I’ve been quiet for a minute on this blog due to volunteering my ass off at Occupy Madison, and perhaps I’ve been away for too long?
IS THE ANSWER TOO OBVIOUS?
The issue with Reindahl seems painfully obvious to me. “The City” keeps trying to “fix” things. But maybe its not broken in the way that “the city” thinks it is and maybe the answer is much simpler than at first glance. Perhaps they should just talk to the people living there?
Obviously, there is no one answer for every person experiencing houselessness, just like in most of the rest of life. The answer is that we need all of the following:
- Affordable housing
- Landlords that will rent to formerly houseless people
- An adequately resourced homeless services system
- More very low income (30% of the median income or less) housing solutions
- More permanent supportive housing (Rethke, Housing Initiatives, etc)
- A purpose built men’s shelter with a sufficient number of trained social workers with a reasonable case load
- More tiny house villages
- A legal place to exist/sleep/be outside without the risk of harassment or tickets
- A place for houseless people to store their belongings
- Adequate mental health services
- Adequate AODA services
- Adequate crisis services
- and more . . .
And if there is an encampment as part of the solution, people need:
- Water
- Drinking water
- Restrooms
- Showers
- Laundry
- Electricity
- Safe place to store food (fridge/freezer)
- Place to charge phones and devices
- Regular Garbage Pick Up
- Access to a phone and internet
- Access to transportation
Finding a place for a small group of people to exist, outside of shelter, shouldn’t be the hardest thing on this list. Or the most expensive. And perhaps Reindahl is the best place? Or at least one of the better ones unless we can find a space closer to the center of the city?
WHAT IS THE ANSWER?
I’ve asked the people living at Reindahl what they want, and it varies by person, but maybe someone from the city should have a direct conversation with the people living in the park and actually listen to them? Maybe some people would like Dairy Drive? Maybe some people would like to leave Reindahl but don’t know where else to go? But likely, having just one answer won’t work for everyone. We need more than one solution.
