I am writing in support of Marc Kitteringham’s article about the downtown safety recommendations.
RELATED: Campbell River downtown safety recommendations mean-spirited, dangerous, Homelessness advocates say
I want to focus on the sentence in the report recognizing “the problem is due to poverty, mental health issues and addiction.” Yet instead of addressing these problems directly and trying to improve these issues, the focus is on making it more difficult for those suffering from these issues to survive. Homelessness is a big issue all over B.C. and all too often we do not address the underlying issues of homelessness itself, rather we make life more difficult for those most vulnerable.
Whether you believe it or not, anyone of us could sustain an injury or develop a mental illness (yes you could) that would make homelessness a real possibility.
We need to use our resources to address homelessness and its underlying ‘problems’ of poverty, mental health issues and addiction rather than making life worse for the homeless
Barbara Swanston
Campell River