I pray I never get used to watching a homeless person make a bed for the night in front of some storefront or building overhang. It’s very sad that in most urban areas after stores close homeless people lay out cardboard and try their best to create a place to sleep. Genevieve on the streets of Philadelphia. She is a
Genevieve on the streets of Philadelphia. She is a 59 year-old grandmother sleeping on a sidewalk because she feels it’s safer than going into a shelter! Genevieve told me before this interview that she had everything she owned stollen while sleeping in a homeless shelter. Genevieve has four daughters. She hopes to reconnect with one of them and get inside before the come weather comes! I know many people will comment asking where their family is. Truth is, in many cases, relatives are having
Genevieve has four daughters. She hopes to reconnect with one of them and get inside before the come weather comes! I know many people will comment asking where their family is. Truth is, in many cases, relatives are having trouble of their own trying to make ends meet. Taking on another dependant is not possible.
My work is not scientific in the least. I can only share what I observe. I was here not even two months ago, and tonight I saw far more homelessness than I did my previous visit! The thing is, this is not just Philly. Homelessness is getting worse everywhere! Because of the lack of affordable housing functional zero is actually functional fiction! Don’t fool yourself – homeless services have gotten much better at looking at data and housing people but the affordable housing crisis is everywhere, and I am gravely concerned the homelessness we are soon to see will tax the social services system more than it always is.
***functional zero is when a community claims they have ended homelessness on the theory that they have enough support services to help the number of homeless people counted in the last point in time count. They actually didn’t end homelessness. They just have enough beds for the homeless people on the streets! It doesn’t mean that the services are actually something that people want or need.
