September 12, 2011
6. Newblog2011: 09/12/11 The Quincy shelter, run by the Boston Public Health Commission
Although it's getting colder at night, the Qunicy shelter doesn't have anything like enough blankets and pillows for everyone who stays there. My second night in a row there, most recently, I didn't even get sheets. I had forgotten to get them at the appointed time, and when I asked for them, I was told "There aren't any more."
I slept on a bare mattress, with my duffel bag as my pillow and some clothes as my blanket.
Every shelter has its own routine, and it can take a few days to know the routine. I also understand that people need to remember what the rules of a place are. However, no shelter should be allowed to let guests (we're called guests) sleep on mattresses that don't have any sheets.
It's interesting how when society stigmatizes the homeless, it remembers that a homeless population might contain a high percentage of people who have spent a lot of time in jail or other instituations, that a homeless population might contain a high percentage of people with health problems ranging from occasional or even chronic incontinence to drunken vomiting to every kind of common cold and virus to hepatitis and AIDS. It's interesting how society then forgets or never realizes at all that every member of any population of people with that level of need needs clean sheets on a clean mattress that's in decent condition, in a clean facility where that population isn't going to be cold every night of the winter if it doesn't bring its own blankets.
No code here. Sometimes, you can't avoid using the word "clean."
Last night I was also told by a staffperson "If you've already gotten your bed, and you see a bed that nobody has yet that has a blanket or a pillow on it, you can take the blanket and the pillow" when I asked if the shelter had those things.
Here are some questions:
When, if ever, do the mattresses get sanitized?
When, if ever, do the blankets and pillows get washed?
It's my impression that the sheets and towels get washed every day at the Qunicy shelter; they should, too, not least because when the shelter gives you a towel it also takes your shelter ID.
I get harassed there; I'm sure I've mentioned that. There are wet floor signs in several places where there is no wet floor and near-constant harassment by enough of the other guests, both male and female, to make being there more unpleasant than it otherwise would be.
Copyright L. Kochman, September 12, 2011 @ 3:12 p.m./addition @ 3:19 p.m./additon @ 3:21 p.m.
6. Newblog2011: 09/12/11 The Quincy shelter, run by the Boston Public Health Commission
Although it's getting colder at night, the Qunicy shelter doesn't have anything like enough blankets and pillows for everyone who stays there. My second night in a row there, most recently, I didn't even get sheets. I had forgotten to get them at the appointed time, and when I asked for them, I was told "There aren't any more."
I slept on a bare mattress, with my duffel bag as my pillow and some clothes as my blanket.
Every shelter has its own routine, and it can take a few days to know the routine. I also understand that people need to remember what the rules of a place are. However, no shelter should be allowed to let guests (we're called guests) sleep on mattresses that don't have any sheets.
It's interesting how when society stigmatizes the homeless, it remembers that a homeless population might contain a high percentage of people who have spent a lot of time in jail or other instituations, that a homeless population might contain a high percentage of people with health problems ranging from occasional or even chronic incontinence to drunken vomiting to every kind of common cold and virus to hepatitis and AIDS. It's interesting how society then forgets or never realizes at all that every member of any population of people with that level of need needs clean sheets on a clean mattress that's in decent condition, in a clean facility where that population isn't going to be cold every night of the winter if it doesn't bring its own blankets.
No code here. Sometimes, you can't avoid using the word "clean."
Last night I was also told by a staffperson "If you've already gotten your bed, and you see a bed that nobody has yet that has a blanket or a pillow on it, you can take the blanket and the pillow" when I asked if the shelter had those things.
Here are some questions:
When, if ever, do the mattresses get sanitized?
When, if ever, do the blankets and pillows get washed?
It's my impression that the sheets and towels get washed every day at the Qunicy shelter; they should, too, not least because when the shelter gives you a towel it also takes your shelter ID.
I get harassed there; I'm sure I've mentioned that. There are wet floor signs in several places where there is no wet floor and near-constant harassment by enough of the other guests, both male and female, to make being there more unpleasant than it otherwise would be.
Copyright L. Kochman, September 12, 2011 @ 3:12 p.m./addition @ 3:19 p.m./additon @ 3:21 p.m.