Proven solution to housing available

Anyone who has been to a fundraiser for our local service providers struggling to get our most vulnerable populations housed might be surprised to see our local law enforcement folks out in force supporting their causes.

The reason? They deal with the problem of economically stressed households and those living unsheltered or on the edge of homelessness every day. They see the problem getting worse and they are frustrated by the lack of resources to do something despite their best efforts.

Turns out we can do something using a model successful in other areas that provides local voted levy funds that can be leveraged to produce permanently affordable housing, rent assistance and support services that keep folks housed.

The alternative is to continue to pay the high cost of people rotating in and out of hospitals, courts, and jail as well as straining police, emergency, school and social service agencies with little hope of permanently addressing the needs of our most needy households. Let the city councils know you think voters should be given the opportunity to decide if this is an important issue to them.

This story was originally published February 27, 2017 at 6:34 PM with the headline "Proven solution to housing available."