Las Vegas Sun

November 10, 2009

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Letter: Doing nothing for homeless is not working

Monday, Aug. 25, 2003 | 10:23 a.m.

Some well intentioned folks think that we can rehabilitate all of the homeless people and others would give all of them one-way bus tickets out of town, to become someone else's problem. And as we know, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman would move them to an unoccupied prison.

From a strictly pragmatic business perspective, something needs to be done to move this scene of human suffering away from the Strip. A shelter like the former MASH Village at least provides minimal services, allowing those who wish to benefit from social services the chance to receive them.

Without providing some kind of posh welfare hotel accommodations, it would be to the community's advantage to provide services not unlike those available elsewhere, to temporarily help the homeless. As things stand, it is hard for the police to chase homeless people away because they evidently have no place to go. Seattle, for example, picks up drunks and takes them to a detoxification center just to get them off the street. From there, other services are made available, if desired. Other cities provide minimal services and so should Las Vegas.

We can't fix everyone's problems, but doing nothing doesn't seem to be working to our advantage either.

ERIC STEFIK

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