HUFFINGTON
08.19.12
TAMPA’S MAVERICK COP
some observers say that more
Americans are homeless than at
any point since the mid-1980s.
On a given night in the U.S.,
according to a count by the U.S.
Housing Department, around
600,000 people sleep on the
streets, in the woods, in their cars,
in parks and in homeless shelters—
a population larger than that of
Washington, D.C. This is a conservative estimate. Some counts put
the number closer to one million.
If you include people who’ve been
relegated to temporary places like
cheap hotels and the couches of
relatives, the number doubles.
People disagree on why the 10year plans faltered. Neil Donovan,
the head of the National Coalition
for the Homeless, says that the
activist community should have
asked for $20 billion up front,
instead of settling for $2 billion a
year, which ultimately amounted
to the same thing. Only a massive
lump sum would have sufficed
to put every homeless American
into housing, he says.
Donaldson
answers a
call during his
meeting with
Glassmyer at
McDonald’s.