Blue Bus

The Blue Bus model is for metropoli inundated with the unsheltered homeless and high land and housing prices.

 

Purchased on 1/30/23, the Blue Bus has housed 10-24 people every winter night for three seasons and counting, while also serving around 50 each day -- from a bottle of water, to an ID voucher, to a place to nap in the afternoon, to a place to charge one's phone or log onto wifi, or to get a hot meal.

 

Most importantly, it is a place that challenges stereotypes in that it is run by the unsheltered for the unsheltered. We select four bus managers per season to take care of the bus and her inhabitants all winter long, and they're exceeding all expectations, while learning leadership, management, and intrapersonal skills.

 

People who will never stay at a shelter again are willing to spend the night on our bus. Having this space managed by peers allows our guests to relax in a homey, comfortable and communal environment. Everyone is expected to participate, and clean up after themselves and others. No drug use is allowed inside or near the bus. And despite those from the streets running it for their own, we have never had an OD, there is no violence, we've mitigated theft with lockers and more oversight, and there have never been bedbugs on the bus! Additionally, we've only had to call an ambulance once, after finding a hypothermic man behind the dumpster, bringing him in to get warm on the bus, and discovering such bad frostbite he couldn't walk. 

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