Letter of the day: Regardless of who's to blame, we must face homelessness

Last update: November 5, 2009 - 10:26 AM

Monday night I toured six homeless shelters, and it made the current economic emergency vivid and palpable. It's one thing to know that there are those among us without a place to lay their heads, store their few belongings, receive mail, take a shower; but it is a life-altering experience to see this human struggle up close. I watched the weekly lottery, where some men -- the lucky ones -- won a place in one of the "better" shelters, places where they'll sleep on the floor with only 30 strangers instead of 130. But residents of both shelters, large and small, will have to be back outside at 7 a.m., because neither place can afford to provide staff on a 24-hour basis. They will walk all day to keep warm.

I also saw a shelter for women, sadly similar but smaller. And one for families -- a 10-story high-rise in downtown Minneapolis, where school buses collect children for 60 different schools, and where families of up to six, many with a mentally ill parent, live in one room for a month. How are they supposed to claw their way back to self-sufficiency?

Some blame for Minnesota's homeless must be leveled at state government and our no-new-taxes, unallotment-wielding governor. However, the citizenry elected him, so it is up to us to fix this.

Make a donation to a shelter. Buy these men and women some underwear and socks. Volunteer to help prepare and serve a meal. Pound on your legislators and representatives in Congress. And vote differently next time. There is nothing evangelical about this sad scene; it is gross and inhumane.

MARY MCLeod, St. Paul

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