House the homeless and save money

In John Wasierski’s letter to the editor on July 15, he implied that the homeless in our city don’t deserve to be provided housing. Wasierski proposes that the remedy is for unhoused people to just get a job, like he did all of his life. Apparently, Wasierski has swallowed whole the myth that all U.S. citizens have equal opportunity. There are vast inequalities in the U.S. One doesn’t have to look far to see the inequalities based on race, class, and gender, all of which impact a person’s ability to afford housing.

I believe we Olympians need to open our hearts to the less fortunate. We can do that by supporting the present efforts via taxation to build more permanent, supportive housing for the unhoused. Research has shown that it is cheaper for cities to provide housing, compared to the many costs associated with a Band-Aid approach to dealing with homelessness (e.g., emergency services, police involvement, hospitalizations, etc).

This story was originally published July 26, 2017 at 5:59 PM with the headline "House the homeless and save money."