foolmenot.comBattle Creek is happy to take the $1 million the state is giving them to help/house the homeless. The Battle Creek Enquirer talked about a man who came to Battle Creek in March by way of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, where he was sent to be treated for depression and anxiety.
"I have a hard time working and keeping a job," he said. "It's fight or flight for me when I feel boxed in ... it's hard as hell to function."
This fellow has apparently received his treatment at the Battle Creek VA Hospital and has decided to stay in town… Meanwhile in Pontiac (story below), they are saying no to the million bucks; we don’t want it! Pontiac officials have been through all this before… They say;
“For years, police from other communities often have dropped off in Pontiac the vagrants they picked up in their own towns. That isn't because they have anything against Pontiac. It's because that's where the shelters are”
Ummmm, Hello Battle Creek!
Meanwhile, The Ann Arbor News makes the connection between the homeless and the mentally ill. They have even opined as a solution, pre-1970’s style “incarceration”.
There's a lot in these three articles to think about.
Full article follows…
THE OAKLAND PRESS
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Pontiac shouldn't be labeled poor
As if Pontiac's government didn't have enough on its plate, the city is still being pressured to accept $1 million in state and federal grants to house and otherwise assist homeless people.
The Pontiac City Council and former Mayor Willie Payne spoke loudly when they initially rejected the grant last month. New Mayor Clarence Phillips says he shares their doubts. It is not that they lack compassion. It's that they're tired of every such project and initiative being almost automatically targeted toward Pontiac.
The problem is that while the various programs can help their intended clients, the presence of such grants and activities simply attracts more homeless people to the city in search of help.
For years, police from other communities often have dropped off in Pontiac the vagrants they picked up in their own towns. That isn't because they have anything against Pontiac. It's because that's where the shelters are.
The case at hand is a perfect example of that unfair dynamic.
The Michigan State Housing Development Authority says that if the program is not located in Pontiac, it must be nearby because, it is claimed, there are many homeless people in the city.
The fact is that, to be effective, the proposed housing and assistance project should not be clustered in a small area in any single municipality, just as most subsidized housing and so-called transitional housing is not now.
If the idea is to help people join the American economic and social mainstream - and it is - they should be in that setting, not among others who struggle.
The governmental seat of the fourth wealthiest county in the nation should not be stereotyped as a place of mostly poor people. It isn't true and isn't fair, and county government should help protect it from this injustice.