A letter from Dan Taylor

I was introduced to the New York City shelter system during the fall of 2003, namely Bellevue Men’s Shelter. Anxious but patiently waiting for a bed after reaching the final steps of the intake process, I watched people who came after me getting beds for almost 2 hours. I walked up to the window of the 1st floor staff office a couple of times to make someone aware only to be ignored, scolded and finally called a liar. I then saw a woman whom I handed my paperwork. I let her know of my unhappiness. She walked into the staff office and verified how long I had been waiting only to find out my paperwork was missing. Even after alerting the staff I still had to wait another 1-½ hours before finally getting a bed at 2:30am. I started the intake process at 11:30am the previous day.

It seemed that my asking why the process took so long seemed to irritate the staff and I was made to pay any time I asked for help. It seemed that one staff member in particular took a disliking to me and would often challenge me to fight. Among the many problems at the Bellevue Men’s Shelter was the horrible smell of urine. The food let little to be desired, and you would almost starve there waiting for food.

When I entered Bellevue I had a drug and alcohol problem due to depression due to the dysfunctional family in which I was raised. I would steal to support my habits. I also would take orders from staff and clients within the shelter, and rob the items from stores, sell the items to support my habit. My adventures were fully supported by the Department of Homeless services staff in the shelter.

There were three crack dealers living in the shelter and at least, two heroin dealers. They all seemed to be doing a booming business from staff and clients alike. It was truly one of the worst experiences of my life. During the 7 months I lived there no one followed up to see how I was doing. I had absolutely no income from public assistance or food stamps. A change would be nice.

FOR INFO ON HOW PICTURE THE HOMELESS FOUGHT AGAINST DEPLORABLE CONDITIONS THROUGHOUT THE SHELTER SYSTEM:
http://www.picturethehomeless.org/shelter/background

FOR INFO ON OUR ONGOING CAMPAIGN TO FORCE THE CITY TO CREATE A *REAL* HOUSING SUBSIDY SO PEOPLE CAN GET *OUT* OF SHELTER:
http://www.picturethehomeless.org/rentsubsidies