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Understanding, not fear

Multiple news sources have informed me over the years that many homeless persons (perhaps most) owe their status to economic factors such as overbearing medical or housing costs, often in tandem with inadequate income levels. The data especially support this point in regard to homeless families. Mental health (civilian and veteran) is also a historical factor.

Admittedly, some of the homeless sometimes commit street and property crime, and some of these people are also using, and perhaps addicted to, drugs. The many news sources over the years have never, to my recollection, indicated that the perpetrators represent the majority of the homeless population.

The article “Seattle’s politics play role in Spokane” (Aug. 11) left a lingering impression that the homeless are basically a drug-addled threat to Spokane. The article offered some viewpoints which support a broader overview of the problem, but to my reading the article’s tenor was alarmist, and warns those of us who are comfortable against those of us who are not. Some of the homeless are not to be trusted any more than many of the financiers whom we trusted in 2008, but most of the homeless are fellow citizens like you and I, who have suffered ill-fortune. They deserve understanding and effective action, not fear.

Jeff McElhinney

Colville, Wash.



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