delayed on Jan 26th, so commuted

in the storm to go do what I thought was happening,

And that was funny???

 

I guess those with smart phones can check if

something is open on the commute in,

as many were looking at Blackberries on the bus,

I was wondering how the cell towers were doing with heavy snow...

Avoiding MetroRail during rush hour and then there is no way home

late when that closes.

 

But giving a phone number, or list of phone numbers

on piece of paper that is likely to get wet,

to someone without a phone, without electricity,

without a house, roof, or running water (i.e. plumbing),

not something dripping from the overhead/

overpass above, or the curb/ sewer, stream, etc?

 

Even 800 numbers require a pay phone or something,

(try finding pay phones anymore, now that there are cellphones)

and the skills to navigate a receptionist/ gatekeeper,

when most I deal with, as a sheltered person,

disabled, are sadistic, unhelpful, or just clueless,

and some are just plain mean.

(See Temple Grandin's DVD when she visits

a slaugherhouse, basically security is called).

 

When working at a seasonal homeless shelter,

aka hypothermia, I would get occasional calls/

voice messages from people looking for a space,

but none were available, so what do you say? 

I had thought a reservation system like hotels

would be good, across the available shelters

to fill the remaining vacancies. 

But most hotels probably don't run to capacity

the whole time.  So why would shelters?

 

Published Data

 

The Community-Partnerships.org website has some reports

(most probably don't make sense to me)

but the Data menu item seems to show that the Dashboard

gives spaces and utilization, now about a month out of date. 

December numbers were not up, last I checked the other day

after the count...

 

Technology might help some too.

We didn't have a photocopy of the map

I was trying to survey, and I wasn't allowed

to go out on my own, on a bike, probably for safety

reasons, but I guess some staff/ advanced people did.

 

Counting

 

Two people were easy to find.  Last year we talked

with one person who was just out of our area.

And found a couple of places where people may

have been, just not then.  If someone were to visit

your home, say at 12 midnight or 3 am as one

politician mentioned for Cincinnatti (sp?), would you answer

the "door"?  I wouldn't.  Word was put out that people

were doing the count.  MPD (Metro Police Department)

knew we were out counting.  There were so many

ambulances running around the area we were, late,

I wondered if the politicians called in

for people to be taken in somewhere. 

 

Take Aways

 

A Veteran, and here, is an ambulance to take you some place

for health problems.  The issue, or one small sliver of it,

is that homeless seem to think that the hypothermia van

equals death, at least one old article in StreetSense

portrayed it that way, like Kavorkian's Van.

 

I didn't talk much with people, the team leader

ran a Veteran's house/ home in Maryland,

did most of the forms, I was just trying to find

people and places, looking in corners,

and out of the way, but not too far out of the way...

 

Blisters and Bathroom

 

I would have liked more time.  My boots hurt

and I can't walk much more, developing painful blisters,

and needed to use a bathroom,

and probably should have just found a tree and peed,

but with mixed company, I wasn't going to.

 

What's Needed?

 

We were told many things, most of which didn't

make much sense to me.  On the forms,

leading questions like this is what we count,

and this is what this means. 

What the person needs is a shelter,

or transitional, we make a judgment call,

all people probably need permanent supportive housing,

but we weren't supposed to put that...  

 

For some reason a person in a tent,

with two rats going away from next to the tent area,

needs an SRO (Single Room Occupancy?)

It's a start, but how do you go into mainstream

society, when most people treat you badly,

like the place I bought pizza from, for myself,

because I hadn't eaten, and have them put

the scrapings of stuff off the grill on his

two gift pieces?  A parting insult from the store

closest to his "home"?  Makes me want to call

the food inspector on the place.  Or

Son's of Italy...

 

What's Not Needed?

 

When I was on food stamps,

I had a 7-11 clerk (in Springfield?)

not give me a straw,

(presuming I was snorting something???)

and other stuff, some little, mostly cruel,

hatred in it's purest forms, by people

who should be doing customer service,

maybe it's more a religious calling?

 

But would you want to feel your soul

is for sale for a meal?  Sure, it helps

to have some belief system to see

what we saw.  I wanted to give

a key and a place to the people I met,

but I also know they might not get along

with my neighbors, not that I am,

but the process of day treatment,

all the paperwork and other stuff,

and going from homeless directly

to Housing First?  There are probably

a lot of services needed, assuming they

actually help the homeless, a checking account,

and/or payee necessary to help

protect people and their money,

not that reports of people stealing

the payee's money don't happen...

 

The fees, etc. and basically nothing

is left for the person it is supposed

to benefit.  Even sliding scale services,

and it adds up between treatment,

transportation, etc on maybe GR

(General Relief) plus maybe food stamps?

And last I applied they didn't even give

me a denial letter, so "sewer serviced"

or round filed my application, instead

of legally required responses???

 

Wrap Ups

 

Anyway, I'm still affected by what

happened, and what didn't happen,

and I'm not much for politics,

if someone wants to eliminate homelessness

by 2015, as the 10 Year Plans might have committed,

first of all it would take a miracle,

as couch surfing and others could not even

be found, and sweeping the area, like search

and rescue, even with good "intel" on where

people normally are, and people are lazy,

tired, sick, incompetent, sadistic, etc.

walking the distances, and the Census Bureau

does a more thorough job, and given a lot more time,

processes, and resources to find people WITH AN ADDRESS...

 

And that is for people who might not mind

being found.  If I were a Veteran, I'd probably

not want to be found, and have the training

to not be counted...

 

It felt like a sham.

Due diligence would be a legal term

I would have someone look into.

 

I did what I could, but without the processes

and resources, and 3 hours to look over square miles,

on foot, cut down from 5, with 7 people and you can't do it.

Mission Improbable, indeed.

 

 

 

Conclusion

 

Summary of experience or similar

 

Discussion

 

A place for feedback on the page presented

 

Page History

 

20110201 Jerry

  • Add training photo link
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20110131 Jerry

  • cleanup and add stuff

 

20110130 Jerry

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