by Walkerasurus
So what do you do at Wal3am when your stomach gurgles, your bowels roll and you know you are going to have to hurry or there will be an unwanted mess in the pants? If you are homeless and stuck outside, just what are your options? Honestly you have none. Welcome to the land of bushes and alleys. Just surrender your dignity and go where you can.
On July 13th a group of homeless advocates mourned the death of human dignity in Denver Colorado. If you are wondering what they mean by this... Think bathrooms... It is all about the bathrooms. The lack of access to public bathrooms. If you are homeless (and therefore have no toilet of your own) and need to answer a call of nature and there are no public bathrooms available or you are not allowed to use a nearby businesses bathrooms... your dignity dies.
For the homeless community, this is a real concern. Public bathrooms have become less and less available in Denver, especially after dark, a time when the homeless community is most vulnerable to this issue. A little piece of one’s dignity dies each time you answer a call of nature behind a bush, or in an alleyway. And what of those times when one has a need while suffering from diarrhea? Eating second hand food from donations does not always assure the best of freshness. Eating bravely or not, your body will respond. This is especially true when it becomes too hard to come by perishables like fruits and vegetables. On occasion it is natural to get a touch of the runs for most of us anyway. Add to that that sleeping in the elements which is hard on the body and that will lead to more illnesses. Personal dignity is bound to be sacrificed at some point along the way.
Too often “public” bathrooms are locked and unavailable. Businesses for the most part are unwilling to be helpful for fear of being taken advantage of. So in response to the severe lack of available facilities for those who are without housing, DHOL held a vigil they called the Death of Human Dignity.
The vigil--complete with a casket, mourners, flowers, a eulogy performed by a local pastor, and testimonials from victims of the call of nature--was attended by about 20 people and covered by local public radio. The unavailability of proper facilities was mourned right in front of some locked public bathrooms at a local park. If you rent the ball field for softball the city will unlock them for you, but other than that these public bathrooms (like so many others) remain locked all the time.
The more unwelcoming Denver becomes to the poorest of its citizens, the more the dignity of the city dies as well. In a modern city in a modern world, opportunities for basic acts of survival (sleeping, eating, and calls of nature) should be able to occur without attention from the police and with a little common dignity.
Denver, like many cities across the nation, has used access (or rather the lack of it) to public facilities and public spaces as a way to manage the movement and location of its homeless communities. But Denver has gone too far. Access to public bathrooms is so restricted that in Denver tourists, housed residents and more have been complaining to City Council to take action. It has become an issue of great concern in the downtown area, leading to a series of “stakeholders” meeting with City Council members where people from various organizations are complaining to the city for access to bathrooms.
Way to go Denver … your dignity has died.
And now your are full of...S---
because there is no place to put it.
On July 13th a group of homeless advocates mourned the death of human dignity in Denver Colorado. If you are wondering what they mean by this... Think bathrooms... It is all about the bathrooms. The lack of access to public bathrooms. If you are homeless (and therefore have no toilet of your own) and need to answer a call of nature and there are no public bathrooms available or you are not allowed to use a nearby businesses bathrooms... your dignity dies.
For the homeless community, this is a real concern. Public bathrooms have become less and less available in Denver, especially after dark, a time when the homeless community is most vulnerable to this issue. A little piece of one’s dignity dies each time you answer a call of nature behind a bush, or in an alleyway. And what of those times when one has a need while suffering from diarrhea? Eating second hand food from donations does not always assure the best of freshness. Eating bravely or not, your body will respond. This is especially true when it becomes too hard to come by perishables like fruits and vegetables. On occasion it is natural to get a touch of the runs for most of us anyway. Add to that that sleeping in the elements which is hard on the body and that will lead to more illnesses. Personal dignity is bound to be sacrificed at some point along the way.
Too often “public” bathrooms are locked and unavailable. Businesses for the most part are unwilling to be helpful for fear of being taken advantage of. So in response to the severe lack of available facilities for those who are without housing, DHOL held a vigil they called the Death of Human Dignity.
The vigil--complete with a casket, mourners, flowers, a eulogy performed by a local pastor, and testimonials from victims of the call of nature--was attended by about 20 people and covered by local public radio. The unavailability of proper facilities was mourned right in front of some locked public bathrooms at a local park. If you rent the ball field for softball the city will unlock them for you, but other than that these public bathrooms (like so many others) remain locked all the time.
The more unwelcoming Denver becomes to the poorest of its citizens, the more the dignity of the city dies as well. In a modern city in a modern world, opportunities for basic acts of survival (sleeping, eating, and calls of nature) should be able to occur without attention from the police and with a little common dignity.
Denver, like many cities across the nation, has used access (or rather the lack of it) to public facilities and public spaces as a way to manage the movement and location of its homeless communities. But Denver has gone too far. Access to public bathrooms is so restricted that in Denver tourists, housed residents and more have been complaining to City Council to take action. It has become an issue of great concern in the downtown area, leading to a series of “stakeholders” meeting with City Council members where people from various organizations are complaining to the city for access to bathrooms.
Way to go Denver … your dignity has died.
And now your are full of...S---
because there is no place to put it.
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