PHC in Shelters

The Mayor of San Francisco is trying to bring Project Homeless Connect into two city-wide homeless shelters. Take a look at this blog.

The Homeless Guy

I added a link, over to the right, that takes you to a blog of the homeless guy. His post on Christianity and the Bible from this weekend is pretty interesting. A good perspective to remember.

Point In Time Count

Well, the night before last was the Point In Time Count for the State of North Carolina. This year for me was a bit more frustrating than usual. The team I was on, didn't count anyone as homeless this year in the street count. We had sites in West Raleigh around the fairgrounds area. It is always challenging when you come across campsites where people are clearly staying, but there is no one there. We can't count those who we can't see. This occurred in three locations, and I'm guessing one of the locations there were at least two people who were camping in that area.

The point in time count is not an accurate count by any stretch of the imagination, yet it is the only thing we have that counts homeless people with any sort of accuracy.

I also find myself really challenged by some of the tactics that are used by some of the local outreach ministries to help homeless people living in the woods. One local group has been known to provide people with car batteries to provide power, camp stoves, etc. I'm a firm believer in making sure people aren't cold and are safe, but this seems to me to be disincitivizing people from coming in out of doors. These folks need permanent places to live under a warm roof, not the comforts of home in a tent.