drdrpleaselisten:drdrpleaselisten:drdrpleaselisten:drdrpleaselisten:On a related note: we...

drdrpleaselisten:

drdrpleaselisten:

drdrpleaselisten:

drdrpleaselisten:

On a related note: we need to talk about the inaccessibility of homeless shelters.

This is relevant to a lot of groups. Shelters are often run by Christian groups and unwelcoming of LGBT people, for starters, or in a less obvious route they will often accept LGBT people into their shelters but do little to nothing to combat homophobic and transphobic harassment or violence that takes place within them. Sometimes that violence doesn’t happen inside- but in queues or simply within groups of people who frequent them. But the shelters know, and they know that they build up a reputation for not being safe for LGBT people, and they do nothing about it deliberately.

The buildings themselves are often inaccessible, especially with DV shelters. They’re built to be inconspicuous and often have stair cases just to enter the building- never mind that disabled people experience higher rates of abuse.

Most shelters will boot you out for drinking or consuming drugs, whether it be on premises or simply be that you are effected by it while on premises.

Plus, shelters often ignore violence and harassment towards those who are noticeably mentally ill. Many have strict rules such as enforced curfews, anti-swearing policies, etc. that often make mentally ill people feel unsafe and unwelcome. Imagine experiencing paranoia at the same moment that someone tells you you’re not allowed to get out of bed- in spite of being an adult who has paid for the privilege of being there.

And then, of course, is the big one. Shelters in my city vary costs between $12 and $30 a night. The money is used in part to fund the shelter, and in part as a form of triage to decide /who to turn away/, because there aren’t enough beds. Imagine not being able to afford to spend even a dollar on getting yourself something to eat but somehow having to scrounge up $30 to be able to sleep indoors that night. Seriously.

The shelter system is not ‘charitable’. Religious groups receive huge tax cuts for running them and still charge a fucking entry fee. This is a privatized business. They might claim they aren’t making a profit, but that’s /before you take the tax breaks into account/. Nothing about this system is designed to protect or serve vulnerable people, but to create the image of ‘helping’ while saving some cash.

@dreagentry oh fuck I forgot the underage bit! Yes! Okay, in my state you legally can not be forced to return to your family (or foster care) once you are over the age of 13. But in spite of that, you also can’t legally sign a lease, consent to just about any kind of guardianship situation without the signature of your legal guardians, and access the vast majority of shelters. Because legally you’re considered too high risk. And yeah, the few that will take in someone underage are usually the hyper religious ones.

Please reblog this complete version with this addition:

I failed to mention racism in discussing ways in which shelters are inaccessible, which really isn’t good enough. I don’t have the personal experience to comment on the ways in which this manifests, but shelters are 100% built for white people and that inaccessibility is a major issue which needs to be acknowledged.