An annonymous alert reader sent me the link to what was said to be my previous column taking the city to task for not participating in a countywide homeless count event. Unfortunately, it was a link to an article by Bob Brownne, a Tracy Press reporter.
It still echoes my most recent column, which talks about homelessness in Tracy and the people who are actually willing to do something about it.
The thing that galled me most about Tracy not participating in the count is the message it sends about the pulse city leaders have on the community. Action to address the issue would be nice, but given recent history, I guess I'll settle for it being acknowledged.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
An interesting question to me is whether charities can actually achieve systemic, long-range solutions to fundamental problems like homelessness? They can certainly achieve short-term relief and may even excel over government in terms of their ability to quickly respond to local needs.
But managing the huge mental health problems of the homeless, providing retraining in the face of economic displacement, and so forth, may only be solvable by government driven by needs-assessment, and possibly working in conjunction with charities that are willing to coordinate their services.
I agree.
Government, though mired in bureaucracy, is the only organization that is big enough and well-funded enought to offer comprehensive services throughout the "continuum of car" -- to use nonprofit speak.
Post a Comment