Simpson Shelter
Since 2010, the arch of my personal, social and professional experiences has been based in the Minneapolis / Hennepin County shelter system. We all know the truth of how heavy the burden of "stigma" is in our community and society.
Since April 1st, 2019 I have been staying at Simpson shelter. Managing organization is Simpson Housing Services.
It would be irresponsible for our community to not have shelters available for those that need them. And yet, how and why we do it matters as much as the fact that we have shelters.
History of Residence Forum
I have created a Forums website to help log, collect and articulate my thoughts and memories. As well as add content that matters, and open things up to discussion and dialogue. This specific Forum for the "History of (my) Residence" is to help speak to my experiences at each one of these residences. There is NOTHING shameful, wrong or guilty regarding anywhere I have lived. The actual success speaks for itself!
Smoking in the shelter
When I walked into Simpson Shelter on April 1st, 2019, the first issue I had to deal with was the chronic smoking in the bathroom, and elsewhere. More to be said about this issue.
Alcohol in the shelter
I'm sure Simpson policy says there is no drinking alcohol in the shelter. But, I have seen so many guys in the shelter sneaking drinks, even setting liquor bottles right next to one's bed, or on a duffel bag.
The worse part is that staff repeatedly lives a practice of enabling all the addict behaviors, supporting very chronic addictions.
Staffing issues
Simpson staff is full of nice, kindhearted, well-meaning, good intentioned, hard working, smart, creative and generous people. Our community is not lacking in generosity. And yet, all are lacking in personal work, due diligence, education that is not about class work.
The real issues of the shelter system is our cultural failings and ignorance. The root word of ignorance is "ignore." And, we have a culture of more than most of the population lives ignoring things responsible people need to do. These are things right in front of our faces, right under our noses. Each of us is responsible for doing what is needed, instead of doing the things we can get away with.
Known for Their Meals
There has been one specific thing about the Simpson shelter known throughout the "homeless" population, and that is the Simpson Shelter meals are most always very good. One of the photos below is of a breakfast I had one particular morning.
David's Social Media
