…Consider this calculation: One night this winter, 282 people lined up at the Oxford Street Shelter in hopes of getting one of 142 thin, foam rubber mats to sleep on. Of the unlucky, 75 were able to sleep on the floor of the Preble Street soup kitchen. The rest spent the night sitting up in chairs in a city office.
Even if the 13 shelter users who are alleged to have assets had been made to pay for their lodging, the shelter would still be short 140 mats. And when morning arrived, many of the people who are turned out into the cold would still be struggling with their illnesses on their own. Most homeless people don’t have health insurance and get little treatment, if any …
