From Craig Winsberg

Blanchardville

To the Editor:

As federal police agencies are sent into the nation’s capitol to repel violent crime, the subject of homelessness has come to the fore.

Not long ago, tent cities were largely associated with impoverished third-world nations and no American city would allow tents on public sidewalks or parks without a permit. These new shantytowns are plagued with substance abuse, violence and prostitution. Streets have become littered with rotting garbage, human waste, discarded needles and rats and have become breeding grounds for typhus, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. 

As the most prosperous nation on earth, we have an obligation to provide shelter for anyone in need. Government agencies, NGO’s and charities should be tasked with providing inexpensive open bay shelter to anyone in need. Arrive sober in the evening, eat, shower, sleep, get clean clothes and out the door in the morning. Anyone truly in need would be grateful for such an arrangement. 

Public intoxication should be grounds for arrest, as in the past. Repeat offenders should be sent to a work farm for a period of 30-60 days to dry out and develop healthy routines. We will save lives of those whose cycle of dependency has been perpetuated in these dystopian settings.

The status quo does not represent any sense of compassion and is a stain on society.