The negative responses toward the proposed housing development on Corfield saddens me. Homeless people are no different that you or I.
Most Canadians are three paycheques (or less) away from being homeless. Unfortunately, some of these folks don’t have the support base the rest of us have in case we do run into trouble financially. This will give so many people a chance to get a leg up again.
These are the people we see sleeping on benches, rolling shopping carts around with all of their worldly belongings in them. These are the people we see in front of local businesses asking for change or food.
Why are people so scared to support help for them? Would you rather see them like this or clean and fed and housed? Not to mention this project will create jobs, construction jobs, landscape jobs, the building will be staffed 24 hours/day. That’s more jobs.
Theft won’t go up. Anyone who says it will hasn’t looked at all of the studies and examples to show the opposite — that is pure ignorance. It reminds me of what the states are going through with gun controls. Fear drives inaction.
Is this who we want to be? I sure don’t. I admire every single person trying to help. I constantly see on Facebook groups, community members trying to help each other out, from informal food drives to helping stock a house for a mom who’s left an abusive relationship or a family who lost their home in a fire. Why would this be different? Those souls living on the streets are human too, and part of our community.
Why would we want to stop helping when it comes to them?
Leanne Molchan
Errington