Dear Editor: Madison’s sparkling new shelter for homeless men provides help finding new housing and jobs, as well as other great amenities. Yet it accommodates fewer homeless men than the old shelter.
Last winter, the peak usage of the Zeier Road shelter was about 400 men. Given the 250-person limit of the new shelter, as many as 150 men will be left outside all night this winter. Ironically, there’s funding to staff an overflow shelter — all of $400,000 — but there’s no funding for an overflow shelter. What a catch 22!
This reminds me of a book, “A Child Called It,” the true story of a boy who got chained in the basement while the rest of his family went off on fun outings. Our city puts lots of money into amenities for us who have homes, but ignores the elephant in the room, which is people who live unsheltered through the winter…