Reflections After a Night in Jail

BLOG POST posted on April 30, 2011 by Joseph Jones

Jail Door Opens on April 30 for Rider Cooey

[Email 5:24 pm 30 April 2011 reposted with permission of author/prisoner Rider Cooey]

Hello,

I think these "Low-barrier" homeless shelters are the most needed because:

1. They accept the most desperate people
2. They stabilize people — despite being simply mats-on-the-floor with two meals and laundry
3. They have the most success enabling transition to the next levels of supportive housing
4. Their non-DTES location, acceptance of carts and pets, sense of community, internal discipline, etc … all prevent spiraling deeper into homelessness, visible and invisible
5. We were repeatedly told "This place saved my life." &hellip And the reference is never to "cold, wet weather"

I think they should be a new category of shelter, a vital part of the housing continuum, and they should operate all year round — some in the same locations, some elsewhere.

Opening and closing low-barrier shelters for a few months just wastes money and resources, since all the gains people make while staying at low-barrier shelters are lost when they're bureaucratically booted out.

Regards,
Rider Cooey

Thanks to all for your support and the work you all do.

See also Shelter Prisoners Finally Released

[Credit for origin of accompanying graphic to Murray Bush photo of 30 April 2011]