I knew I waited thought this meeting for hours for some reason, but I wasn’t expecting this admission. Although it was becoming painfully obvious it was true. This is winter number 5 with haphazard plans and no real, comprehensive, permanent day shelter services for people who have live their lives without a roof to call their own.
[archiveorg LynnGreenNoDayCenter2015 width=640 height=140 frameborder=0 webkitallowfullscreen=true mozallowfullscreen=true]
Casey, let’s be honest, even if we open that, un-renovated, like some people have talked about, we need a conditional use for it, and that’s a process. I think what we have been doing, is we have been planning that it won’t be available this winter and we want to be sure we have a plan in place so that we can feel like we can safely get through the winter, which I personally feel we did last winter, successfully collaborating with and combining our resources and having a contingency plan. So that’s what our aim is, to get through the winter, assuming that we won’t have a site open.
Wow. Winter number 5 with a half-assed incomplete contingency plan. 5 freaking winters with huge gaps in services to people who can’t get into housing because THERE IS NOT ENOUGH AFFORDABLE HOUSING AVAILABLE!
I like how she blames the conditional use process. Ahem, the city handed you a list of 6 properties to look at, months ago. You’ve had months to work on this, it was even in the paper a month ago. (SABOTAGE!) If you had started that process, you could be going before the plan commission this month and there would have been plenty of time. You can’t blame the city or the conditional use process for this – we all know when they want something done, they can bend, and break, their policies to get something done.
Given that we’ll be celebrating the 1st anniversary of the tiny house village being open and having residents in November, its impossible to imagine how a county staff of professionals could not have a permanent, comprehensive day center after 5 freaking years. They have money, they have multiple staff with full time jobs, they have connections, they have political will pushing them, they have a community largely behind them – and still, nothing.
Why? Gross incompetence? Sabotage? What other possible explanation is there? Staff is just too busy doing other things? For 5 freaking years? I’m so tired of excuses. I’ve known about this site since June . . . I toured it
Unfreakingbelievable.
Here’s an idea, stop planning for contingencies, start planning to MAKE. IT. HAPPEN. It’s not THAT hard.
You knew it was coming, there was no sense of urgency, but still, unfreakingbelievable.
Here’s the rest of the brief update. [archiveorg DayCenterUpdateAug252015 width=640 height=140 frameborder=0 webkitallowfullscreen=true mozallowfullscreen=true]
