To the Editor:
Reading the paper is often difficult, but researching stories worldwide can bring tears of sorrow and a lack of understanding why treatment of the poor and homeless seems so cruel and unkind.
Pope Francis saw one child among six million people ask the question “Why does God let a 12-year-old sleep on the streets and feel the inhospitality of her neighbors?” This child wiping tears, feeling hopeless, has more courage than the six million, and more courage than most of us.
People are often disrespectful to those in need, which contributes to pain and suffering of our children. We allow cutting food and medical access when total welfare costs are only 1.4 percent – below the national average of 2 percent. Something is wrong when it takes 2.5 years for a Maine family with two children to find a home even with the help of Department of Health and Human Services.
When weather was warmer they slept in tents and still managed to keep the children in school. In winter they have access to small motels and were once taken into a family’s home until a permanent rental was finally available. It is God who gives these children courage and us who put them in unstable environments. There must be a better answer.
Joy came at discovering a program called Homes First in the United States. We can do right by these families and all of the homeless veterans.
Homes First fact is less expensive than costs for homeless-associated problems that come from growing up in high-risk environments. Towns and cities in the state of Utah began this program.
Salt Lake City set a goal to be homeless free by 2015 and they are on target for that achievement. The savings is about $8,000 per person per year while on welfare. Homes first, ask questions later, and soon there are no homeless.
Another surprise – Homes First has spread to other towns that focus on homeless veterans and then expand to families and other homeless people. Families and veterans in parts of the U.S. are benefiting from kindness, new solutions for old problems, and the children cry for joy when family life is not so risky. Homes first and life flows like a river.
