I was also surprised to hear that the residents must take on certain responsibilities within the shelter and stay on schedule with their chores including: laundry, clean the kitchen, during working hours they must go outdoors and take care of business, they take at least two classes a week, and every 7 days they have to see their housing care manager. They get free time at 4:00pm for watching T.V, smoking in the courtyard, playing board games, reading, or socializing with curfew at 9:00pm. A neighboring school with an active theater department donates tickets for their plays to the shelter providing the residents with another form of entertainment. In general, the residents are offered to stay at most 39 days but many are gone earlier than that. Like Gladwell quoted in What the Dog Saw, “eighty percent of the homeless were in and out really quickly… In Philadelphia, the most common length of time that someone is homeless is one day” (p. 183) since only those experiencing chronic homelessness are expected to return time and time again.
The staff and volunteers are really dedicated to helping the residents in a variety of situation. There are 60 beds available in the safe shelter for those individuals with health issues, there is an entrance shelter open all night with 20 beds and lockers for those individuals that have just been released from prison, a hospital or arrived from out of town. On Wednesdays there are doctor visits, while nurses are available all week; but, should someone require immediate assistance, they will be referred to a UC clinic. All donations received by the Center get distributed amongst the residents; meaning, nothing is kept by the staff or the center. Most importantly, the residents are taught how to find employment, offered mock interviews and knowledgeable volunteers aid them in the housing application process as well because as Gladwell said, the “intent is to take homeless policy from the old idea of funding programs that serve homeless people endlessly and invest in result that actually end homelessness” (p. 187).
I was introduced to one man, dressed to impress, who told me about his dreams of going back to school and a young man who overcame his severe depression. It warmed my heart to see so many kind and appreciative people, I saw a few that were angry and severely distraught, but with such a high rate of mental illness and drug use, that was to be expected. Overall, I learned a lot of facts and statistics about homelessness but the most valuable experience was getting a chance to interact with the people behind the numbers.