WASHINGTON (WUSA9) -- DC General the former hospital and current homeless shelter is closing its doors.
The move comes more than a year and a half after eight-year-old Relisha Rudd vanished with a janitor who later killed himself. Rudd has been missing since. There is still no exact timeline on when the center will close, however the plan is to relocate everybody to several dormitory style shelters throughout the city.
The smaller shelters will eventually replace DC General and are expected to be much safer for the residents. But opponents, including a number of homeless advocates, strongly oppose the smaller shelters because they lack private bathrooms. Families would share bathrooms like they currently do at DC General. That has been a major problem at DC General, where parents have voiced concern about sending their children into bathrooms alone and share those facilities with adult strangers - there have even been reports of people having sex in the bathrooms. But the administration says private bathrooms would be too costly and delay the project.
This is all part of the mayor's five year plan to end chronic homelessness in the District. Mayor Muriel Bowser has also vowed to house the city's 200 homeless veterans by 2016. To make that goal, the city is moving quickly to place people in transitional housing. There are 700 homeless people in DC. Advocates estimate that number could double by this winter. The administration is trying to stay on top of the problem by already placing people in motel rooms.
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