The ‘System’ isn’t broken…

During the past few months, I’ve been visiting websites belonging to Homeless Support Services (HSS) groups and organizations (e.g. – homeless shelters, rescue missions, soup kitchens, etc.) from all around the country.

I don’t know how many HSS websites I’ve visited all told, but it’s been quite a large number.

Most of them have some form of "Mission Statement" that outlines their belief that the services they offer are providing a viable means for the homeless to become re-housed.  

Day Center and City Council members threatened over proposed homeless housing

Prejudice toward and hatred of the homeless isn’t new. It exists in every community across the nation.

Whenever homeless support services (HSS) agencies or local governments propose, either creating new services or expanding existing services, invariably there are those within the community who voice strong opposition. That opposition takes on many forms: protests, angry discourse at city council meetings, fear-mongering, letters to the editor of local newspapers, and etcetera.  

NYC’s New Homeless Czar Offers His Solution For Ending Homelessness

After roughly one month on the job, Seth Diamond, New York City’s new homeless czar, has put forward his solution for ending homeless in NYC.

According to an article in the New York Daily News,

"The new homelessness commissioner has a message for needy New Yorkers who sleep in city shelters: Get a job!"

Wow! What a novel idea.

Why didn’t someone else think of that?  

The biggest obstacle to solving homelessness in NYC is…

A little less than a year ago, I wrote a post mentioning that New York City was going to begin charging those homeless who were working "rent." The policy was meant to bring NYC into compliance with a 1997 New York state law.

Amid public outcry and criticism and a potential lawsuit, (not to mention a few major snafus regarding how the city was determining how much "rent" to charge) the city sidelined the policy – until last week, when the Bloomberg administration announced it would re-instate the "rent" requirement.  

Sarasota’s Homeless May Soon Enjoy The Opera Season

In 1697, Poet/Playwright William Congreve wrote the tragic-drama, The Mourning Bride.

That work produced a number of, now well known, quotes. Among them:

"Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak."

It’s probably not likely that Kelly Kirschner, a city commissioner in Sarasota, Florida, had that quote in mind when he recently made a suggestion for "shooing" the homeless out of one of the city’s parks.

An article in the South Florida Herald-Times said that Commissioner Kirschner had suggested the "… piping opera or classical music" as a potential solution for deterring the homeless from "congregating" at the Five Points park.