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Shame on the community

Shame on us as a society. We live in fear of this marginalized population of 153 people living at large, on their own, doing drugs or whatever. They need to cope with the tragedies of their lives while we sit and try to figure out where to send them so they are not in our backyard. Wait, that was Polson Park and some families didn’t want them there.
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Shame on us as a society. We live in fear of this marginalized population of 153 people living at large, on their own, doing drugs or whatever. They need to cope with the tragedies of their lives while we sit and try to figure out where to send them so they are not in our backyard. Wait, that was Polson Park and some families didn’t want them there.

Now they are in our front yard, Linear Park, out in the open, in our face to really state that they are in need of help without asking as many of them are not able to ask for help or have and been denied by a bureaucracy.

Whatever the problem is, shame on us for hiding our heads and faces. We live in our big houses with rooms that we don’t use.

We have three cars, a boat, a trailer and some of us even have a summer or winter house somewhere.

We, as society, can only evaluate our success of living by the lowest common denominator, and we are failing.

We have the Kinsmen, the Lions, the Rotary, the Upper Room Mission and the City of Vernon, that sit and debate the issues, trying to find a solution. We the people are content to debate on the NIMBY of it all.

Who owns the old Woolworths building? It sits empty and has for a long time. Although it does not have showers, it has washrooms and plenty of floor space. The business community would freak if these homeless were able to use this facility. A main street shelter? Whether it’s main street or not, let them use the back door if that appeases the businesses. These people need help, not words, not debate, sheer help in numbers that we as society can handle.

Shame on the people of this city to hide their heads and not help fellow humans.

Greg Hesford

Vernon