Ice for the homeless

[dreamshark]

There's a small, orderly homeless encampment at Lyndale Farmstead, one of the first escape colonies from the out-of-control Powderhorn encampments. This is 1/2 mile from my house and I was a little apprehensive at first, but the residents seem to be quiet and well-mannered and absolutely are not bothering anyone. I'm coming to the conclusion that since these poor souls have to be somewhere, allowing them to camp in the parks is not such a bad idea. Certainly better than on the sidewalks along the freeway. The Mpls Parks Department is providing some basic support services (porta potties, a hand washing station) and they seem to have built themselves a couple of shower stalls of some kind. They have an admin tent where there are usually a few people sitting, smiling and saying hello to curious passersby. They have a whiteboard there with a list of things they could use if you want to help out. 

One of those things is ice. Not only is this the cheapest possible charitable contribution (if you happen to have a large freezer), on a day like today it seems like the most humane one imaginable. So I emptied the ice trays in the downstairs freezer [thanks, minnehaha !]  into a couple of empty Kirkland nut containers, dropped them in my wire bike pannier, and pedaled over there. The friendly guy at the front desk thanked me effusively,  happily dumped the ice into an empty cooler and gave me the containers back. So now I have empty containers again, I can bring them some more tomorrow. I bike right past there anyway on my lake ride. 

Comments

[laramie]

I'm glad you are able to bring ice to the encampment.

I really want to see the city coming up with more long-term solutions than camping in parks. The homeless should have affordable housing and people should be able to enjoy the parks without being stuck there for a place to sleep.

Someone mentioned to me yesterday that commercial rental space is taking a hit because people want to work remotely where at all possible. I'd like to see big commercial rentals donating space for housing.

[maruad]

Winnipeg's solution seems to be to provide the homeless as much ice as they could want from December til the end of March. Things are not good here.

[dreamshark]

Minneapolis seems to be providing water and food as well as minimal sanitary support, but not ice. Is it very hot in Winnipeg this year? We are having a scorcher of a summer so far, but on the rare occasions when it cools off it seems to be due to a blessed blast of air from Canada. So I assume it is not so hot up there.

[maruad]

The last few days haven't been too bad but has been very hot here this summer.

[maruad]

Maybe the cold air is coming from Ontario?

[spiderplanet]

I'm glad to hear that folks in the camps are able to spread out more, and I'm glad to know you. :)

[minnehaha]

That is terrific. Well done.

K.