City Chops $20 Million from Homeless Services Budget

I'm trying to be fair and balanced here. I'm really, really trying.

So after weeks of posting about homeless shelter closures and Petworth and Columbia Heights residents rejecting a planned shelter in their neighborhood, I typed up a post entitled "A (Tiny) Bit of Good News for D.C.’s Homeless."

It was about roughly 15 homeless people moving into new, publicly-funded apartments this month.

It kind of felt like praising someone for showing up late—but still arriving. Or missing their deadline, but still completing the work. My co-worker chided me for providing an ounce of good publicity to the D.C. government on this issue. And I have to say—having read this recent article in the Washington Post-–last week's "(Tiny) Bit of Good News" is looking increasingly pathetic.

On Saturday, the Post reported that $11 million in local funding and $9 million in federal funding had been cut from the homeless services budget. Hundreds of homeless people could be facing eviction as a result:

A coalition of homeless service providers that receive city funding released a statement Friday saying that more than 100 families in temporary and transitional shelters run by the Community of Hope and House of Ruth are at risk of being removed if the cuts are not restored. An additional 480 women would face eviction; about half of them are housed by Catholic Charities.

Image by Daquella Manera, Flickr Creative Commons