Calvin Michael testifies on congregate shelter harms and housing first

Next.

Hello, my name is Calvin Michael.

I was homeless in 2018.

I was homeless for seven years.

I spent three years in a shelter, a Clark Thomas men's shelter on Randall's Island.

Yeah, but the book closer?

Yeah.

Is that better?

Okay.

Okay.

The thing is, also, I'm a member of the Safety Net Activists.

That's why I'm here today through the Urban Justice Center.

We are here to speak about the issue of shelter safety.

Shelters are precious.

cookers that make residents frustrated, angry, and more likely to take it out on others.

There are a number of recommendations that our organization has that would make shelters safer for everyone there.

One is ending congregate shelters and ensuring that everyone has access to single rooms.

Single rooms with doors, locks, and keys will go a strong way towards reducing conflicts and incidents on shelters.

Placing many dozens of people together in crowded conditions often creates conflicts.

When DH has removed Congress shelter residents into single and double rooms during COVID,

Residents experienced significantly better conditions and providers told us that incidents and conflicts decreased.

People need to access their own space as opposed to sharing a living space with dozens of strangers who they have never met and who may be dealing with their own struggles.

The city should move away from congregate shelter and towards single rooms that provide people with basic privacy and dignity.

More respect from staff would also go a long way, as we would have real accountability for issues and complaints.

Often situations with shelter staff and other residents escalate after.

and residents have made repeated complaints with no real accountability from shelter providers or from the embossed office.

People often reach out to the embossed office without response to meaningful resolution or accountability.

Another important recommendation is housing first.

We need to move from every expanding shelter system to a housing first model where we are quickly

placing people in permanent housing instead of having them linger in shelters for years while their frustration and time in a system builds.

The $4 billion spent on shelters should be used to allow people to move into permanent housing as quickly as possible.

We also recommend internal training on de-escalation.

Shelter staff should be trained in de-escalation techniques, and she'd be able to de-escalate conflicts between residents.

Basic improvements such as air conditioning are also critical.

Many crowded congregate shelters still do not have air conditioning.

Cell providers have noted how numbers of incidents dramatically decreased after air conditioning was installed.

There should be more women's only safe havens and stabilization beds.

12 women, they are

to choose this setting and protect them from sexual violence.

Most safe havens and stabilization bed shelters are closed and not good options for court.

Yeah, court, sorry.

And not best options for women's style safety and stabilization.

Ensuring that people are placed in shelters that have the right supports are also critical.

Many residents are placed in facilities that don't have the right staffing or support for the mental health or other conditions that they are dealing with.

For myself, lastly, last time I was here, I did a testimonial on air-conditioned shelters.

And at the time, 50% of all shelters in New City had no air-conditioned shelters.

And I was like, what, two years ago?

That is totally ridiculous.

Unacceptable.

You know what I'm saying?

It's unsafe and also to, you know, it promotes fights.

Every 20 minutes there was a fight in my show with Clark Thomas.

Where, you know, at the end of the day, our show was known as Gladiator School.

That is how many fights you have in every single hour.

Okay, so like I said.

And that's on Randall's Island?

Yeah, Randall's Island.

Yeah.

Glad you're at the school of Randall's Island.

Randall's Ward's Island.

Also, too, I would like to say that

Safety and shelter is extremely important for the families that are in there, okay, and the young kids that are in there as well.

Thousands of kids are in the shelter system.

I don't need to go into exactly how many, but it's also extremely important, okay?

And I thank the council for allowing me to testify.

Thank you, Chairman Essin, as usual.

And thank you for the opportunity to speak on these issues.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

You're welcome.