Sleeping in cars, helping homeless veterans

If you are a homeless veteran, would you care to sleep in an abandoned automobile, in an old vehicle with no heat or A/C?

And if you’re a tall person would you be able to stretch out? And if you have a spouse or a child, would there be room for both of you? And how about if you have a dog?

These are all questions to ponder, although there are some homeless individuals who currently sleep in cars and have opinions both pro and con. But I’m discussing a regular location that is sanctioned by the government, be it city, county or state. This concerns a proposal by an unnamed veteran who suggested it to me.

To begin, U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) recently announced that the Reno Housing Authority will receive $447,445 in federal funding to support housing vouchers for Nevada veterans experiencing homelessness. She helped secure this funding as part of the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program, which she leads the push to fund yearly. The Rosen-backed HUD-VASH program helps veterans find and keep safe, stable housing and is administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“Our veterans put their lives on the line for our country, and we must do everything we can to support them,” she said.

Rosen is to be commended for her efforts to help homeless veterans. But take a moment to count those dollars — $447,445. And that’s only a minuscule portion of all the funding that the government puts out to help solve the homeless veterans problem around the nation. The government spends millions! Can we afford it? No doubt the government will continue to print money to fund this problem, as well as other costs. In the meantime, the national deficit grows and grows.

Recently the individual I met explained he has come up with what he says will help tackle two problems — veterans’ homelessness and government (read taxpayer) red ink. Imagine if you will, a large piece of land on the outskirts of any city. The land is paved with concrete and lined with undriveable automobiles. Each one is assigned to a person or persons and they use the vehicles to sleep in. “What?” you might ask again, “Sleep in a car?” But my friend asks, if you are in fact a homeless veteran, what would you prefer — sleep on the sidewalk, or on the grass in the park, or in a law enforcement holding cell?

A soft automobile seat under a roof that keeps the elements off is, my “developer” friend says, much more agreeable. Also, the area would contain many Porta Potties, and a small building with showers and sinks. There would also be a playground area for the kids. Those amenities would be paid for by the local government at a cost much less than putting up a new building or investing in vouchers to send homeless to hotels. In fact my contact says such “sleeper parks” will cost millions of dollars less than putting up new brick and mortar structures around the country, and will serve to keep homeless people off the streets at night. That’s his alternative idea and he’s sticking to it. What do you think?