Good grief! (part 2)
As I type this, it's 46 and raining in Orlando. My kitchen is warm and cozy.In the pre-dawn darkness, the phone rings. The police are rousting a group of homeless people who sleep under an overpass in downtown Orlando. (No box-cutters were reported.)
There is no room in any of the shelters in town. They're all full. There's no place for these people to go -- and now they're being awakened and forced to get out from under the only roof they can find.
The cold rain is still falling. And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.
posted by Jacqueline Dowd @ 6:00 AM
4 Comments:
Jackie,
I'll be praying for those who are in need of shelter out there.
Here in Salt Lake City, the police generally try to haul homeless to the overflow shelter.
It has been a very cold January here and many are losing body parts due to frost bite.
Scott
Orlando doesn't have anthing like an overflow shelter. We're working on it, also on a daytime drop-in center.
I did read about a man who froze to death in Utah a few days ago. It's not as cold here, of course, but the cold and rain together make things pretty miserable.
If they were sleeping in a playground pavilion or near the entrance to an office building, that might be justifiable, but an I-4 overpass? There's no need for that, especially on a day like today. And yet the Sheriff claims he needs more $ for OT and to hire more officers. Good grief indeed.
The camp is near a construction site, and I understand that the people may need to move. But I don't understand why they have to be awakened and forced out into the rain.
Post a Comment
<< Home