BALTIMORE — An 18 million dollar investment in a pair of hotels transformed into housing for the homeless.
You would think Baltimore had taken a major step forward in serving its most vulnerable citizens, but some residents say problems remain in the city’s network of shelters.
“Anybody says anything, ‘Well, we’re going to put you out on the street,’ and it’s freezing out here,” said Zelma Fortune, who says a credit problem originally landed her on the street.
Those who have long tried to provide for the disenfranchised on the streets continue those efforts today even if its just a hot meal for those the city is already supposed to be feeding.
“Children are not being nourished. Mothers are not being nourished,” says Homeless Specialist Christina Flowers says the city’s institutional approach to serving the homeless has come at a cost, “They’re already in shelters and, yes, some of them did come from encampments, but it’s kind of better in the encampment when you can have a decent meal and not be fed like you’re a prisoner.”
Advocates estimate there are nearly seven thousand homeless people in the city and only a fraction of them are receiving services.
They argue plans to turn transient housing in the hotels into permanent housing could push some people back out on to the streets.
“No. We cannot create a business out of homelessness,” said Homeless Advocate Culieka Baysmore, “I don’t want to see four or five hundred people that are in these two hotels become displaced, and we’re going to keep our eyes on this.”
It is part of a plea from longtime advocates for the homeless not to be cut out of the equation for turning their lives around arguing the city can’t solve this problem on its own.
“It’s bigger than the mayor,” said Flowers, “The mayor has to know that his children aren’t hungry. His children aren’t suffering. So he has to open up his heart to understand that it’s bigger than him and he has to invite the community partners in.”
