Renee Davenport: We must make some provision for the homeless
As winter approaches, the homeless will have to seek shelter in alleys, abandoned buildings or wherever they can find refuge. Though there are some resources, many of the homeless do not qualify. What do they do in the meantime? Where can women or men with children go? There is a shelter for families, but it has very little space.
As a community, we need to ask ourselves what can we do to help get these people off the streets. The answer is to first have a day shelter open every day. We also need a warming center; though such shelters are sometimes frowned upon, they work. Also, bring resources to the homeless to one central area, giving the homeless an oppertunity to rest, shower and a safe place to work works.
Why is this so complicated? Not all the homeless qualify for rapid re-housing, cash vouchers etc.. Those who don’t are the people we see in our parks uptown, sleeping on park benches, in alleys and making are community look like a ghetto. Let’s work together to open a day and night center and clean up our community. Let’s look for answers instead of just complaining.
Renee Davenport, Merced
This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 1:16 PM with the headline "Renee Davenport: We must make some provision for the homeless."