Homeless shelter
Shelters exist to provide residents with safety and protection from exposure to the weather while simultaneously reducing the environmental impact on the community.
Hundreds of homeless individuals die each year from diseases, untreated medical conditions, lack of nutrition, and exposure to extreme cold or hot weather.
[1] Residents of homeless shelters may also be exposed to bed bugs which have been growing more prevalent in countries such as the United States, Canada and in Europe.
Homeless individuals in the United States are subject to being arrested and held in jail for "quality of life" violations or for public intoxication.
[15] [16] Women are at great risk of both homelessness and poverty because they are most likely to bear child-rearing responsibilities and vulnerable to become victims of family members or intimate partners.
[25] These individuals and families were often unable to afford rent or mortgage, but still had jobs, cars, insurance and other types of support structures.
[27] In Hawaii, a Honolulu-based company is retrofitting five retired city buses into mobile shelters which provide a place to sleep and get a shower.
These operate an informal restaurant, the "Sisters of the Road" cafe, which supports both homeless shelter residents and also some unsheltered persons.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, jurisdictions such as Santa Barbara, California, feature ongoing disputes in an often highly adversarial mode.
[33][34] In addition, a study published in 2014 conducted in Marseille, France, found that respiratory illnesses in homeless shelters were not significantly different from the general population.
[35] In addition, during the peak influenza months, the shelter occupants did not test positive for the flu virus and the researchers hypothesize that being isolated from others may have been the reason they were virus-free.
[41] Shelters sometimes are unable to meet state standards for occupancy, such as testing fire sprinklers or ensuring that exits are clearly marked.
[45] Businesses for years have complained that they frequently witness pedestrians being stopped outside their stores by homeless people begging for money.
[48] The navigation center provides transients with restrooms, showers, laundry, storage, clothing, a place to charge their phone as well as a mailing address.
[50] In Australia, due to government funding requirements, most homelessness services fill the role of both daytime and night time shelters.
Youth refuges in Australia provide both a residential setting for crisis accommodation as well as case management to assist young people to live independently.
[30] A study done in Canada also found that individuals entering shelters and drop-in centers experienced a loss of their own sense of personhood.
[53] Therapeutic Conversation therapy has been tested and found successful in Calgary with a small group of homeless shelter residents in improving their mental health outcomes.
[54] A nationwide volunteer group in Canada, the Angels in the Night, sponsored by Invis-Mortgage Intelligence, donates cold-weather clothes and other supplies to homeless people, visiting shelters and individuals on the streets.
[55] In 2015, Clean the World began a Canadian Operations Center in Montreal order to supply soap for homeless shelters.
A lot of essential workers like delivery men are forced to become "homeless" because they cannot go back to their apartments or houses as they have a greater risk of spreading the virus.
[61] In 2014, a government-sponsored shelter in Henan province which houses 20 homeless individuals was under scrutiny for tying children to trees and providing inadequate sleeping areas.
A 2011 Census of India found that safe drinking water coverage in urban areas is at 91.9% while regular sanitation access is at 81.4%.
[citation needed] People come from the rural part of India to look for work and when there are no accommodations for housing build their own shelters, often known as "hutments".
[66] In India, the cities with the greatest number of homeless individuals and families are Greater Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, and Bangalore.
"[79] Shelters like 'Jimmy's', in Cambridge, provide access to those who would otherwise be "sleeping rough", offering temporary accommodation and support services in the basement of a Baptist church in the city centre.
[80] In the United States, the "shelter movement" began to grow significantly during the 1970s when there was a high rate of unemployment, housing costs were rising and individuals with severe mental illnesses were being deinstitutionalized.
[86] In the United States, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has shown in recent studies that about 5 million Americans qualify to use homeless shelters.
These efforts can result from a combination of complaints by wealthier (usually newer) residents and anti-homeless political actions originating from local mayors and legislators.
[citation needed] Shelters which are funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) require residents to have identification.
