As caseworkers start going home for the night, only one or two say goodbye. Most avoid eye contact, ignoring the Watchers and leaving their question--Has everyone been placed?--unanswered.
City Limits Magazine
And the Watchers claim they have made a difference. Initially, volunteers would be waiting on the street until 1 a.m. Now the watch routinely ends at 6:30 p.m. with every client placed. More than that, since the vigil began, the agency has put doors on the bathroom stalls and fixed the water fountain (essential for people on medication). In addition, caseworkers stay longer and are more respectful toward the clients, according to Flynn.
DASIS Watch actually considered disbanding after two weeks in early January when no clients were left stranded, but then, in mid January, two people were denied housing. Flynn and Councilmember Christine Quinn picked up the tab for a hotel room over the four-night Martin Luther King weekend.
So for now, the volunteers will continue their vigil. And people like Bob Kohler will stand on the same sidewalk, comfort the clientele that linger with packed bags outside the building and ask each one, “Did you get housing?”
