Jim Graham and Fox News trying to close DC General family shelter

On May 13, Faux News ran a feature of Jim Graham calling for closing the shelter for homeless families with children at DC General. It was one of the ugliest "reports" I have seen on Faux in years.

I found it interesting that Faux News whined about the shelter taking time to decide whether to let them in or not, knowing their ugly reputation. I also found it interesting that Faux News was objecting to a report of a moldy shower curtain. If the worst thing an "inspection" by Faux could find was a moldy shower curtain, that also says something. They also harped on proximity to the DC Jail and a methadone clinic, but nothing happens outside either one that would not also happen on the streets just about anywhere else except in rich neighborhoods. The air conditioning issue also arose, and you may recall that new air conditioning was installed in Franklin School just before the shelter there was closed down by former mayor Fenty.

Mr Graham and FOX even objected to residents being permitted outside on the grounds, and talked of going after the contractor running the shelter for that.

A valid complaint from families housed at DC General was that children had little privacy in shelter conditions, and in fact a lawsuit did manage to force the DC government to house many families in hotels during the brutal 2013-2014 winter. Despite that, the shelter at DC General remained full, as still other families lost their housing to soaring rents, law wages, and the endless replacement of their neighborhoods with condos.

It must be remembered that in winter 2004-05,for all his talk of sympathy for the homeless, Jim Graham cast the deciding vote on a 3 member DC Council committee to close Randall Shelter to remove a perceived hazard to the baseball stadium.

Now Councilmember Graham promises to move all the families at DC General into "rapid rehousing" but that same promise was made by the DC government to residents of Franklin Shelter, closed by former mayor Fenty in 2008. For many, those promises proved hollow and "permanent supportive housing" proved a fleeting and transient experience..

Jim Graham is using the well-publicized disappearance of an 8 year old girl from DC General to demand the facility's closure, but she would have been in at least as much danger sleeping on the street without shelter, a real possiblity for families if the Council refuses to appropriate funds to put them up in hotel rooms like some were last winter.