Rebecca

@RebeccaMark

Dishabituation junkie and aspiring polymath.

Austin, Texas

Joined May 2007

759 Following

1.1K Followers

3.8K Posts

RebeccaMark retweeted

Michael Shellenberger

@shellenberger

9 months ago

Progressives have for decades denied that offering services like food, shelter, and needle exchange is a “magnet” for attracting homeless people. Not so in the progressive city of Austin, Texas. Last week, a staff member of the city’s Homeless Strategies and Operations department told me, after a meeting with angry local parents, that the city intended the controversial homeless “navigation center” to be a magnet to attract the homeless. The city intends to build the facility across the street from Travis High School and near an elementary school. Austin has taken significant efforts to dismantle “encampments,” or what European researchers call “open drug scenes.” Austin’s head of the HSO, David Gray, told me that same evening that the city would not allow needle exchange near the site, and the whole purpose of the navigation center would be to get people off the street, including into a nearby shelter (Southbridge). Gray and the other HSO members stressed that they would work to develop the facility with a local advisory council. But Gray also acknowledged in sworn testimony that the new location would focus on “individual adults,” not families, the people who are the most resistant to services, including shelter, and that homeless people would likely line up at the navigation shelter starting around 7:30 am. As for the advisory council, Gray and HSO staff made clear that it was just advisory and that the city had decided to locate the center across from the high school and would not change its mind. “It’s safe to say we have a good idea of what we’d like to do,” admitted Gray in his testimony. And there is widespread needle exchange in Austin, and, said Gray, “Their goal is to try to meet clients where they’re at.” There has been a major controversy in Austin around a different homeless navigation shelter called Sunrise, where there is also a needle exchange. A child was accidentally pricked by a dirty needle used for shooting drugs, said a local mother, when he played in the school playground. Gray said to expect public camping at the new Travis navigation center. “It’s not uncommon to see people pitch a tent near where they can get access to nutritional resources.” He also said the site would likely attract addicts and the mentally ill and that the state lacks resources to help them. My students and I recorded video interviews with homeless people in multiple sites in Austin last week and over the weekend. We discovered widespread violence and drug use. “This is the worst group of homeless people,” said Jo-Ann Causey, a woman living out of her truck who has a tattoo below her neck that reads, “Fear No Evil.” Causey and others described a street life operating without police protection and following the rules of the jungle. After a man threw a rock through her window, hitting her dog, she said, “I got the steel pole and cracked some dude in the thigh with it. He said, ‘Please, Joanne, don’t hit me,’” But I had to hit him with it. I’m a punk, you know what I’m saying? If he breaks my window and no consequences, they’re gonna break my windows.” Many admitted to serious crimes. One man, Chase Matthews, who said he refused to sleep in a shelter for fear of violence, said he had served time in prison for “Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against my baby mama.” Another man, who gave the name only of Jerry, said he “almost” killed someone. Most reported having seen extreme violence. A.J. Lewis said he saw someone “get clubbed in the head while he was sleeping.” Lori Parkhurst, 54, said, “I’ve seen people get beat to death.”... https://t.co/2lvePUac27 Please subscribe now to support Public's award-winning investigative journalism and to read the rest of the article! Full story for subscribers: https://t.co/2lvePUac27

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Rebecca

@RebeccaMark

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