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This is a very important day. Many of us at DU won't get to participate in one of those events today, but we can still think about the homeless who have died in the past year. It is important that we remember that we will be observing this day next year and every year after. Some of these deaths could be prevented, but there is limited funding for it in our local government budgets. In this time of financial crisis, many governments have to cut certain programs to balance their budget. It is easy for them to take away coverage for homeless services. They don't have to worry about any outrage from the homeless, because homeless people aren't paying close attention to this, because their goal is surviving another night.
I live in Washington DC and our mayor cut some of the hypothermia services, but assured homeless advocacy groups that he hadn't cut all funds. On Friday, one of the local homeless services providers emailed me urgently seeking blankets. They have always received shipments of blankets in October from the city. However, the city hadn't shipped them and they had no blankets with a blizzard coming the next day. This agency was also very concerned that there wouldn't be enough shelter space for their clients since the city reduced the number of beds in hypothermia shelters. I am sure people died this weekend and the city could have kept that from happening, but hey they don't care.
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