NBC Offers Perplexingly Detail-Free Story on Homeless Budget Crisis
It's late in the day Friday—as I'm sure you're all aware—so I'm just going to post this video, even though I still have a few calls out regarding its subject matter:
So, the story tackles a deeply confusing subject: The homeless services budget crisis. A week ago, the Washington Post reported that the city had cut $20 million from the homeless services budget. Then, we heard it was $12 million...or perhaps nothing?
“They are still trying to make the argument that there are no cuts,” Charles Allen, chief of staff for Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells, told Washington City Paper. “It’s very frustrating but we are going to keep working the problem to figure out what we can do. I know the providers and the advocacy community are very frustrated.”
And now comes the above piece from NBC 4, posted yesterday, saying simply:
"DC officials said an emergency 11 million dollars would be found to keep the strained programs working. Human Services Director Clarence Carter told News 4 the District will fully ensure that resources are available to keep shelters open."
Come again, now? Is it so much to ask that you mention which shelters will remain open or exactly how many of the 100 families and480 women threatened with eviction will remain housed?
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5:58 pm
[...] as I blogged a few hours ago, NBC recently aired a story about the homeless services budget crisis that was extremely short on [...]
6:36 pm
[...] If you’ll recall, for the last few weeks, homeless shelter providers have been frantically trying to understand if they’ll have enough money from the city (roughly $11 million) to remain open in the coming winter months—otherwise known as “hypothermia season.” Last week, Clarence Carter, head of the Department of Human Services, told NBC that oh, you know, everything would be taken care of. [...]