An event called 'Homeless Connect' provides Spokane's most vulnerable with 'every service you can think of — veterinary services, haircuts, showers, clothing,' an organizer says. It's part of a delicate, more long-term plan to build trust in the system.
Kirk Siegler/NPRForty-year-old Shan Anderson has been living on the streets off and on since he was 9.When the icy wind blows off the Spokane River, the temperature can routinely plunge below zero on this city's worn streets near downtown and the I-90 freeway. Trying to survive without shelter out here is almost impossible."The first night I came here I was almost frozen to the sidewalk," Hodges says.
"They're checking on me all the time. I'm like, 'Hey, you know, I want to go drink,'"she says."And they're like, 'No, you don't. We're going to keep an eye on you. You're going to stay here today.'"What Hodges is talking about — the constant attention and support — is the kind of care that advocates for the poor say is crucial to at least help people get out of the spiral into chronic homelessness.
Nationwide, the homeless population is rising. In many communities, it can feel like an intractable problem. Yet cities like Spokane are starting to show some incremental progress with some prevention programs. Homeless prevention leaders like Garcia say it's important to highlight these — otherwise, the general public, bombarded by so many stories about how bad the crisis is, might start thinking there are no solutions.
"It's an amazing thing to witness. We have absolutely every service you can think of — veterinary services, haircuts, showers, clothing," Chapman says.It's part of a delicate, more long-term plan to build trust in the system and convince people that if they get help, their lives might improve.
Norge Siste Nytt, Norge Overskrifter
Similar News:Du kan også lese nyheter som ligner på denne som vi har samlet inn fra andre nyhetskilder.
Free movement adds to EU’s homelessness crisisTo its champions, free movement of people is one of the EU's biggest wins, but it is leaving some of its most destitute citizens out in the cold
Les mer »
Knowing how plants and microbes work together can boost crop yieldsThe first step to understanding the zone of interaction between plants' roots and microbes is to simplify it
Les mer »