1 upvotes, 2 direct replies (showing 2)
No joke. KARM operates the only shelter in town. It’s a horribly hard and thankless job, as this thread demonstrates. It is much more difficult to get someone who is struggling with addiction and or really bad mental illness into supportive housing than almost anybody realizes. Handing out blankets and sandwiches under bridges may make you feel like you’re the kings and queens of charity, but it’s easy to do that stuff, and in the long run, it does nothing to address the worst parts of all the issues that are always being churned up by homelessness. KARM is doing some of the hardest bits of all that work, generally dealing with folks at the lowest points in their situations. Nobody else is stepping up to bear that weight. Wonder why! VMC got out of the shelter biz a long time ago. Not throwing shade at them, but it tells you something about how challenging it is to run a shelter. That’s why VMC and the Salvation Army both stopped doing it.
Comment by AdriTrap at 05/02/2025 at 00:18 UTC
6 upvotes, 3 direct replies
Maybe if they didn't make it a religious thing it would be different. Using people who need your help as a captive audience for ministry is parasitic and many other bad words.
Comment by knoxvillegains at 04/02/2025 at 20:55 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Yeah, this entire sub likes to rag on people that give their time and energy to helping others. I love your point that people think it just boils down to handing out some food and blankets.