| Check that–make it The Governments’ Roles. It’s way out of hand–homelessness, and local municipalities are scarcely capable of handling the issue on their own. Sure, the cities and counties have a responsibility to their citizens, but are they equipped (financially) to handle the multitude of causes of homelessness along with the multitude of pathways to get back out? The damage is done, and the first step to correcting the problem is to stop doing damage! Prevention is essential. If every ten people who get out of the tunnel are replaced by eleven more, we’re not really making progress. Worse, if six of the eleven used to be in the ten, we’re gaining in homeless population at an astonishing rate. These are hypothetical numbers, of course, but just looking around, it appears that we’re gaining in homeless population at an astonishing rate! Worse still, governments appear to be run by politicians, not by civil servants. I read the headlines, and I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Mayors and governors are more worried about the appearance of working well with the federal government than the effectiveness of working well with the federal government, and all because of politics. If the wrong person offers the right solution, it’s suddenly a bad solution?? Does that make any sense? |
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| If we’re ever to get a handle on this issue, or any significant issue, our government representatives and leaders are going to have to start swallowing their pride and working across aisles to the benefit of the public they’re supposed to be serving, thus, public service. Until then, I fear, every advancement made is going to be created by and limited to the private sector. |
| I know I have my role to play in this as well, and being part of the private sector, there’s only so much I can do. I’m grateful for the ability and opportunity to do what little I have in the face of all that is “Homelessness.” I’ve seen the local, municipal governments at work in this fight, and honestly, for the most part, they’re starting to “get it.” The focus is swaying toward addressing the drug use and supply, which is great. The housing-first mindset is being tempered by the treatment-first necessity of the vast majority of homeless folks. That’s a good sign. Still, there are many people within the local governments who don’t want to release the truth about the situation. Why? Probably for a lot of reasons, and none of them are good. Politics gets in the way of good decision-making. If we haven’t learned that over the past seven years, there’s no hope for us. All we can do is keep working. Please, share the newsletter with someone today and ask them to help out by subscribing. It’s clearly up to us. |