Camping Ban Could Expose Shelter Gaps For Most Vulnerable

By Lisa Halverstadt, Voice of San Diego:

As the San Diego City Council considers an ordinance to ban camping and communicate that saying no to shelter is no longer an option, vulnerable people who struggle with existing shelter options are unsure what’s going to happen.

Take Jamie Slack, 36. She is paraplegic and has frequent epileptic seizures. She lives in a tent on the outskirts of downtown, where she and her boyfriend set up camp because it’s close to public restrooms, Father Joe’s Villages’ health center and other amenities.

Slack fears what will happen if the ordinance is approved. She said she can’t accept shelter without her boyfriend and caregiver who knows how to care for her when she has a seizure and helps her bathe and change clothes. Existing city shelters typically require couples of different genders to stay in different areas. It’s for those reasons that being on the street, though difficult, is a better option.

“What do they expect me to do?” Slack said. “I can’t go to the bathroom like normal. I can’t shower like normal.”

The controversial ordinance pushed by downtown City Councilman Stephen Whitburn and Mayor Todd Gloria would bar camping in public spaces when shelter is available. It also would bar camping at all times in certain areas including within two blocks of schools and shelters. Per those rules, people who refuse available shelter or to relocate would be cited or even arrested.

Gloria’s team plans to present a strategy to add more shelter options – including for seniors and people with disabilities – and to open two safe campsites that could potentially serve unsheltered residents.

Others, in the meantime, worry about the potential impact on people with health challenges who may relocate to places where they have less community support and that are further from public view and more perilous to avoid contact with police. They are an especially vulnerable group of the unsheltered population, one that often has no viable option other than the street. That exposes them to harsh weather, disease, assaults and the inability to rest.

But shelters often can’t meet their needs, a reality that can keep them outside or force them back on the street.

Read more here.

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