I read that it may get snowy here this week.

I WFH so don't mind the snow anymore. It's beautiful & quiet & puts a stillness over everything. It also replenishes our snowpack, which will be our water supply for next summer.

At the same time, I wonder what the homeless encampment along a nearby major arterial will do. I know there isn't room for them all in the local shelters. Will they find space to keep warm?

Tangentially, I learned something about 211 this year that I didn't know before.

Locally, social service orgs prioritize the most vulnerable people. That's as it should be - it's a kind of triage. The people most in need get help the most quickly.

However, services are stretched so thinly that "quickly" is on the order of weeks, sometimes months, even for those in greatest need.

One of my friends has called 211 a number of times for rental assistance, when they were at risk of losing their housing. 211 advised them that there was nothing local orgs could do if they were *still housed*.

211 told them to put all their stuff in storage & live in their car, if they wanted help.

I wasn't aware that, ironically, local services contribute to the homeless crisis here because of advice like this.

There is effectively NO social safety net here. That isn't the fault of 211 or the orgs people use.