Obviously providing for the homeless is a troubled effort. Way too much money spent with too little success. Housing the homeless is difficult, but keeping them in housing is an even bigger problem. Just providing a place to live isn’t enough for some who refuse to work toward dealing with their addictions and live in the housing just as they lived on the street. Units are trashed making them unavailable for those that will be responsible tenants.
Somehow we have to separate those that can be housed as responsible citizens from those that will not help themselves.
Their addictions have to be dealt with first. Maybe a place where the addicted can live as incarcerated citizens. Then a gradual path to more freedom as their situation improves. I’m certainly not an expert on this subject but I do know from reading and hearing about this for a couple of years now that what we’re doing isn’t getting the job done and we simply have to do better or the money will not be there for further efforts to solve this epidemic.
Taxpayers are voters and if our present leaders can’t solve the problem we need to elect some that will.
Don Curtis
Stanwood
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
