After volunteering at a local homeless shelter, I decided to research why many homeless individuals do not want to stay in homeless shelters. Many people assume the homeless do not use shelters because of theft or drugs, but there are a number of reasons. Many of the homeless prefer to sleep on the streets and I ask myself why? Of course, one reason is that there are simply not enough beds available at shelters and a long waiting list. According to author Kylyssa Shay, “In most cities in the US, there’s space for less than 25% of the homeless people living in that city. In some cities, there is room for less than 5% of their homeless population” (Shay 2017).
Another reason why the homeless do not stay in shelters is that the disabled are not always safe. Some shelters will take away walkers, crutches, or canes while they are there. This avoids the chance of them being stolen, but leaves the disabled at a disadvantage.
The homeless do not want to go to the shelters because they have a lack of control. There are strict check-in, sleep, check-out times, etc. These strict rules and regulations can cause them stress and make them feel like they are not in control.
I was shocked to discover some reasons for not staying in a shelter. Thankfully, not all shelters include these downsides. Still, these are things many homeless people have experienced which may have caused them to later avoid using them at all. After researching this, I ask myself if there WERE enough beds available, would the homeless still want to stay in shelters?
https://soapboxie.com/social-issues/why_homeless_people_avoid_shelters
Laura,
Thanks for bringing this subject up. I have read about how the logic about homeless people being “resistant to shelter” as fallacious because of the reasons you describe—living in a shelter sucks. Anyone who is subjected to such conditions would be “resistant to shelter.” An issue that occurs when people choose to leave shelters is that service providers and housed people get the idea that homeless people are “resistant to shelter/services.” This sort of logic plays into the notion that people need to get “housing ready.”
The “Housing First” campaign contradicts that logic by asserting that if people are given adequate housing, the problems that caused them to seem not ready for housing will disappear. From what I have read, this assertion has proven to be true.