I suspect that when called upon to explain their current actions with regard to their persecution of your fellow citizens unfortunate enough to suffer the travail of homelessness, the Mayor, Councilors, city Staff and Police will all claim “we were just trying to cleanse – oops, clean up – the homeless situation”. In their zeal and drive to exterminate –oops eliminate – the homeless from the streets of Abbotsford they seem indifferent to the consequences of their actions. Whether those actions cause suffering for the homeless OR the other taxpayers of the city. They seem to have forgotten the words of Herman Melville “We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects”.

I do have a suggestion concerning cleaning up the city’s homeless. Since it is sensible, pragmatic and would accomplish something positive, I doubt the intolerant tyrants attempting to purge the homeless from the streets would be interested in these suggestions. Let us use a small fraction of the funds and resources being wasted on this futile, but dogmatic, effort to ‘disappear’ the homeless. Let’s truly clean up the homeless. As I have written about on this site, bathing and laundry are major problems for the homeless. If you think about it this lack of bathing and laundry availability are major barriers to employment to a group of people have enough barriers to finding jobs. The city has facilities at which the homeless could get clean, such as the Recreation Centers. These facilities are set up to use photo ID cards which would permit the city to avoid any abuses of the privilege and would also permit limits on the timing and length of visits. Rather than waste resources on senseless, malicious attempts to cleanse the city of homeless this would help to clean up the homeless.

All punning aside, this form of cleaning up homelessness has the potential to accomplish more than merely shuffling the homeless around and around the city. Think about what affect appearance has on how people are treated – especially when looking for work. I know I always feel better, both physically and physiologically, when I am freshly bathed – don’t you? Cleanliness leads to feeling better about yourself, which is the road to increased self-esteem and self-respect. These are the foundation supports required for the homeless to start to get back into the game of life, to take charge of their lives. Thus giving them hope to find work and homes. Yes I know that giving them a chance to be clean is not going to lead all the homeless off the streets. The point I have tried repeatedly to make is that Based on my up close and personal experiences what is required in dealing with homelessness, hunger and poverty is flexibility and a willingness to use many different approaches. Each approach may only affect some of those in need of help, but many programs and approaches together would have a chance to lead to significant reductions of the homeless population. We are dealing with people which means some will choose not to be helped, to make changes or any effort to change. That is reality. Reality is also that at least this proposed approach will accomplish something and has the potential to lead to many varied benifits. Unlike the current policies of both denying there is a large homeless population and chasing this nonexistent (denial is a favourite mindset) population from point to point in the city.

I suppose that the question is what kind of society or city are we? Do we really want to have an uncaring society where people are judged to be disposable? What is the character of the citizens of Abbotsford? Is it mean, self-centered, greedy and heartless? Or is it caring, supportive, courteous and helping? It is inevitable that we will find out. As your actions contribute to the outcome as to the spirit of our city, keep in mind the words of Demosthenes:

You cannot have a proud and chivalrous spirit if your conduct is mean and paltry; for whatever a man’s actions are, such must be his spirit.