Brook, a 42-year-old Atlanta man, perfers sleeping in an abandoned house with no heat. The only heat he has is a large coat with a few layers underneath and hat. He rests his head on a bag where he keeps his belongings. Brook is among thousands of homeless who refuse to go to shelters. Some homeless use shelters for showers and meals but also refuse to sleep there. Brook describes shelters as an environment "where you can't keep your eyes closed." But with temperatures in the teens, there has been an increase in the number of homeless flocking to shelters. Some churches in Atlanta will become refuge shelters when extremely low temperatures are being experienced.
With the extremely low temperatures our country is facing, I hope everyone has a warm place to sleep. If we need to extend our shelters to churches, then so be it. I can't imagine sleeping outside in these kinds of temperatures. Brook seems insane for his preference of sleeping out in the cold rather than a shelter. I understand his fear of getting robbed, but it doesn't sound like he has much that could get robbed. I guess if all you own is the clothes on your back, you don't want to risk losing them. Kate Gearman (http://kategearman.%20blogspot.com/2010/01/in-winter-some-homeless-choose-between.html) suggests that security patrols the shelters to minimize the crimes that occurs and allows the homeless to feel at home and sleep easy. I agree with her 100%, everyone should have a warm and safe place to sleep at night.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/01/08/cold.homeless/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29
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