I am dismayed by recent articles in the paper about people in our community who are struggling with homelessness. The tone is to see the people without homes through a single lens as drug and alcohol addicted, hostile intruders to our community who are to blame for disruptions.
The implication is that we have reached the tipping point of having “too many” people who are homeless in Amherst and that having a totally welcoming shelter is the cause of this overpopulation.
This assumption makes it very easy to be distracted from problems such as scarce affordable housing, below-living-wage jobs and lack of sufficient mental health and addiction services. I have volunteered at the Craig’s Place shelter for the past few years and met many people trying to better their lives who are extremely grateful for any help they receive to make their lives more livable. In reality, these people are members of our community. They serve our morning coffee, sweep up the trash we drop and restock the shelves of the stores where we shop.
They are people who are temporarily homeless, not “the homeless.” For those of us privileged with safety nets, try to imagine what sleeping out on a bitterly cold night with inadequate clothing and shelter is like. Remember this before criticizing people who are homeless and the services designed to assist them.
This criticism is a distraction from addressing the core issue of economic and social problems due to the wealth disparity in our country. It is easy to feel powerless about addressing the real problem of wealth inequity, but focusing on the victims is not the solution. People who are homeless in Amherst deserve more.
Karen Warren
Pelham