I work with people who are homeless everyday and I wanted to let people
know why we see more people living at the Tenleytown Metro stop this
Spring and offer suggestions to concerned neighbors as to how they can
respond.

Why this is happening?

Each year, at the end of winter, DC shuts down hypothermia shelters and
many people who found beds during the cold weather are turned back out
of doors. At the beginning of April, DC closed about 300 beds
city-wide. In our neighborhood alone the loss was about 35 beds for men
and women. There are long wait lists to get into shelters in our
neighborhood, and the wait can easily be months long.

Who should you call?

One of the best things you can do if you are concerned about a person
who is homeless is to call the Community Council for the Homeless at
Friendship Place, 364-1419. They have an outreach worker who connects
to people who are homeless to services. They provide terrific services,
you can learn more about them at http://www.cchfp.org/whatWeDo.html.
Calling the police or complaining to businesses will only force people
out of these publicly visible areas. The people will still be homeless,
but they will move to parks, garages, the backs of businesses, and
alleyways. It is important to remember that outreach workers for the
homeless can only help the people they can find. As homeless people are
forced out of publicly visible areas they become harder and harder to
find and to connect to the health care and housing services they
desperately need.

Can this problem be solved?

Yes! I have lived in countries where homelessness does not exist. This
problem has solutions, but like all change, it takes political will and
resources. The people I see at Tenleytown Metro are reminders to me
that we provide inadequate alternatives to people who are not able to
earn enough to afford housing. My personal response is to support
programs like the Community Council for the Homeless for their work on
solving individual's problems and to advocate for government investments
that would provide long-term solutions. If anyone is interested, please
call or e-mail me and I can tell you how to become involved in advocacy
that is focused on ending this problem.

Sczerina Perot, Tenleytown resident and Staff Attorney, Washington Legal
Clinic for the Homeless

Phone: (202) 328-5507, e:mail: Sczerina@legalclinic.org

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