Tell DC to Keep Homeless Shelters OpenOn March 31, Mayor Anthony Williams plans to permanently close two key year-round city shelters. Together, the Gales Shelter (65 Massachusetts Ave. NW) and the Randall Shelter (Half and I Streets SW) provide 320 emergency and rehabilitative shelter beds for homeless men and women.
Williams will close these facilities even though the homeless rate is rising. Outreach workers have documented a 20 percent increase in people sleeping on Washington's streets over the past year. Gales and Randall are particularly important because they are in neighborhoods where many homeless individuals stay during the day. Having shelters readily accessible encourages people to come inside rather than stay outside, where they risk illness and death from severe weather.
If the shelters close, the city's plans are woefully inadequate. Men from Gales are expected to go to a new shelter on New York Avenue NE. However, that shelter is more than two miles away from Gales, is currently full, and renovations for additional space have not begun. No adequate replacement for Randall has been announced.
It will take citizen lobbying to keep these shelters open – e-mails and phone calls are needed to pressure the DC government. Contact DC officials right away and tell them: "Please keep Randall Shelter and Gales Shelter open as permanent, year-round shelters. Please keep Randall as a low-barrier shelter and a rehabilitative program for homeless men, and renovate Gales to continue to be a low-barrier shelter." Contact:
Mayor Williams
mayor@dc.gov
Phone: 202/727-6263
Yvonne Gilchrist, Director, DC Department of Human Services
yvonne.gilchrist@dc.gov
Phone: 202/279-6002
Robert Bobb, DC City Administrator
robert.bobb@dc.gov
Phone: 202/727-6053
For more information, call T.J. Sutcliffe at the Coalition of Housing and Homeless Organizations at 202/797-0701, ext. 107.
