Gimme shelter: here’s what I think
Perhaps there will always be homeless among us, but how our city deals with this issue has long-term implications for our entire community. While I understand some councilors’ concern about the location of the Transitional Living Center and its impact on the revitalization of the city from a business perspective, the idea that moving these folks to Tewksbury will solve the problem is shortsighted. To think we can shift our homeless population, and the associated problems of vagrancy, substance abuse, poverty, and under employment will disappear is a dangerous oversimplification that makes no attempt to develop real solutions to this complex issue. Just as it is our responsibility to educate our children and care for our elderly, a city that does not attempt to mitigate the circumstances that result in homelessness is doomed to repeat past mistakes. Under the city manager’s effort to develop a 10-year plan to end homelessness in Lowell, several groups have been meeting for a year to address key issues, such as lack of job training, employment opportunities and housing, along with substance abuse, mental illness, poor health, and limited support systems and resources. The job and education group, for example, set as its challenge: “Providing individuals who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless with the resources and support necessary to obtain and maintain a job with sufficient income to afford decent housing.” As complicated as this issue is, I prefer to focus on finding real long-term solutions rather than sweeping the problem into a more convenient corner and hoping it goes away.