LETTER: ‘If our systems fail one of us, they fail us all’

February 6, 2024

Hello, dear neighbors, 

It seems the discussion about the “proposed” homeless shelter at the former armory building has taken on an us vs. them dichotomy that I believe ignores or, at the very least, oversimplifies the nuance and complexity of homelessness. 

From everything I've read and heard over the past two weeks, if you are for the shelter, you are compassionate and neighborly. If you are against it, you are not (and per one Front Porch Forum post, lack a soul). Unfortunately, this back and forth keeps our ire and ill will pointed toward one another instead of toward the system responsible for, and entrusted with, arriving at solutions to this intractable issue. This is by design…

Being a homeless person is not the result of personal failure – it is the robust failure of multiple systems and policies that benefit from ongoing poverty and sickness. Here is where I will admit to not being in favor of the shelter – however, not because I believe people who are homeless are criminals, junkies, mentally ill unworthy of safe shelter. Instead, my lack of support stems from the cringe-worthy process the administration responsible for taking care of our unhoused neighbors has thrust upon us. Anyone worth their salt in public administration and policy-making knows that engaging in authentic public input processes and garnering support is vital to any such endeavor – certainly not coming to the community after the plan is baked with very few answers to critical questions. 

Per state Commissioner Chris Winters at the meeting last Monday: 

-Has a plan for public safety been developed? We've notified state police, but haven't done anything beyond that. 

-What is the intake process for being accepted into the shelter? We don't know. 

-What happens when people who are homeless begin just showing up in Waterbury hoping to get a bed? We don't know. 

-What happens to a person who disobeys a shelter rule? We don't know. The state wouldn't be managing the shelter. A private shelter management company would do that. (Great. I love when profit is part of the equation in taking care of vulnerable people.)

Not only does this lack of sound planning harm us. It isn't good for the people it aims to help either. We have heard nothing of coordination with stakeholders in the homeless response community, religious community, behavioral and mental health treatment providers, public safety, emergency medical and food services, and housing advocates. Is this plan truly aimed at housing as the solution to homelessness or is it – like the hotel/motel program – a short-sighted band-aid without full alignment from all public and private entities responsible for arriving at systemic, long-term solutions? How does this "solution" solve the real problem, which is houselessness for folks within the communities they call home?

I call on those responsible for developing this plan, approving it, administering it, and evaluating its impact on all of Waterbury's residents (housed and unhoused) to admit and apologize for your process-related shortcomings, and to make a promise of future transparency and engagement to all of us (and require both from the entity you will contract with to manage the shelter). 

The commissioner promised he would return to share further information. When? Who will hold him accountable to this promise?

I call on the neighbors who have identified themselves as compassionate to people who are homeless to exercise that same compassion toward those of us who will bear the brunt of this decision due to the shelter's proximity to our backyards and one-way in/out access. I also invite you to do what you can to ensure that decision-makers are held accountable for the safety and well-being of all of Waterbury's residents as this plan is implemented.

I call on you who have chastised and belittled people who are unhoused to turn your indignation and displeasure toward those who we pay and elect to prevent, address and end homelessness and facilitate affordable housing solutions in EVERY town in this brave little state. 

If our systems fail one of us, they fail us all.

With continued compassion,

Tamatha Thomas-Haase

Waterbury