We can fix this failure to serve the least of us

 

We have a big problem across this country.  We have failed to serve the bottom of the housing market for over 50 years.  Grants Pass now has people camping in our parks, protected under court order, because we have no place for the vast majority of them to go.  There are well over 1000 people in this county who have no secure place to live. 

Grants Pass has a little project run by a non-profit with people sleeping separately in a dozen sheds and walking through the cold to a bathroom.  There are plans for an urban campground that can’t find 5 acres where the neighbors will tolerate them.  There is a shelter that sleeps 27, mostly couples.  And there is the Gospel Rescue Mission, an 80-bed residential rehab that calls itself a shelter but takes only people who ask help for their addictions.  All of these have a high barrier in that they are small, and only take people vetted and referred by police. 

They can be parts of a solution but cannot be the entire solution.  They take too much land for too few people and would not be sustainable by charity in this city in larger numbers. 

We need a big fix for this market failure.  Operations must be paid for by its users and gift vouchers to be sustainable.  It must be big enough to handle the number of people in Grants Pass who need cheap shelter and big enough to pencil out at $5-$10 for each cot rental per day, which is not a high barrier.  It doesn’t have to sell food or privacy, just a cheap place to shower and sleep; use bathrooms; keep their stuff and their pets; keep their cars; a place to read and eat food they buy elsewhere; and not be subject to searches without warrants.  To attract enough customers, they need to be treated like customers, not suspects.

The solution is two big hostels, enough to sleep several hundred in each: one for families and teens and one for adults, including those who are under court order to avoid children. 

Picture a building the size and layout of a grocery store, with a huge dimly lit central floor space for hundreds of cots, 6 feet apart, each with a footlocker to put their stuff in and a lock to keep others out, surrounded by bathrooms; showers; a reading and eating room with assistance info; a coin-op laundry; a sick room with separate ventilation for those who are sick and cold/covid/smoke masks for those who feel the need; a classroom/meeting room; kennels for their pets; and a parking lot for their cars, where they can sleep safely in privacy if they wish, and use the facilities.  These hostels can serve not only our local unsheltered people, but also travelers, as hostels normally do.

Security comes with having 3 people on duty at a time, 24/7: one on the high watch over the sleepers; one in an entry kiosk, selling cot vouchers to the public and renting cots to those who need them, along with selling sundries and watching video from security cameras throughout the facility, including the parking lot; and one giving breaks to the other two and patrolling inside and out.  They switch jobs every two hours to keep them sharp.  If there is any trouble, they call police and trespass the troublemaker(s), like any other business.

Searches are unnecessary.  If anyone shows off their private stuff, like guns, drugs, or private parts of their bodies, they can be dealt with immediately.  The presence of the crowd, along with cameras, would tend to keep weapons concealed.  Knives are tools until they are used or threatened to be used as weapons and can be carried openly in a sheath and used peacefully.

Rules would be simple.  Silence in the sleeping room, with lip tape available for those who snore.  Quiet tones everywhere else, including outside.  No smoking in the building; no littering anywhere.  Keep your private stuff private and your hands to yourself and your stuff.  Lesser offenses can be paid for by picking up litter along the street; disturbing the peace by being trespassed.

Those without money for a cot can work off their rent by cleaning midday, when lights would be on full; day sleepers can buy sleeping masks and ear plugs. We could even have garden spaces in the parking lot, to grow salad greens and fruits, with free gardening classes for those who wish to learn.  Paid gardeners are in short supply nearly everywhere, and it shows in our city and elsewhere.

Financing:

We can buy land and build these hostels by selling stock to the public, including residents and businesses who want to be part of the solution and aren’t worried about making a personal profit.  These hostels should be profitable when full, and fill very quickly after they start operating, but there will be better times when they might need to fall back on contingency funds or even ask for donations.  Selling stock to do building and equipping will allow management to keep the cot rent, kennel rent, and laundry prices reasonable with 10 employees.

Written 11/14/22.  Published 12/17/22 on CurrentNewsYouCanUse.blogspot.com

Rycke Brown                                       541-955-9040                    rycke@gardener.com

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