Work Session on May 13 regarding homelessness Public Comment from Gina Benesh[NOTICE: This message includes an attachment -- DO NOT CLICK on links or open attachments unless you know the content is safe.]
Dear Mayor and City Council Members,
Attached is a photograph of people living in a space not meant for human habitation located less than ½ mile east of your chambers. The dearth of low-income housing as a result of the
closures of the Outlaw Inn and the Blue and White Motel, as well as the loss of funding and subsequent loss of service at the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs have forced more
people into homelessness. Allowing the closures without a plan to replace the housing was short-sighted and we are all paying the price now (blaming a service provider for an increase
in homelessness does not change this fact). The biggest price is being paid by the individuals in the picture. Could you take a moment to think through how these individuals can "get
a job"? Where do they get a shower? Where do they put their belongings while they are at work? How do they get notified of a job interview? How do they consistently get enough to eat
to be in a good space to hold a job? Their path out of homelessness is vast. They need help.
We need help, too. We need a way to be part of a solution. Samaritan House, Ray of Hope, the Flathead Warming Center, and organizations like these give us the chance to help.
We also need to see that while our taxes are going up, our property values are not simultaneously going down from blight.
I am aware the Governor has a task force working hard to bring back the Montana State Hospital and while I expect this will help, it cannot happen soon enough. We need more addiction
care facilities and all the post-care necessary for treatment to be effective (we know full well putting addicts back into their prior environment just about guarantees failure). Most
importantly, we need low-income housing to provide the homeless a step to enter back into society.
At the same time, we need a big stick to force people along if they do not want help. If people do not want to participate in an organized society, they should not be allowed to stay.
It does not seem to me that the stick is wielded in Kalispell and maybe that is because there are not enough resources to which people might be referred. In the absence of resources,
action is cruel.
Someone mentioned a temporary fix to me that is far from ideal but better in my mind than what is happening: that is to find an acre of land somewhere in the city where water, sewer
(think port-a-potties), and trash are provided. It would be a sanctioned 'go to' place for law enforcement to take people who have been trespassed from other places. Maybe dedicate
two or three such sites where one is operational at a time until it needs to be cleaned up and the people staying there get moved to the next site. Our neighboring cities could be asked
to share in the cost of dedicating and maintaining such sites (maybe put them on notice we will deliver a population-proportionate number of trespassed individuals to them if they decide
this is not their problem?). The sites would be somewhere to move unexpected guests and if an entity (individual, business, non-profit) elected to run an illegal campground, they could
then be fined - fines would provide more income to support sanctioned sites. As with the pan-handling law enacted recently, the fine goes to the individual who can clearly afford to
pay it and it forces those in need of help to avail themselves of the services provided by NGOs and non-profits.
We are hardly the first city to face the growing impact of homelessness, in fact, we are late to the problem. Surely there are cities implementing workable solutions from which we could
draw. I will see you at the work session taking place on May 13.
Sincerely,
Gina Benesh