Re: Letter: “Helping the homeless is everyone’s responsibility,” March 27.
Thank you, Frank Harris, for writing this letter. You complimented Mayor Robertson for his work on the issue of homelessness despite his “failure” and I think you are right on.
We get tied up, it seems, with the workings of politics and government and the fact that we expect these entities to take care of everything in our lives. It’s just taken for granted that this be so. We get to be so complacent and so comfortable and so busy playing the blame game and pass-the-buck that often we fail to acknowledge our own responsibilities and power as citizens.
I must admit that I smirked a little when I also read in this Letters to the Editor section the comments regarding all the empty homes around the city, concerning the same article. It is ironic. However, I’m not sure if available houses is the only solution to homelessness.
The original article by Mike Howell was about “street homelessness,” not homelessness in general. The homeless person living in the street is dealing with different circumstances than the homeless person who loses a dwelling because of a fire or weather-related causes. Affordable housing is not a cure-all for everything, despite its desperate need.
I just feel that Mayor Greg Robertson deserves a huge kudos in trying to better the situation for many members of our municipal society. So what if he didn’t make his election-promise goal? At least he tried.
Frances Dietz, Vancouver
