#NCpol update: local politics is bungling state-level COVID measures

The state gave out funds for local governments to pay for homeless folks to stay in HOTELS

and our local homelessness office is diverting them to the Salvation Army, which can't handle the volume.

Val Fields, local activist who's been working with homelessness issues here, found out when she started getting reports from folks being sent to SA that it was crowded (can't do social distancing) & conditions aren't sanitary.

Folks are refusing to go inside.

The local county/city partnership that's handling COVID housing- Continuum of Care- hasn't explained why they're taking state money & not following the guidelines to use it properly.

Val's been trying to get county & local officials to get down here & look at the conditions & they WON'T.

There's also the issue of SA not welcoming welcomes or even allowing LGBTQ+ folks- a lot of the homeless population.

Why is CoC sending folks to a shelter that a quick trip through Homelessness 101 tells you is bad at their job?

Especially when their facilities are inadequate?

The whole point of state funds for hotel stays is so homeless folks aren't living on the street, frequently exposed to the virus by passersby, & making it easier for the virus to spread.

It's not to send people to crowded "shelters" that spread it faster.

We can't afford to dick around. We're not "just a small town." We're sandwiched between the world's largest military base (Ft Bragg) & the world's biggest slaughterhouse (Smithfield's Tar Heel plant). Both 20 minutes away. We're exactly the kind of place that gets hit hard.

Shame on Cumberland County & the Fayetteville city government. Y'all didn't just miss the point, you flew right past it & won't even look back despite all the WRONG WAY road signs people keep trying to give you

Val's been on this for weeks, & it's now clear that common sense means nothing to our local officials.

So now it's shame.

Please signal boost. Our local gov't is too busy playing funding football to do their jobs and it's putting all of us at risk.