Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Like every other American city, Lawrence has a large permanent homeless population. The homeless are not merely panhandlers on Mass. Street — they are children, parents and grandparents, and they are more like us than we’d like to admit. Lawrence is a progressive, accepting city, but in order to continue to uphold this positive reputation, our community needs to support the homeless and the organizations that work hard to help them.
In January 2006 the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty named Lawrence the second “meanest city” to the homeless in the United States. In April 2006, Helen Hartnett, Ph.D., and Toni Johnson, Ph.D., who work for the School of Social Welfare at the University, gave a survey that found this to be partially true. It also cleared up some of the myths about the homeless people in Lawrence.
The survey found that “many of the people experiencing homelessness in Lawrence are not just passing through or ‘transients,’ but rather have been here for a while.” Reasons for coming to Lawrence were cited as 64 percent seeking employment opportunities and 30.4 percent to be with family and friends. People are not just stopping through here because they heard Lawrence treated homeless people well.
These facts should serve as a wake-up call that the homeless population is a part of this city that requires our immediate attention and activism.
The Salvation Army, which currently has the capability to house 42 homeless people a night, will be closing its location at 10th and Vermont in 15 days to move forward with a new approach to assisting the homeless population. They are asking Congress for $600,000 to fund renovations for a new building location. They hope to place needy families in apartments across the city for as long as two years as they work their way out of homelessness. Unfortunately, this is available for only five families or individuals at a time and will serve only a fraction of the homeless population in the city.
Along with the federal money, the Lawrence Community Shelter is working toward fundraising $3 million to finance the move. Because a new building will not be available in time, they are also looking for a temporary site to be an accelerated but necessary solution to the Salvation Army closing.
Congress should support the efforts of the Lawrence Community Shelter by approving its request for $600,000 in funding. Students should contact their congressmen to voice their encouragement as well as to volunteering to assist in the shelter’s fundraising efforts.
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Comments
Editorial: Homeless population needs campus community’s support
We could...
let them eat cake, maybe?
Editorial: Homeless population needs campus community’s support
It is abhorrent that we are asking the federal government to provide $600,000 for this rather than providing it from within our own community. I am an absolute advocate of private charity and feel that it is our duty as a society to look out for our fellow man in need. Asking the federal government to step in on this issue is not altruism, it is an abdication of responsibility.
Editorial: Homeless population needs campus community’s support
Burger King is hiring, why can't they just work like the rest of us? Or they just entitled to a place to stay?
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