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Morraine t1_j91wwks wrote

Reply to comment by sllewgh in Baltimore Sees Steep Drop in Unhoused Residents by real_human__bean

No, I’m sorry, but it really isn’t. People transitioning from homelessness, or conversely people on the brink of being homeless, need more than just a place to live - they need many supportive services. How will they pay for the electricity and water bills? Childcare? Food? You can’t just throw money at it by rehabbing a bunch of old, shitty row homes and expect anything other than them turning into crack dens.

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dopkick t1_j91xwox wrote

Look man, don't let reality get in the way of a good circle jerk. It feels so good to know you have the answer. And to be able to point at a boogeyman. You injecting reality into the discussion is killing the outspoken confident white knight vibe.

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sllewgh t1_j91zvn6 wrote

Now you're talking about something else entirely.

There is enough viable vacant housing stock to end homelessness, even accounting for the majority of vacants being in disrepair. You are correct that homelessness isn't the only problem a homeless person might be experiencing, but the solution to homelessness is still housing.

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dopkick t1_j926keg wrote

Your entire mental process is fundamentally flawed. Homelessness is a complex, multi-faceted problem. You are viewing it with a narrow aperture as solely the absence of a stable housing situation. The reality, however, is that there is a lot more going on.

I would argue the housing situation is a symptom of the problem. The problem is often some combination of a myriad of mental health issues, drug addiction, disabilities, financial crisis, etc. That is what leads to people not having a home. All of that is homelessness, plus the housing situation.

Simply providing a house is not going to address these underlying issues. If you want to solve these root causes you are going to need to be able to provide a large number of services to people. Baltimore is not very good at public transportation, so now what?

And then you have to consider even the mundane, day to day things. How does someone with unreliable transportation (and potentially a disability preventing usage of the existing transportation) get groceries on the regular? Much of these vacants are smack dab in the middle of a food desert.

And then another problem rears its ugly head. Crime. These vacants are generally NOT in good neighborhoods. Dropping off a highly vulnerable population in the middle of crime-ridden areas is basically a recipe for a victim factory.

Once you start to inject reality into the problem it quickly becomes apparent that the fact of a home itself is just a small part of the equation.

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sllewgh t1_j92rvpu wrote

I've already addressed this.

>You are correct that homelessness isn't the only problem a homeless person might be experiencing, but the solution to homelessness is still housing.

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