Couch surfing is the polite term for what I have experienced these past few months. But many on the streets of New Haven do not have the means to surf on a chair, let alone a couch. A man recently died on the streets, his unreported cause of death: sleep deprivation.
Here is a solution: the Mayor could build sleep pods around the Green and other areas, to be determined. Each pod would be accessed only by tokens distributed by the City and specific shelters. The sleepy person would enter the pristine pod and sleep for up to six hours. At five hours, forty-five minutes an alarm would sound. After exiting the pod, City staff or volunteers would sanitize the pod. With
Covid-19 cases rising, it is even more urgent to provide basic needs to unhoused persons.
I am convinced that
sleeplessness is an underreported scourge in the City. Losing sleep means a person risks heart attack, stroke, and other serious ills. The City could also build shower pods for use of 30 minutes. Anecdotally, two homeless men informed me they were given only a "bird bath" at the shelter near Union Station, that the showers were broken.
Mayor Justin Elicker is up for reelection. Rather than ship suffering humans off in buses, why not make their lives more comfortable, saving lives and curtailing crime in the process?
Photo: Wikimedia Commons sleep pod, Munich airport, Cory Doctorow 2015
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