Homeless In America
Homeless in America...My husband and I were discussing this very topic last night. It's wonderful that a lot of people are stepping up and helping those in need in Haiti. On the flip side, are we seeing the needs in our own backyard? As Realtors, we know these people are not all the antisocial guys we used to characterize as homeless. Some of them are the ones that used to live in the very houses we are selling.
Last year, in our area we heard about the tent city in Sacramento, reported by Lisa Ling on national TV, and then we heard how it was being shut down.
Closer to home in Placer County, we have a program put on by the Gathering Inn which addresses the needs of homeless and provides shelter and safety at night. Unfortunately it can only accomodate about 60 people each night but it's a great model that could be adopted in other communities. Check out the Gathering Inn Website and see if it will work in your community. It was started by a group of ministers who saw a need and acted on it. At this very moment in Placer County it is in the 40s with 30 mile per hour winds that are expected to get stronger with more rain. Where are the homeless???
Homeless In America
"There but for the grace of God, go I" - attributed to John Bradford, 16th Century
In any given night in America, 700,000 to 2 million people have no home to go to. Staggering statistic? Yes. And these numbers were from 1996.
In Colorado Springs, Fountain Creek runs parallel to Interstate 25. It has become 'home' to many of the city's considerable homeless population. It is estimated that Colorado Spring's chronic homeless number about 350 persons, and about 750 more have joined the homeless population due to job loss. That puts the number of people living on the streets, or along the creek bed, at approximately 1100.
Local Shelters are filled to capacity, and while the city struggles to find a solution, the homeless camps remain. Some cities around the country are providing basic services to their 'tent cities' on public land, such as portable toilets, (which I saw today at a few of the camps I photographed), trash pick up, firewood, and mobile medical vans.
A few of the homeless are there because they want to be. Most are not.
Why not designate an area, provide the needed services, and give these people a place to live with some dignity while we all await better times?
Proudly, in just 24 hours, we as Americans donated 10 million dollars to the relief effort in Haiti.
Granted, it's not on the same scale, but are the fast growing tent cities across America not also a crisis?
Statistics show that most homeless are men. But more and more women and children are joining them as families lose their jobs, and with them, the ability to pay rent. This is a cold, and dangerous way to live.
While I took these photos in Colorado Springs, I'm sure they are indiscernible from any other city in the country.
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Photos taken by Debi Boucher, DBoucher Photography, all rights reserved, may not be reproduced without express written permission.
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