"One of Uptown’s homeless has decided that tonight is a fine night to sleep on a cardboard box, under a plastic bag tent, in the Wilson Avenue LSD underpass. He refused all suggestions that he might be happier in an available shelter located just three blocks away from his frigid makeshift nest. Yes, I alerted Human Services to send an outreach worker."
Thanks to our reader for calling for help for this gentleman, and we hope he takes advantage of, at the very least, a warming van. We hope the outreach workers can convince him to take refuge in a warmer spot. If they can't, we hope he survives the night.
Please call 911 if you see someone in danger, as this man is (although he doesn't realize it). We'll never forget seeing the frozen body of a young homeless man removed from behind a dumpster where he'd taken refuge, right down the street, just a few years ago. It was a night just like tonight.
That guy has been setting up shop there for awhile. When it was warmer he was setting up on the other side of the street a little up the road by Weiss under some trees.
ReplyDeleteDo you think the police even bother asking this guy if he is okay? I don't understand why this man cannot be mandated to a mental hospital because obviously anyone living in these below zero type conditions is severely mentally ill. I have even noticed the usual drunk types around Broadway & Wilson have taken shelter recently. That picture is very sad.
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone should be 'mandated' to a mental hospital because they are sleeping outside in the cold. He may be mentally impaired or unstable, but we don't know that for sure. He may be more happy there than in a mental instituion, one may never know.
ReplyDeleteIs this the Cuban guy that lived at the corner of Wilson and Kenmore for six months?
ReplyDelete...yea, lets put this guy in a metal hospital and kick out some truely deranged maniac to make room for him! Personally, my sympathy meter for these homeless people is about dried up. If you can stand around blocking traffic in an intersection holding a paper cup and asking for handouts for 8-10hrs a day, then you can also stand behing a cash register at McDonalds and earn some pay. There are more social services out there available to these people than you can shake a stick at, which we are paying through the nose in taxes for, and yet they can still loiter all day outside the Walgreens or wander the streets. Catering to and giving them handouts only makes the problem worse. There is no excuse in this day and age for being a bum on the street unless thats what you want out of life.
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