Hello, my name is Dominique Anthony. When I was 26 years old, I was diagnosed with HIV and mental health issues. I want to talk about being homeless with no place to live, no place to take medicine, and nowhere to store the medicine in a safe place. When you are homeless, it’s hard to take care of yourself. Sometimes you don’t have access to healthy food, and sometimes, when you are homeless, you don’t have IDs or documents. You are a Jane Doe or John Doe, and I feel that is messed up because where are the family or friends to identify a person?
I feel we should do more for the unhoused population by doing wellness checks in the parks, Union Station, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, Farruget West, and Farruget North. I feel they should do another homelessness count with the new mayor and open up new shelters. I feel the 2nd and D shelter should be closed permanently because of the living conditions and complaints about the food served.
I feel like they should do more to protect those on the street. Being homeless is hard and causes depression. I was worried about how I was going to take my medication and have somewhere safe and sound. I also worried about where I was going to sleep at night and where my children were going to be, and then I worried about going to school.
