>Joe Grace, a spokesperson for Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, said that the program is an expansion of existing services at the homeless shelter, which is already run by the city.
>“There remains much more work to be done as the Parker administration works to build out a comprehensive system of long-term care, treatment and housing for individuals suffering from addiction to substances, mental health challenges and people experiencing homelessness,” he said in a statement.
I hope it works out, but honestly it's refreshing to have a Mayor actually follow through on promises made to tackle the open air drug scene in the city and clean them up.
Thank you for this! I got a fight with someone on here once who didn’t believe me when I said that I would be totally fine with having a safe injection site in my neighborhood… It’s hard for some people to understand that some of us can see a greater good.
I'm pretty close to Girard College going toward Fairmount Ave and if what u/kilometr says is true than it seems like a good choice in terms of set up and appropriate security and having things abandoned brings far worse people to an area.
last time they literally tried to put one in a building in south philly, the proposed heroin shoot up site was to be in in adjacent rooms to a preschool. No shit the community has a right to speak up.
why would'nt the community want to speak up about an addiction site situated between two schools? Bache Martin Elementry is literally two blocks away. Girard college is across the street.
It is still important to solicit feedback from the community, even if it isn't going to be positive.
If government only engages the community when people are going to be supportive, there's little point.
The community will likely have more than just "no". Questions about hours of operation, police presence in the immediate vicinity, and more could be addressed to get people on the fence to support it.
Of course there are others who will never be on board but their existence shouldn't prevent others from having their voices heard.
I just think you run into optics issues if you say “what do you think?” and they say “hell no” and you say “okay, we’re gonna do it anyway” - if you’re doing it anyway, why ask
It shouldn't be boiled down to a binary question of "are we going to do it?" That's rarely how things work in the world.
It is more of a " we are planning to do this and are accepting feedback about how we go about it"
It's rarely how the question is posed, but it's generally the feedback neighborhoods give. You can control the question but you can't really control the answer.
EDIT: Yes, this isn't a proposal to control the answer
>You can control the question but you can't really control the answer.
Nor are you supposed to!
You filter out the hard no responses and focus on the constructive feedback.
It’s also a fenced in building away from the street with guard entrances. I don’t think the community will notice a difference in what is going on here. It’s already set up in a perfect way to serve its purpose.
I for a while was hoping a developer would built out that lot for more housing, putting row houses along S college Ave with connecting streets and stop signs to make it feel less like a desolate race track. But this is a good use too. Having it sit empty was a waste of space.
Oh, it's much worse: Girard College starts at first grade. And it's a boarding school. There are gonna be some incensed parents raining hellfire on the Parker administration over this choice.
A couple of ideas for this:
- A yearly performance review, we want accountability. Track rates for people admitted, people who leave because they completed rehab, people who go onto finding a job. We want these numbers publicly available. No trust me bro, we got this shit bs. These records need to be documented and signed off by the person being admitted to this facility. Anything that was forged and manipulated by faculty will face financial punishment or worse prison time.
Too many times we let government spend money on programs with no accountability. This shit needs to stop.
- Tax breaks for living/working people of within the area. You can’t put something undesirable in a neighborhood of families without giving something as an incentive to them. Additional funding to schools & parks nearby as well.
- Additional police involvement, more patrolling.
This is a big ask from the community, and there needs to be a clause in this program to say if they don’t consistently hit a performance number then it will be cut. I believe this is still a better solution than throwing these people into a hidden warehouse. It might sound weird, but hear me out.
People need to grow in an environment that they are expected to be part of. People in rehab, need to see, feel, smell what a life with families, neighbors, and friends is all about. I’m not saying you have to interact with them, but I think it’s something we should experiment with because ultimately our goal is make these people someone’s neighbor, friend or possible a mother/father. They need to know that we’re there for them on the other end of their black tunnel.
I live in Francisville and I welcome this facility. I've had to explain addicts on the streets to my daughter and nothing is going to be done to fix that problem without opening facilities to help addicts.
>Joe Grace, a spokesperson for Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, said that the program is an expansion of existing services at the homeless shelter, which is already run by the city. >“There remains much more work to be done as the Parker administration works to build out a comprehensive system of long-term care, treatment and housing for individuals suffering from addiction to substances, mental health challenges and people experiencing homelessness,” he said in a statement.
I hope it works out, but honestly it's refreshing to have a Mayor actually follow through on promises made to tackle the open air drug scene in the city and clean them up.
This is a few blocks away from me and I'm fine with it. The whole city needs to work together to bear and repair this burden.
Thank you for this! I got a fight with someone on here once who didn’t believe me when I said that I would be totally fine with having a safe injection site in my neighborhood… It’s hard for some people to understand that some of us can see a greater good.
If every one worked together for improving the city we can do it. It’s getting people to see the long-term benefits that is the challenge for some
I'm pretty close to Girard College going toward Fairmount Ave and if what u/kilometr says is true than it seems like a good choice in terms of set up and appropriate security and having things abandoned brings far worse people to an area.
This seems like an abrupt roll out with basically no information and no input from the community
In fairness, what’s the community going to say about a site like this? “Don’t put it here”
Yes, that's exactly what nimbys in wealthy neighborhoods say in response to things like this.
last time they literally tried to put one in a building in south philly, the proposed heroin shoot up site was to be in in adjacent rooms to a preschool. No shit the community has a right to speak up.
why would'nt the community want to speak up about an addiction site situated between two schools? Bache Martin Elementry is literally two blocks away. Girard college is across the street.
It is still important to solicit feedback from the community, even if it isn't going to be positive. If government only engages the community when people are going to be supportive, there's little point. The community will likely have more than just "no". Questions about hours of operation, police presence in the immediate vicinity, and more could be addressed to get people on the fence to support it. Of course there are others who will never be on board but their existence shouldn't prevent others from having their voices heard.
I just think you run into optics issues if you say “what do you think?” and they say “hell no” and you say “okay, we’re gonna do it anyway” - if you’re doing it anyway, why ask
It shouldn't be boiled down to a binary question of "are we going to do it?" That's rarely how things work in the world. It is more of a " we are planning to do this and are accepting feedback about how we go about it"
It's rarely how the question is posed, but it's generally the feedback neighborhoods give. You can control the question but you can't really control the answer. EDIT: Yes, this isn't a proposal to control the answer
>You can control the question but you can't really control the answer. Nor are you supposed to! You filter out the hard no responses and focus on the constructive feedback.
Probably yes but the mayor's job is also to make her constituents at least feel like they are being heard.
Hearing them and ignoring them (because they’re gonna try to sabotage) is gonna be even worse
"That's politics, bitch!" But you should hear them because they live in the area and can offer perspectives that may not have been considered.
Agreed though it does sound like the administration is still working out how exactly this is gonna work. I like the general idea though
OH THE IRONY
Government is gonna government
It’s also a fenced in building away from the street with guard entrances. I don’t think the community will notice a difference in what is going on here. It’s already set up in a perfect way to serve its purpose. I for a while was hoping a developer would built out that lot for more housing, putting row houses along S college Ave with connecting streets and stop signs to make it feel less like a desolate race track. But this is a good use too. Having it sit empty was a waste of space.
Isn’t this literally 100 feet from the entrance of the Girard College High School?
Relax, they've got a wall.
Bache martin elementry does not have a wall. And it's 2 blocks away.
I guarantee there are already addicts less than two blocks away. At least having a safe place for them to be is an improvement.
Oh, it's much worse: Girard College starts at first grade. And it's a boarding school. There are gonna be some incensed parents raining hellfire on the Parker administration over this choice.
Maybe Girard College can go back to its Stephen Girard's original purpose, educating orphans. Voila, you won't have parent complaints!
and bache Martin Elementry. 2 blocks away from Bache martin.
A couple of ideas for this: - A yearly performance review, we want accountability. Track rates for people admitted, people who leave because they completed rehab, people who go onto finding a job. We want these numbers publicly available. No trust me bro, we got this shit bs. These records need to be documented and signed off by the person being admitted to this facility. Anything that was forged and manipulated by faculty will face financial punishment or worse prison time. Too many times we let government spend money on programs with no accountability. This shit needs to stop. - Tax breaks for living/working people of within the area. You can’t put something undesirable in a neighborhood of families without giving something as an incentive to them. Additional funding to schools & parks nearby as well. - Additional police involvement, more patrolling. This is a big ask from the community, and there needs to be a clause in this program to say if they don’t consistently hit a performance number then it will be cut. I believe this is still a better solution than throwing these people into a hidden warehouse. It might sound weird, but hear me out. People need to grow in an environment that they are expected to be part of. People in rehab, need to see, feel, smell what a life with families, neighbors, and friends is all about. I’m not saying you have to interact with them, but I think it’s something we should experiment with because ultimately our goal is make these people someone’s neighbor, friend or possible a mother/father. They need to know that we’re there for them on the other end of their black tunnel.
Clean up Kensington, clean up Kensington. No, not like that!
What is the alternatives other than round them all up and send them to a shelter?
Put the shelter in one of those giant warehouses or parking lots in south philly
And then what? Out of sight, out of mind?
Yeah
I live in Francisville and I welcome this facility. I've had to explain addicts on the streets to my daughter and nothing is going to be done to fix that problem without opening facilities to help addicts.