Friday, April 28, 2006
Into The Streets Week is coming to a close. The Center for Community Outreach has done a good job advocating the importance of community service to University students and has brought awareness to social issues such as poverty and homelessness.
With so much social action, it is surprising that the National Homeless Coalition would give Lawrence the designation of being the second meanest city to homeless persons in the nation. While a community can always do more for those in need, the ranking is unwarranted and uninformed and takes away from the work that students and others in the community put toward those in need.
CCO arranged an open forum to discuss the report and the conclusion of those on the panel agreed that Lawrence was certainly not the meanest. Lawrence city commissioner Dennis “Boog” Highberger called the ranking inaccurate, and Loring Henderson, director of Lawrence Open Shelter, said it was unhelpful and done by people 1,000 miles away who read newspapers and watched the news from the area.
Helen Hartnett, professor of social welfare, agreed that the ranking wasn’t the most reliable, but gave reasons for the coalition’s move. Three ordinances that passed quickly in the past year that criminalized behavior associated with homeless, such as panhandling, prompted concern, she said. The severity of the ranking has helped to bring about dialogue about the problem.
But there are holes in the coalition’s research. A lack of input from the homeless community denies an essential perspective, Hartnett said. The progress of services for the homeless, from relatively few several years ago to the implementation of more that aren’t funded properly denies Lawrence’s status as a work in progress, Henderson said.
It is important that students and Lawrence remain vigilant in improving the lives of every individual in the community. Volunteering in whatever way one can, whether it’s helping in Jubilee Café or helping at a shelter, is important. Writing to your local newspaper about social issues can bring awareness to the entire community and attending city meetings provides an opportunity to speak toward those in control of public resources.
Lawrence is undeserving of the ranking provided by the coalition, but that doesn’t mean that the community shouldn’t keep trying to improve and do its best.
— Ty Beaver for the editorial board
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