Battle of Atlanta: Fight over a Downtown Homeless Shelter Strains Some Down-Home Ties (house, schools)

[koko339]

This article does a good job of explaining the dramatic saga that is the Peachtree-Pine Shelter, for anyone interested.

Battle of Atlanta: Fight over a Downtown Homeless Shelter Strains Some Down-Home Ties - Magazine - ABA Journal

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by koko339

This article does a good job of explaining the dramatic saga that is the Peachtree-Pine Shelter, for anyone interested.

Battle of Atlanta: Fight over a Downtown Homeless Shelter Strains Some Down-Home Ties - Magazine - ABA Journal

Thanks for posting. Very informative piece. It's hard to believe that in this day and age we cannot, as a society, come up with a better situation for folks needing food and shelter.

[BroadStJudge]

There are plenty of better solutions in Atlanta - Atlanta Union Mission is a good example of a shelter that provides meals, safe shelter, and programs to transition people to permanent housing. Most shelters in the city run good programs that have little negative impact on the surrounding area - that is why they are not in the paper. The Peachtree-Pine shelter is just one of 38 in the downtown area, and it is run poorly. For Anita Beaty to act as if there is nowhere else in Atlanta for people to seek shelter and services to get off the street is a pile of horse manure.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by BroadStJudge

Most shelters in the city run good programs that have little negative impact on the surrounding area - that is why they are not in the paper. The Peachtree-Pine shelter is just one of 38 in the downtown area, and it is run poorly.

That's a very telling point. Why does one shelter out of 38 have so many problems? They may have a somewhat different clientele, but the fact that they stand out as a problem tells you a lot.

[cwlawrence]

Originally Posted by arjay57

That's a very telling point. Why does one shelter out of 38 have so many problems? They may have a somewhat different clientele, but the fact that they stand out as a problem tells you a lot.

What does it tell you? Without knowing anything about the shelter, the fact that it is having problems, tells you nothing. In fact, from the article, I gather that the sheer size of the shelter may be its biggest factor in all this. I mean, "500-700 men a night" is a heck of a lot bigger than any other shelter in the area. Plus, it doesnt sound like they are getting a fair treatment.

I think the point that has to be emphasized here is that we might agree that the shelter has to go, but until someone comes up with a way to house and care for the 500-700 homeless men, Peachtree-Pine needs to be kept alive.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by cwlawrence

What does it tell you? Without knowing anything about the shelter, the fact that it is having problems, tells you nothing.

The fact that 38 other shelters are operating without these problems tells me that it's not impossible to run a more successful shelter.

Obviously that doesn't tell you what changes need to happen. As I said, one of the problems may be that Peachtree Pine has a different clientele. So you'll have to drill down to see exactly what the issues are and how to deal with them.

But if all the other shelters are more successful, that undercuts the stubborn insistence that Peachtree Pine must continue as it has in the past.

Let's say you're the head of any group of 39 community institutions -- schools, churches, arts festivals, whatever. 38 of them are acknowledged to be doing a good job and are accepted by the surrounding community. One of them, however, generates howls of protest year after year. Is it reasonable to insist that that one playground or festival be allowed to continue what it's doing indefinitely?

[cwlawrence]

So... in your example, if the school is failing, close it down?

[jematl]

Originally Posted by cwlawrence

What does it tell you? Without knowing anything about the shelter, the fact that it is having problems, tells you nothing. In fact, from the article, I gather that the sheer size of the shelter may be its biggest factor in all this.

This is only my opinion, but I think this article, while striving to give a balanced view, was pretty gentle in its assessment of the Beatys' mismanagement of the shelter. I have been following this story for years (not out of any personal interest... I just like to keep informed) and the conclusion I have drawn is that it is not the size of the shelter that is the problem, but the nutcases that are running it. If you would like to read further, just google it. There are tons of articles about the issue. Even the Beatys' own blog is pretty interesting and sheds light on how they think.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by cwlawrence

So... in your example, if the school is failing, close it down?

No, of course not. But if it's the one school out of 39 that's failing, that's a pretty good indicator that changes need to be made. And I'm not likely to be fighting to keep the status quo there.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by cwlawrence

So... in your example, if the school is failing, close it down?

How about "remove the folks who are (mis)managing it"...?