A Significant Day: March 10


	Photo from VOA webspace showing opening day of the Winter Shelter for 2008-09.

On March 9, the Winter Shelter - also known as Overflow - with its 104 beds for men and 50 beds for women and children, is scheduled to close. The date of March 9 is much earlier than the closing date of the shelter in years past. In that past, the Winter Shelter was open for fully five months, from Nov. 1 to Mar. 31. Not so this year, with its opening on Nov. 24 and scheduled close of Mar. 9.

With the increase in the number of homeless in Sacramento county [the extent of which will be shown when the result of the Jan. 27 StreetCount 2009 is disclosed on approximately Mar. 10], the early close is likely to leave many unprepared homeless people out in the street at night in late winter.

As the days roll forward into March, likely a forecast of late-winter weather conditions will inform the city, the county and us all how vital it is that something happen on March 10 to prevent the suffering of many of the unhoused poor.

What can happen? Volunteers of America, which runs Winter Shelter for the city and county, can be granted funding [or might get an outside grant] to continue to operate the shelter through the end of March.

Or, the city and county might reach quick agreement with homeless-advocacy groups to settle Lehr v Sac'to and allow for a tent encampment to be established speedily to 'absorb' many of the displaced homeless.

Or, camping and rough sleeping can be tolerated by the city and county and their police forces for the period after March 9 when night temperatures can still be chilly.

Or, the Salvation Army and the Union Gospel Mission and other homeless-care facilities can be allowed to harbor many people who are loose on the street at night, giving them access to warmth and a place to just be or sleep.

Something needs to happen. The demand for beds is increasing with the increase in homelessness in Sacramento county while the supply of beds will decrease a lot with a Mar. 9 end to the Winter Shelter.

Comments

Sex, Lies and Exegesis

Definition: exegesis [ek-si-jee-sis]: critical explanation or interpretation of a text or portion of a text, especially of the Bible. Painting by He Qi , a prominent artist from China who focuses on Christian themes. This piece is inspired by The Song of Solomon. In his May 21 column, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof stirred up a hornets’ nest. His column wasn’t really a column, it was a quiz, titled “ Religion and Sex Quiz .” The questions and what he provided as the answers were provocative, to say the least. We would later learn, in his follow-up, a post to the Times online in the afternoon of the same day, “ Reader Comments on my Religion Quiz ,” that the information that was used to create the quiz came with the help of Bible scholars, “including Jennifer Knust, whose book inspired [the quiz], and … Mark Jordan of Harvard Divinity School.” Kristof doesn’t name Knust’s book, but a quick googling reveals that it must certainly be Unprotected Texts: The Bible’s...

In an act of Collective Punishment, Loaves & Fishes closes its park in the morning on New Year’s Day

Calvin [a "green hat" in Unfriendly Park] makes the argument for continued incompetent management. Hobbes represents me — only, in real life, I don't have that good a coat . In an act of Collective Punishment, Loaves & Fishes closes its park in the morning on New Year’s Day In one respect — and only one — that I can think of, Loaves & Fishes is NOT hypocritical: The management hates the way America is run and wants to turn it into a backward communist country . Consistent with that, Loaves & Fishes’ management runs its facility like a backward communist country. The People’s Republic of Loaves & Fishes. A seemingly minor thing happened on New Year’s Day. A couple of people smoked a joint in Loaves & Fishes’ Friendship Park and one of the park directors, or both of them, determined, at about 10am, that, in retribution, they would punish all the homeless there by closing the park for the day. This is something the managers of the park do all the ...

Loaves & Fishes implicates Buddhism and Jack Kornfield in its June Donations Plea.

The Sukhothai Traimit Golden Buddha was found in a clay-and-plaster overlaid buddha statue in 1959, after laying in wait for 500 years. It's huge and heavy: just under 10 feet tall and weighs 5 1/2 tons. At the beginning of their June newsletter , Loaves and Fishes relates a story, taken from the beginning of renowned Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield's 2008 book The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology . The first part and first chapter in Kornfield's book is "Part I: Who are you really?" and chapter 1 is called "Nobility: Our Original Goodness," which ought to serve as a clue to what the beginning of the book is about, not that that sentiment isn't strewn through-out the chapter, section and book such that what Kornfield is telling us should be crystal clear. Somehow, the not-ready-for-primetime management at Loaves & Fishes have managed to use Kornfield's wise and kindly words in a way that mangles th...

Sacramento Homeless blog

Search This Blog