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 had people camping in our parks for about 5 years, protected under court order, until the Supreme Court said otherwise this year.  They are still somewhat protected by state law that cities must have places for people to go, but we still have no places for the vast majority of them to go.  Now the tent campers are in 2 small so-called campgrounds that have no water or shelter from sun and wind apart from their own small tents but they do have porta potties which the city must pay for.  Both are supposed to be temporary; one is where the new city water plant will be built.  Many are camping in their vehicles on the streets and often using shopping carts for their property. There are well over 1000 people in Josephine 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 "tiny homes" 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 was a shelter that slept 27, mostly couples, but it was not sustainable and closed down. 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 and complains that they are only half-full.  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 are not 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: to 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 as 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 buildings the size and layout of a mid-size grocery store with a parking lot to match: 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 mouth 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; 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 may 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.

There is one barrier that must be removed before this can begin: the water rationing caused by artificially high unit prices for city water that have spread all over this nation and world over the last 38 years.  These customers will be using a lot of water for bathrooms, showers, and laundry.  They have to be able to afford hygiene and drinking water.  

This is what mayors and city councils are for: reform of water and sewer pricing to go back to what worked for most of the last century. See the Ratepayers Utility Rate Board Petition, currently circulating in Grants Pass.

Edited and reprinted 11/15/24 on CurrentNewsYouCanUse.blogspot.com

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

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