Puppet Masters
Case in point, a story this week about a South Carolina city which has taken steps to "exile its homeless."
The story suggested the city council in Columbia, S.C., had unanimously approved an "emergency homeless response" plan which will ban homeless people from the central business district and authorize police to arrest any homeless person found within the no-homeless zone.
A hotline will be established for residents and merchants to report the presence of a homeless person to police, who will be obliged to move them along.
Surely that can't be true, I thought. Sadly, it is.
The council of Columbia will partner with a local charity to operate a 24-hour emergency shelter on the outskirts of town, however it's unlikely the 240-bed shelter will be sufficient for the city's estimated 1,500 homeless people. And once someone enters the shelter, they are not allowed to leave the premises unless they set up an appointment to be driven out by a van.
A police officer will be posted on the road leading toward downtown to ensure homeless people stay away.
Seriously, this is happening, right now, in the United States.
And it's not only Columbia. The Florida cities of Miami and Tampa and Palo Alto, Calif., have all passed legislation this year essentially making homelessness illegal.
It's difficult to denounce strongly enough such a backward approach to a serious social problem.
Thankfully, officials in this country have taken a more humane approach. The federal government has pledged to continue the Homelessness Partnering Strategy, which funds projects to prevent and reduce homelessness.
Locally, officials with Wellington County's social services department - which administers such services for Guelph as well as the county - are close to completing the 10-year Housing and Homelessness Plan, as required under the provincial Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative.
The province has invested $246 million in the initiative for 2013-14.
The local plan will include a range of actions, including helping low-income households close the gap between income and housing expenses, providing a range of supports to help those at risk of homelessness to remain housed and offering supportive housing to those who might otherwise fall through the cracks.
The plan will not be perfect, of course, nor will it solve all of the issues it is intended to address.
But any plan that treats vulnerable citizens as human beings in need of help, rather than dirt to be pushed aside and ignored, is one worth supporting.
Reader Comments
I live in Southern California, which has a very large homeless population. In the city where I live they have been systematically shutting down all homeless programs. They have removed 'common area' type structures in most of the city parks, they have shut down every shelter and they have now focused their sights on the free food programs. Of which there are only two, only one of which operates daily.
While I do agree that homeless people, unfortunately, do not belong in certain areas. I used to work in a retail outlet that is in a crossroads of sorts for all kinds of homeless folk. While most of them are relatively harmless, there are those few who harass everyone around them. Either from panhandling or psychotic behavior.
There was one homeless man who frequented the parking lot that I witnessed pull down his pants and proceed to urinate on the street. He did this in full view of everyone, in broad daylight, and even offered a waved greeting to any that looked at him. He finished his business, pulled up his pants and went on his way screaming bible quotes and things like, "What would Jesus do if he had to cut off his d**k?!!?".
So, in part, I can understand why they would pass a bill like this and as long as the officers enforcing the bill act responsibly, I don't think that there is anything better that could be done.
Heck, in my town, all that the police will do is drop them off across the city limits. Then they're back the next day.
"At least they are doing something beneficial about the problem vis-a-vis the proposed shelter" yes, that was the roll out part 1, the rest of it is coming.
"While I do agree that homeless people, unfortunately, do not belong in certain areas.." Again - are you for real? You obviously haven't noticed that they are people and as such, by definition are part of society.
Look a little deeper.
I do feel for the homeless, because I have been one of them.
I also believe that we make all the choices in our lives that put us where we are.
I have volunteered at a soup kitchen that operates here and I have had conversations with many different types of homeless people. The ones that truly want to improve their living do everything in their power to right the wrongs in their lives and sometimes all they need is a break. I don't hold it against them that they have fallen on hard times. We all have at some point or another. Heck, I had to live out of my car for two years at one point.
But there is another class of homeless. The ones that are perfectly happy living out their lives as leeches on the rest of society. These are the type that ruin it for all of the others. These are the ones that act out in irrational ways and have the potential to cause serious disruptions in people's lives.
What would be a suitable alternative to you folks?
Round them up and put them into camps? Would you be willing to take them into your home?
Come on, you two need to really examine what the underlying cause is for homelessness. Sure, a small fraction of homeless people are the way they are because of the misalignment of society in this country, but generally those are people who still respect themselves and those around them and generally don't remain homeless for very long.
The other types are professional homeless and should not be given any special treatment at all. They are the dregs of society and often engage in petty crime and panhandling to get by.
Then there are the truly unfortunates who have mental deficiencies either due to drug use or genetics.
Again, what should be done with them? I don't have an answer for that but I can say that they have no reason to be in certain areas except to harass working folk.
Like it or not, there is absolutely no reason for a homeless person to be in the vicinity of, for argument's sake, an office building or out front of a retail establishment except for trying to leech off of others.
Now, if they want to hang on a street corner away from businesses and panhandle, who's to stop them? I personally feel that there is nothing wrong with that. But to force their presence on to people who are just trying to go about their day is wrong and it forces public officials do have to pass laws such as the one that we are debating here.
You know, I could go on but I feel that my point has been made.
Homelessness is a problem that is never going to go away and we need to find a healthy compromise that benefits all involved, not just the downtrodden. Thank you.
happen. ACLU is on the move right now. You can't ban people from the city streets. They are not dogs or livestock. No way can they do this and Columbia will look foolish as well as evil when this is over. I am leaning toward looking evil.
"They are not dogs or livestock" in some peoples' thinking, yes they are (see post above for example).
Veterans & Homelessness
THE NUMBER OF HOMELESS VIETNAM-ERA VETERANS, MALE AND FEMALE, IS GREATER THAN THE NUMBER OF SOLDIERS WHO DIED DURING THE WAR
Between 529,000 and 840,000 veterans are homeless at some time during the year
On any given night, more than 300,000 veterans are living on the streets or in shelters in the U.S.
Approx. 33% of homeless males in the U.S. are veterans
Veterans are twice as likely as other Americans to become chronically homeless
Veterans represent 11% of the adult civilian population, but 26% of the homeless population, according to the Homeless Research Institute (2007).
Primary causes of homelessness among veterans are:
Lack of income due to limited education and lack of transferable skills from military to civilian life (especially true of younger veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan)
Combat-related physical health issues and disabilities
Combat-related mental health issues and disabilities
Substance abuse problems that interfere with job retention
Weak social networks due to problems adjusting to civilian life
Lack of services
The homeless will comprise the first to be herded into camps. As things collapse, more and more will follow...according the government plans, anyway.
This also keeps the working slaves still left in the cities oblivious as the the "real" severity of the economic situation...
My take on it, anyway. Generally I'm a realistic but optimistic person (working towards community sustainability) but I'm feeling uncharacteristically cynical today...too many items in the news have let me to exclaim, "WTF???!!!" today.
Time to watch Harry Potter again and have a bottle of wine...