New Resource Room For Area Homeless
![photo ABOVE: New resource room at The Bridge](http://www.urbanreviewstl.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/photo.jpg)
On Wednesday a new Community Resource Room was opened at The Bridge, “a drop-in center providing a variety of services for the sojourners in downtown St. Louis, MO who are currently living without a home of their own.” The Bridge provides many services, including “in excess of 3000 meals per week.”
So when Bridge Executive Director Kathleen Wilder posted plans for the ribbon cutting on Facebook, I knew I had to be there. Here is a short video from Wednesday afternoon:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLk2AxVHkfc
Saint Louis University Social Work student Jessica Mueller led the project, transforming a room once piled with stuff to an attractive room with books and six new computers. Â This project was her practicum. Unfortunately, demand for services exceeds supply. Â If you have time and/or money please consider helping out.
– Steve Patterson
Hats off to this effort…I'm a big fan of helping others help themselves and this will do that…
The loitering issues outside The Bridge still need to be addressed (I live next door and at times the crowd and antics can border on the ridiculous for human beings), but obviously there are homeless who need attention from tax payers…
Also, as the overall population continues to grow in this part of the City, we will need a better solution to address the stagnant groups that rotate between the shelters, Central Library, and the parks…As I understand it, the homeless used to populate Wash Ave too, but as gentrification changed the whole dynamic of the street, folks felt uncomfortable and moved on (or were encouraged to)…The same will happen here…With north City a near blank slate of opportunity, itd be nice to move the shelters and other outreach efforts to a 'campus' just north of downtown…
My solution would be uniforms and brooms for those who are habitual loitering violators…Then just enough housing to provide human basics but still encourage those who can to flip hamburgers and move into an apartment…
Part of the loitering issue comes from people arriving for a meal before the doors open. I overheard discussions about new beds in North St. Louis but transportation back and forth for meals and other services must still be coordinated.
Interesting perspectives – “With north City a near blank slate of opportunity, itd be nice to move the shelters and other outreach efforts to a 'campus' just north of downtown…” and “transportation back and forth for meals and other services must still be coordinated”. Reality check – the vast majority of these folks didn't grow up downtown, they grew up somewhere else! Why must we assume or conclude that support services for the homeless need or must be concentrated in the urban core? NIMBY, at its worst? Why not disperse these services across the region, to places like Clayton and Fenton, Chesterfield and Wellston, U. City and Maryland Heights? Besides “spreading the wealth”/burden, it would actually put people closer to potential jobs. The ONLY two reasons that they're concentrated downtown now is that city does a better job of tolerating them and because of the avilability of affordable structures!
Nice story Steve. Thank you for bringing much deserved attention to The Bridge in telling a positive story about hope and renewal.
I like giving people another chance and helping the homeless but I wonder why is this yet another shelter downtown? Why wasn't this opened in downtown Clayton? How about next to the Galleria?