Invasion of the Homeless

[Symbonite]

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[looking4one]

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[Symbonite]

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[looking4one]

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[Symbonite]

Well like I said everyone blames someone about the homeless problem and no one really has a good answer on how to fix it I myself do not have any better ideas but there is one out there somewhere

[sooperphreek]

hey look.....symbie finally didnt have a removed. lol i think if churches want tax free status to continue they have to do their lords mandate. taking care of the poor and infirm. and if anyone says they do......look around on a sunday morning and see how many of the homeless would be welcome in the church. they may rub up against someones pressed and steamed sunday bests. or make parents feel uncomfortable and then labeling them predators of children. besides in the modern prosperity gospel climate these people cant possibly afford the giving it takes to support the mortgages and projects that churches need today. best that people from churches just go out to them on occasion and pat themselves on the back. its funny how much devotion a church member would have to give to say an orphanage somewhere halfway around the world. and yet in their hometowns they turn a blind eye. the bible says go first to jerusalem, then judea then all the rest. but instead they go do the rest and forget about their symbolic jerusalems.

[cpen]

At this point, we need to try all our options! Get these people off the street, make the city safe again, and let them contribute in some way. I say no more free handouts. A few apartment complexes on the edge of town with community gardens, common areas, and cafeteria style kitchens... make them work to whatever capacity they're able... pick up garbage around town, clean graffiti, etc etc... sponsor classes on home care, gardening, etiquette, and then expand to simple job sponsorships or something... I don't have all the answers but I think we need to atleast try something more serious than putting donation boxes on street corners for food banks n such.

The fact is right now our city is turning into a toilet and the ones running it are too busy talking and not enough action.

In theory that is a great option. You could keep lots of people busy just picking up garbage or helping with landscaping around the city in exchange for a place to live and food to eat. The thing is though that a lot of these people have no interest in working for their money. Why work when you can stand on the corner with a cardboard sign with some *bleep* story and get handouts. Our social safety net is too big. We need to enforce personal responsibility.

[feverspore]

I have recently moved to Vernon from Penticton, and it's obvious to me there is a problem in this city.

I think the main factor here is division of class in BC. The gap between the have's and the have not's is getting huge and it seems to be sending people to Vernon. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting squeezed out of Vancouver and the rest of the Okanagan, especially Kelowna and Penticton. Those cities have virtually no help at all for anyone under 65.

Shame on them.

[Rosemary1]

Nice ideas but addictions and mental disorders coupled with fact that we live in a 'free society' means no one can force the homeless to live anywhere, seek treatment, or work - and many homeless have one or the other issues going on or both.

[Static]

We can start by supporting our local businesses. Giving Starbucks a dollar profit that leaves to head office has zero benefit to your community. By choosing a mom and pop coffee shop, that dollar is more inclined to be spent within the community. That dollar profit turned revenue then turns into $0.30 of another local businesses profit. So by walking past Starbucks to the local shop one creates $1.30 of economic benefit to the community, rather than $1 benefit to Seattle. A healthy community is created by the locals. Nobody is to blame but ourselves.

[Visitor88]

It's interesting reading the idea of local business. Something to think about. I remember - not just in Vernon - when malls such as Village Green Mall/Centre, had local businesses. Now there are mainly big chains in these places. The local store has roots down to the grass roots- pardon the pun. A big chain doesn't necessarily. People should try to support the local businesses - those that are left!