Jeff Hawkes column headed “Opportunities disguised as a shelter crisis” informs us that , after fifteen years of service to “men down on their luck”, Crispus Attucks is converting its shelter for 20 of the homeless to other important purposes. Appealing to our pragmatic side, Hawkes goes on to say “Failure to act may mean more people sleeping on benches. As the city prepares to welcome guests of the soon-to-open Marriott and convention center, the timing could not be worse.”
WATCHDOG: Well said! We laud our celebrities, sports heroes, and other successful people, but we ignore that there are those who simply cannot survive on their own, be it for mental limitations, health or emotional problems.
Unless we are prepared to shoot them in the streets as some South American police do orphans (and which NewsLanc is not suggesting!), we had better make some provisions to shelter them.
So what is Mayor Rick Gray and others doing about this?
Perhaps Penn Square Partners, sponsor of the Marriott, will organize and fund a replacement shelter. Ironically, they have the most to lose!
