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Comment by trynewideas | Hacker News Reader

One-third of those swept accepted offers of shelter. Half of those couldn't find a path to even temporary housing.

Without even considering the point of jailing or rehabbing 1,100 homeless people in a city that has neither the jail nor rehab capacity for its housed population,[1] the city is failing to help even the half of the fraction of homeless people who want and accept help.

1: https://www.mailtribune.com/top-stories/2022/01/29/oregon-is...

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1/3rd is pathetic. That means that 2/3rd prefer the way they live now over reintegration.

Maybe because they’ve already had the other third’s experience. Or do you think it’s a moral failure on their part?

I think at the very least it casts doubt on the validity of classifying their situation as "homelessness", which strongly suggests that all they require to be ok again is shelter.

There is widespread violence and sexual abuse in homeless shelters. They may be acting on past or shared experience.

more importantly, you're not allowed to use your drugs in the shelters

Correct. They’re drug addicts, who need rehab. In Portland they’re seen as saintly figures who reject capitalism.

If even 1/3 cannot find proper housing why would anyone want to accept the offer of temporary shelter?

Isn’t it much better to setup a tent somewhere where you may be able to live for weeks, months, or even years without being kicked out, as opposed to the temporary housing where you will be kicked out in 14 days max.

The homeless don’t make decisions in a vacuum. A large part of the reason they declined is because they knew that if they accepted they were only delaying the inevitable.

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