SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — It might be as simple as some port-a-potties and a few more cops.
That’s on the wish list of the street people KELO.com News talked to recently about what the City of Sioux Falls could do to help them in the Whittier neighborhood between the 8th and Railroad Center and a few blocks east of Cliff Avenue.
“I think they should put a lot of port-a-potties around here,” said Sarah, a 40-year-old Native American woman said near the corner of 10th Street and South Indiana Avenue, a half-block from the Bishop Dudley Hospitality House. “There’s a lot of people around here that need to go to the bathroom all the time.”
- PREVIOUS COVERAGE: LISTEN: Porta-potties and much more proposed for Whittier area
- PREVIOUS COVERAGE: How to clean up Whittier
She and her “daughter,” Alyssa, a 31-year-old Native American woman, both pointed to an alley between the liquor store on the corner and another building as a place where street people relieve themselves.
They both said it smelled bad.
Sarah and Alyssa said they were lucky. Sarah has a house on 8th Street and Alyssa an apartment on French Avenue. They have a place to go to the bathroom in private and without causing problems in the neighborhood. Many of their friends, like the people hanging out at the corner, are not so lucky.
But both Sarah and Alyssa have been homeless in the past. They both said they still like to drink.
While KELO.com News was talking to Sarah and Alyssa and the group of street people was nearby, the Sioux Falls Police came. The officer arrested one of the guys, an older Native American man, who was inebriated. He didn’t put up a fuss. Both he and the police officers acted like they knew each other.
The arrival of the police prompted a discussion about safety. Both Sarah and Alyssa and some of the others in the group on the corner said they would welcome more police.
- ADDITIONAL COVERAGE: Interview with News Director Todd Epp on help for homeless, Whittier neighborhood
It is dangerous out on the street. Every person KELO.com News talked to related a violent incident that happened to them or someone they knew.
“I used to go around crying all the time,” Sarah said. “Why did they want to beat you up?”
She said some other homeless women wanted to beat her up because she didn’t “look” homeless and that she couldn’t understand their plight.
Sarah said sometimes the fights are because someone thinks you “looked” at their man or your boyfriend decides to beat you up.
A common denominator is alcohol. The victims are usually inebriated or high an look like an easy target. The people doing the attacking are often drunk too and want the victim’s cell phone, money, or bottle of liquor or beer.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of violence here,” Sarah said. She thought a greater police presence would help.
After talking to KELO.com News, they were off to the nearby liquor store.
Meanwhile, the Mayor and City Councilors are thinking about what to do to help all the residents in the Whittier neighborhood. The street people are waiting for the possible port-a-potties and police presence that they think could make their lives a bit easier.
More on sobriety and the street in the next installment.
