Editorial: Creative solutions needed for homeless crisis
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According to the Department of Community and Economic Development, there are about 15,000 Pennsylvanians who don’t have a home on any given day.
They might be the stereotypical homeless — people making do on the streets of a city like Pittsburgh. They might be the people you would never know are unhoused — the ones who sleep in their cars or cobble together a pattern of couch surfing and cheap motels. The problem looks very different in some areas versus others.
By the same token, the solutions are just as varied. Some people could pay for rent but need help getting a lease or making a deposit. Others need to connect with rehabilitation programs, domestic violence help or mental health services.
And then there are the people who just need a bed. In a state where the average low temperature in December is 28 degrees, that bed can be more than a comfortable place to sleep. It can be a matter of life and death.
So it is good to know that Second Avenue Commons is being well utilized. The year-round homeless shelter in Downtown Pittsburgh opened in November and was almost immediately filled.
“We’re now into the overflow space, which is the cafeteria that’s downstairs,” said Dan Palka, Allegheny Health Network’s director of urban health and street medicine.
That means the 90 regular beds are taken and the additional 43 that can be made available in a pinch are in use. A winter shelter on Smithfield Street also is near capacity.
It speaks to a real problem with homelessness. That is unsurprising given the temperatures and the significant encampment that grew around the 10th Street Bypass. The city spent time cleaning that encampment out in recent months, with Mayor Ed Gainey’s spokeswoman, Maria Montaño, saying there was hope that some of the homeless would relocate to the shelter when it opened.
Maybe they did. But now what?
The city is looking at other, longer-term solutions such as building tiny houses on municipal property. It’s a great idea, and it’s not the only good down-the-road proposal to be floated.
But the temperatures are low and only going to get lower. That 28-degree average in December drops to 20-degree lows in January. There hasn’t even been a substantial snowfall yet.
While the long road is an important consideration for homelessness, with people needing ways to get back to something stable and permanent, Second Avenue Commons is doing all it can. Creative solutions for the short term are needed and needed soon.