What do you get when you're about to lose everything?
One thing you'll never see in the lobby or dorm counselor office in a homeless shelter is a cash drawer, nor any other forms of valuable lockupable system.
In Jacksonville years ago, attempts were actually made by a few different non profit agencies to bring some form of 'shelter' for people's belongings, rather than have them carting them constantly through downtown streets.
Mind you, we're not talking much more than a high school locker, but for those needing to 'hide' their items while going to job interviews it's a big help.
While storage rooms are available downtown, the fact is people trying to get off the street don't have the cash in hand for the downstroke. That and the possibility of losing everything if they miss a payment can mean losing valuable and irreplaceable documents that they opt to carry regularly.
Think about it. If you only had 60 seconds to grab whatever you could if your home was destroyed, what would you grab...and would you tend to hold tightly to it after having lost everything?
Food for thought?
3 comments:
The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (an advocacy group) has requested storage for the homeless for years.
There are many trades people in the shelters that have no where to store their tools. Having your own tools is a requirement of most building trades. No tools, no jobs.
It's all a Catch 22.
Glad you are housed!
Thanks, CynDe.
It's like having to have a phone. We still don't have voice mail services as some other cities do, so most have to rely on prepaid cell phones for that.
Back to basics - that's where we should go. - because the more 'easy' we make it for some, the further from simplicity it is for all...
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