NEW YORK TIMES: …On Wednesday, two such philanthropists, John and Leigh Middleton, who sold their family cigar business for $2.9 billion in 2007, were awarded the prestigious Philadelphia Award, whose previous recipients have included the city planner Edmund Bacon and the conductor Leopold Stokowski. The Middletons were recognized for their support for a variety of local causes, including giving $30 million to Project HOME, this city’s leading advocacy organization for the homeless.
The size of the donation — one of the largest in homeless philanthropy — will help Project HOME double the number of its apartments for homeless people, open a new medical center and leverage additional public and private funds that the organization hopes will eventually total $300 million…
“It’s not just about putting a shelter over people’s heads,” he said. “It’s about dealing with each of these discrete problems. You have to educate people, you have to provide medical treatment, you have to provide employment opportunities.”… (more)
EDITOR: The homelss is not only a challenge to the City of Lancaster and its various social welfare agencies, but also to neighboring communities and to the county. Do they ever meet to discuss and come up with improvements?
Here is an example of what might have been done through countywide cooperation. The close to 200 room Days Inn across the tracks from the Amtrak Station in Manheim township was recently razed. It had ample public areas and even an indoor pool. It might have been used to house the homeless and social assistance agencies as well.
Are the various elected leaders willing to accept ownership of the problems of the homeless and come up with holistic solutions?
