About ten years ago, I sat at the Pentagon bus stop....waiting for my local bus to come and take me home.
Sitting nearby were two ladies....one maybe in early 30s....other in mid-40s. Both had been homeless in DC (across the river).
Both had discovered better accommodations in Arlington. But they came at a price....both were going over their personal choices.
So gal number one spoke up....to get into the four-star Fairfax shelter....you had to agree to having no booze/no drugs in your 'room'. This meant an occasional frisk at the door. You had to agree to a drug-test occasionally. There was job-training which mandated, and 'forced' upon you.
Gal number two spoke up. She had a three-star Arlington shelter deal. No drug-tests, but they were strict on no booze/drugs in the room as well.
Both grumbled about the unfairness.
The thing is....they'd both given up on DC, and it's crappy homeless management program. In the Virginia program.....you would probably spend a year or two in some treatment 'path' and feel safe over your progress....perhaps escaping one day to reality again. In the DC program....you were just locking yourself into a permanent situation.
I sat there....you don't get different prospectives on life that much...if you don't hang out and just listen.
