Who are the homeless?

This article is perhaps one of the most significant reports by the Spokesman-Review and Adam Shanks this year (“Study: As economy grows, so does homelessness,” Oct. 30). As I was driving through Spokane just north of I-90 the other day a substantial number of homeless people were gathered by one street corner. The first conclusion many of us draw is these are people with mental problems or drug addictions. Perhaps we are attempting to justify our driving by, barely looking and proceeding on to our homes. Having a reason to look down on people is our way of justifying how we, ourselves, can continue to look up.

When the facts are reported and we can understand who these homeless people are and how they got there, it becomes more difficult to ignore them. Homeless people, many today are homeless families and people going to a job everyday, are not so different from us. Maybe we got lucky, caught a break or worked harder is hard to say. We must conclude we are all people with many differences, some work to our advantage and others not so much.

Reports like this one which more accurately describe who homeless people are hopefully will lead to workable solutions. No one deserves to be homeless. This is a problem which can be alleviated if we know the problem and work together.

Phil Ward

Coeur d’Alene