The issue of homelessness is complex and I will confess I am no expert in it. I’ve spent quite a bit of time reading up on homelessness issues in places like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin, TX. People end up on the streets for multiple reasons: financial, substance addiction, and untreated mental health issues. The Lincoln Center, as a low/no-barrier facility serves, most often, the latter two.
The city has a role to play with this issue – but it needs to be a partnership and collaboration that extends to non-profits (like Catholic Charities or other reputable/experienced organizations that can run shelters) and other levels of government (like county and state government – for social workers and funding). And shelter facilities need to follow applicable zoning laws and ordinances (where the city fits in primarily). There needs to be accountability and responsibility in operating places like the Lincoln Center to ensure the people who are utilizing the facility are safe as well as being good neighbors with surrounding businesses and residents. In my view, the city dropped the ball on enforcing the accountability piece with respect to the operators and has been scrambling to catch back up. This is especially true of Mayor Kleis and the administration and I think the city council needs to keep on it to make sure things improve.
In a broader sense, through partnerships and collaboration, we need to get people the help they need. This is especially true of those suffering from substance addiction and untreated mental health issues. Those particular individuals are often stuck in a perpetual cycle and have driven family and friends away. These same individuals are the ones who end up in places like Lincoln Center and have nowhere else to go.
If low-barrier shelters do not exist, we end up with encampments which are more dangerous to both the people in them and the people around them.
Finally, I think it’s important to remember that these are real human beings and we need to show them compassion. That doesn’t mean not holding them or the operators of low-barrier shelters accountable for their actions, but it does mean trying to do what we can to help them while not trampling on the rights of others.
I hope this gives you a better sense of my position on this issue. Like I said at the beginning, this is complex and there’s no silver bullet to “fixing” it. I’m the type of person who is eager to learn and hear alternative approaches to any issue – like this one – and am willing to change course if there’s a better way to address something.