Letters to the Editor: Why Karen Bass and Rick Caruso both give reason to hope on homelessness
Why Karen Bass and Rick Caruso both give reason to hope on homelessness
I write this, from a New York City bus to Washington, D.C., because I believe we need to take stock of the people whom our country is putting on the streets, particularly of New York City.
This is what I believe:
1- There are more than 20,000 homeless in the United States
2- Many of these people are living in dire financial straits, like what we saw with Bill Wroten who could not afford to pay for his rent. Bill was among those who slept in the streets of NYC for months before he was picked up by the police
3- The only reason this is happening is the recession and the inability of our country to address this problem. The government in this country, at both state and federal levels, is doing absolutely nothing to address this
4- We need to use that $40 million in funds that the Mayor has allocated to fighting the homeless crisis. This will not solve the problem, only put more people on the street
5- We need to end the “just say no” approach to the homeless crisis. We need to get out of the individual problem into a societal problem. We need to get past the point where we start to put people on the street because they are poor, and instead we address the root cause of the poverty.
So, in the interest of compassion to the homeless and the people at the top of the food chain, I am hopeful Karen Bass and Rick Caruso will end up in jail
J. B.
Dear J.B.:
I agree with your letter and will not repeat it here. However, I must say something.
I do understand why Karen Bass was arrested. She has a point to make that we never thought about (see my previous letter).
I also do not agree with the statement about the government, at state and federal levels, doing absolutely nothing to address the homelessness crisis. I know better.
I was homeless for two years in Washington, D.C. and had a lot of time to observe how each of the city’s four shelter systems worked. In fact, I worked with
