I hired homeless men in Las Vegas during 1997 and 1998. During 2001 2002, I was the cook for a homeless aid group, preparing about 300 – 400 meals at a time. Since then, I have occasionally visited with homeless individuals and families, and I write for a local monthly publication (their website follows here…)which addresses homeless issues. A few weeks ago, I attended the press conference of www.forgottenvoice.org at the downtown Frank Wright Plaza near City Hall. Dozens of homeless spend the daylight hours there. It absolutely reeked of odours you do not want further described. But I have met, and in some cases gotten to know, homeless people who certainly were not drunks or drug addicts. One family with three younger boys was rendered homeless after their car was towed away for expired registration tags. In Las Vegas, the major towing company has the police contract, and their charges can reach more than a thousand dollars before the car owner gets their next paycheck. They lose their car, job, and residence – in that order. Before damning the homeless, the public should be better informed about those who “serve” them – last month’s Forgotten Voice featured a lengthy article which detailed large-scale employee theft of food at homeless shelters, so that the Government is billed $6 for a homeless breakfast which consists of a frozen doughnut and a cup of coffee. It makes for interesting reading. Then, there are the women employees of the only family shelter in town (where the fathers are separated to another facility, or to the streets). While feeding these homeless people, I listened as the boys sheepishly divulge that, while they take mandatory showers at the facility, the women gawk at them. The boys were old enough to understand the look. There are contemptible drunks and drug addicts and dealers. There are people who have lost cars, jobs, or a spouse – and found themselves homeless. I have mentioned a reading resource, or people can wade into the homeless population themselves and learn the truths to be discovered. (Just a few supplemental comments here, on July 4th 2007. I wrote this article several months ago, and still heartily recommend Las Vegas’ homeless newspaper published by some local university graduate students and their homeless helpers. My mother and her family emigrated to America from England, and over there the homeless are those who are “rough living” – see any BBC coverage of the issue. The U.K., in this instance, has bested the Americans in descriptive language!)
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