Ways to provide more beds for the homeless

11/23/2020

Note: The following excerpt is from an email I sent to a city health official and two chairs of CACHPA. The email to one of the chairs bounced, so it was undeliverable. A .pdf copy of the full email is available for download at your own risk.

The low hit the 20s twice in Harrisburg last week. That's like having the flu or a fever in a cold shower all night, and nobody felt it more than the homeless on the streets. Two days ago, at dusk, I walked through a garage on my way home from the store. When asked, a homeless man told me that overnight shelters don't open their doors till Dec. 1 (regardless of the temperature outside). Would it trouble the city to open gyms, basements, and auditoriums at the Y, churches, and -- for those people screened -- public schools if the nightly temperature will drop below 40?

Regards,

Jubalyn ExWilliams
Harrisburg, PA
XXX-XXX-XXXX

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A homeless man reading while wearing two coats, a skullie, and gloves

Homeless man reading book (Credit: "It's no #Honeymoon being #HomelessInIndy." by kennethkonica)

Jubalyn ExWilliams lives in Pennsylvania (United States). You can find her writings and commentaries, including "Ways to provide more beds for the homeless," at landturn.com/blog.

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1 Comment

Jubalyn ExWilliams link

5/3/2023 03:54:01

Four weeks later, PennLive began its 14-PART series on homelessness in Harrisburg.

I don't attribute it to coincidence that the series spawned several weeks after my posts (currently titled) "WHY THIS WINTER IS DEADLIER FOR THE HOMELESS" and "WAYS TO PROVIDE MORE BEDS FOR THE HOMELESS." Nor do I attribute to coincidence that the series acquired a sudden perspective on COVID's connection to homelessness that winter.

The series was a departure from the news org's previous fall/wintertime coverage on homelessness that I've read. That coverage seemed to emphasize the overcapacity of homeless shelters with little-to-no perspective on even the risk of the seasonal cold/flu.

In months before the series, PennLive's coverage on housing emphasized the evictions and pending evictions of non-homeless residents. It's to its credit that this coverage introduced me to the work of the Greater Harrisburg Area Tenants United.

A year later, I would attempt to reach out to GTHU as a then-member of the Harrisburg NAACP Environmental Committee.

In hindsight, it's curious that MOST of the PennLive series resides -- as it did then -- behind a paywall. However, I've since made the time to access the series. Some of it includes:

"SCENES FROM A HOMELESS SHELTER ON A COLD NIGHT AMID THE CORONAVIRUS" (Luciew)

"CORONAVIRUS COMPLICATES BRINGING PA.'S HOMELESS IN FROM THE COLD" (DeJesus)

"ONLY TWO HOMELESS PEOPLE SOUGHT SAFETY IN EMERGENCY WINTER STORM SHELTER -- BUT FOR PROVIDERS, IT'S A TEACHING MOMENT" (DeJesus)

"WHAT'S IT LIKE AT A SHELTER? WITH THE PANDEMIC, SPACE IS LIMITED, MASKS ARE A MUST AND COTS ARE SEPARATED BY PLASTIC PARTITIONS" (Luciew)

"PROJECT SHOWS CHALLENGES FACING THE HOMELESS" (Barron)

"HOW TO HELP PEOPLE FACING HOMELESS THIS WINTER IS THE TOPIC OF THURSDAY'S FACEBOOK LIVE" (Davis)

"THANKS TO ALL WHO STEPPED UP TO HELP OTHERS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON" (Davis)

"AN URGENT APPEAL TO HELP PEOPLE WITHOUT HOMES -- OR ABOUT TO LOSE THEM -- DURING THIS PANDEMIC" (PennLive Editorial Board)

And prior to posting this comment, I noticed "HARRISBURG'S HOMELESS ARE SICKER THAN EVER" (Luciew). Sound familiar? It was published 12 months later.

The series is not the first or last time PennLive expropriated or emulated my work, ideas, or expressions. Nor is it the only entity (or individual) to use my energy as its cheat sheet -- especially in central PA -- since the re-launch of my site.

Ways to provide more beds for the homeless

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