As a recent Eagle article reported, the city’s homeless can often be found at the Central Library, where they tend to gather during the day because of the lack of a daytime shelter.
The library staff has done an excellent job of trying to accommodate these citizens, who have a right to use the library’s resources.
That said, the library can’t serve as a homeless shelter. That’s not its mission. Many homeless people suffer from mental illness and drug addiction, and need help and counseling. Allowing them to sleep and hang out in the library on a daily basis can invite problems and discourage other patrons from visiting the facility.
As our editorial today argues, the situation is further evidence of the need for a new 24/7 homeless shelter.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
-
Registered?
Commenting on WE Blog now requires you to be a Kansas.com member. Use the links above to register, if you haven't already, or to log in. -
Contact us
Daily Archives
-
Recent Comments
- Chas on Sebelius takes on Hurricane Sarah
- beber on Sebelius takes on Hurricane Sarah
- Boxlock on Sebelius takes on Hurricane Sarah
- biased1 on Sebelius takes on Hurricane Sarah
- lindainks55 on Open thread 9/5
- CF2K on Sebelius takes on Hurricane Sarah
- Franklin on Palin a late-summer dream for late-night comics
- Raptor on Sebelius takes on Hurricane Sarah
- BlueJay on Sebelius takes on Hurricane Sarah
- Franklin on Sebelius takes on Hurricane Sarah
48 Comments
Meanwhile, the City criminalizes sleeping under a bridge.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/15658052.htm
RESTRICTION ON HOMELESSPlan would limit public camping
And last week backpacks etc disappeared.
The homeless population needs to be handled with unconditional love and understanding. They will not receive that from another government agency. If we had the funding, and the City would leave us alone, we could have a big part of this problem solved before the “homeless commission” even comes up with a plan to present.
Where are you churches?????
I think Interfaith is pushing forward to try to come up with something concrete.
By the way, any noew on how the “stand-down” at McConnel went? Given the fact that so many of the homeless are our veterans I hope it went well. Far to many vets are discarded as ‘damaged goods’ after being wounded (mentally or physically or both) in the miliatry.
Where are the churches? Well, for one they’re getting run out of downtown to make room for an arena.
Good thing The Lord’s Diner isn’t standing in the path of progress.
Ben…Standown was awesome! Alot of the guys got some good camping gear (they may need the national guard to keep someone from taking it again)! There was even stuff left after the vets finished and it went to some of the other homeless folks that needed it! Great program!!
Thanks KsSam - and thanks for your work!
Good point Todd - I wonder what pittance the County would give the Lords Diner in view of how they are treating Episcopal?
Oh- BTW Sam - were they able to make emotional connections that might help them reconnect?
I’m always amused when the Eagle writes stories or editorials about the library. This community’s library is woefully, inexcusably underfunded. And the Eagle dutifully does a story about that… oh, about once every 7 to 10 years. And nothing changes. Nothing changes for the homeless, either. I’m glad they have the library. At it’s current level of funding, we should be glad that it’s at least a decent homeless shelter; it’s not being funded to do much more than that.
Question:What would it cost to put in a shower facility and a thrift store type facility right next to a library?That isnt the library’s stated mission, of course, but the library is no longer a family activity.Part of that is due to the internet, but a large part is due to the safety problems and the odor problems.As a kid, my parents left me alone in the library all the time.You cant do that anymore.
Hey Paulie, we’re waitin’ fer ya over at the foley thread….
hee hee hee hee hee hee hee
Sigh. Another day. Another republican scandal…..
I don’t know Paul - another place to do that might be at Episcopal Social Services.
OOPS! We plan to rid our City of that entity.
We need to help the homeless people in Wichita. Help them by giving them a one way bus ticket to San Francisco!
What we do not need is a government sponsored day care center for adults.
You do good work ksam. I don’t normally do this but there is no other way to express it ….:)
Paul? I take my kid to the library all the time. I don’t see the problem.
I guess that is because I am not a judgemental cretin like jw.
Have you ever spoken to a homeless person jw? I have. SOME of those folks can be “books” in themselves. I spent the afternoon once talking to a homeless veteran. Others would just like to be left to their own suffering. And I have NEVER been accosted by a homeless person.
I agree about the homeless population. Some of these people might be ones that don’t want to work but the majority of them have been beaten down by life so many times, they can’t pick themselves up again.
As for the Vietnam veterans, that is my generation, and I know personally of some guys that came back from that war with real deep issues that have never been resolved. And they never got the recognition they deserved and then the VA just sorta threw them away.
That is why I don’t like the Iraq war today. It reminds me too much of Vietnam and we need to learn from our past not repeat it.
And then the homeless population that involves children is really heartbreaking. These are usually in shelters somewhere but they are still homeless.
These politicians that are so wrapped up in their God and religion - I wonder what they will say to God on Judgement Day?
But God we built that new arena for the people. Jesus will be weeping the whole time these Pharisees try to justify their actions.
JR - you gotta understand that in jw’s eyes a veteran who has been “used up” should just be discarded.
KsSam - we often disagree but I must salute you.
Wichita needs a homeless shelter 24-7. There is a need, so all you christians who claim that you shouldn’t pay taxes for welfare, and that charity is enough…get on it. The homeless don’t get disability or welfare checks.
By the way, I applied to work at a homeless shelter for very little wages, but that was ok, because I thought it’d be noble. I had lots to offer. The only thing I didn’t have to offer was that I wasn’t a Christian, and it was a Christian organization.
I didn’t get the job, even though I was well beyond qualified.
They told me they often had to deal with what food they were given, that sometimes they had no meats- so their cook had to be very creative. And it was required that the homeless people HAD to go to chapel. I don’t agree with that.. it’s not like those people had any other choice. But I wasn’t going to complain about it either, it’s their place and get no federal funding- I guess they can do what they want.
As I suspected the homeless had many mental health issues to deal with, and those services are barely there to help. I guess they felt God would be enough to help them IF only those people sought Him hard enough. (yeah, right).
So yes, I’d like to see this be a taxpayer funded organization, rather than run by the churches. I was being a smartass earlier.
p-m - I’m fairly sure that Interfaith or Catholic Charities or United Methodist would not have turned you down.
pmom…the problem with government programs is they have no heart. They provide, but don’t love.. they give but don’t care. What helps these people more than anything is a little time and encouragement. a non-profit not bound by government bureaucracy can do a better job.
What do we know about the homeless? I agree with J.R. above that we should take time to talk to the homeless to find out what they are going through. What is that saying about walking in another’s shoes? And Kansassam, Ben H. and other WE Bloggers above have some good responsible suggestions.
Sometime in the last year, I talked to a homeless fellow at a meeting or dinner somewhere and found out some interesting facts, some of which I am a little hazy about now.
He said some 1,000 homeless people sleep throughout the downtown area, under bridges, in brush piles, etc. at night. Someone please correct that figure if you have one.
I recall he said it was hard for homeless people to find laundromats to wash their clothes because laundromat owners avoid areas with homeless people.
He also said he thought most homeless people are “armed” to some extent if only for self-protection.
Also at the last USD 259 school board meeting, it was reported that some 200 “homeless” children actually attend Wichita schools. Admittedly the definition of a homeless child is one without a regular repeatable place to sleep at night. To me, this is an acceptable standard.
I’m told that on bad weather days, cold, hot, rainy, snow, some 200 homeless gather in the downtown library. The library does have a security officer(s) on premises plus often a regular police officer. Some are actually able to shave, wash up, in the library restrooms.
But library staff are not hired and trained to deal with homeless people. Perhaps the situation should be acknowledged. Furnish some kind of protective devices and clothing to librarians. Also furnish social services staff at the library to record identities of the homeless who use the facility.
I’m told some social agencies actually bus homeless people to the downtown library during the day so homeless service areas can be cleaned etc.
Some say even if a homeless “motel” would be provided elsewhere, they would still gravitate to the downtown library to interact with the public to ask for money, cigarettes, drugs, etc.
The police actually increase the problem by chasing homeless out of the park on East Douglas, across from the Eaton Hotel, and other similar “hobo jungles.”
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that homeless must be admitted to public places but must meet normal requirements (smell, cleanliness, etc.)
Unfortunately, the library furniture is often filthy. The valuable and sometime irreplacable book collections are being ruinedfor researchers like myself.
There is some talk about building a new larger central library in Wichita which is really needed to serve our population. But how would this work?
Perhaps some homeless will move over to the new downtown arena because of newer facilities and larger restrooms. Perhaps the pro-arena people will recognize this and provide facilities for the homeless in the arena.
I don’t know the answers. I’m hoping someone does.
JWinkYour numbers are probably in the ballpark…
I have NEVER seen a weapon on any homeless person… but I have seen some flying fists… but they normally don’t bother anyone but each other!
I suggested numerous times that the arena with all it’s showers and locker facilities could be used by the homeless when no events are scheduled. They could eeven be hired to clean up and police the grounds. Who do you think picks up most of the trash on the city streets?But.. it will never happen because the Mayor and the city government want them moved outside the city…. even though all of their services are located downtown…..
Ben it was a catholic shelter that turned me down.
Sam, I’ve worked in plenty of good secular nursing homes and hospitals that have more ‘heart’ than some religious ones, not to mention some domestic violence organizations that get no respect from the religious organizations.
My point is, there are good people, of any faith or non…that’s where it makes the difference.
However I have yet to see a really good baptist organization help with anything good. Catholics- depending on what they’re doing, can be. And Lutherans and Methodists usually do the best.
I have to wonder why that is.
Nobody in my family has ever been bothered by the homeless people in the library. I’ve never seen a disruptive incident, but I don’t go there every day. Wichita State University’s library is open to the public. Is it a magnet for the homeless?
How do the New York Public Library and its counterparts in Chicago, LA and San Francisco, or for that matter the Library of Congress in D.C. deal with the homeless? Maybe the Eagle should assign a reporter to do a story on this matter here and elsewhere. Include a description of the Supreme Court case.
Back in the thirties depression, people would wait for a truck coming from a farm to work in the fields for a day’s wages.If you wanted to work you would get on the truck.In the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and today people would go to a temp services such as Manpower, Inc. and worked for a day’s wages at lease I think they still do that.If not then it should be again.So who are these people that are homeless that are hanging around the Library all time?I know one thing, which is the homeless probably do not feel comfortable being around the church going people as some of them have given up on God.I know that I do not feel comfortable around some of them.Some of them also have a lot of pride and do not want welfare or charity.So what can be done about the apathy of the homeless?I would say that the city has a lot of empty houses that could be put-to-use and some empty buildings that could be converted to apartments but make sure that if they wanted to stay there that they will have to work for it.Plenty of works out there that can be done even some work that American does not want to do.There will always be the homeless but I think what we really need to do is figure out another place for them to hang out at, I think that is the best that we can do for now.
Wiseman
U make many good points… Let me add this to the “mix”…
I work in downtown, i see these guys daily… Some are very cool and respectful, some have mental issues, and some are down right rude, dirty and “undesirable”.
The ones that really concern me are the ones with mental issues. There is one guy in particular, every once and a while he will stand in the middle of the street yelling at traffic as it passes by. What are we to do with him? Do we arrest him? Where do we put him? Places like charter are closed, so is there any place we can place these guys? They are a danger to themselves and others.
Also, what do we do with the homeless who are really dangerous? There are the ones out there who “toss” other homeless at night (beat them up and steal their stuff), who hang out in the parking lots, etc…
My questions are along the lines of HOW do we help them or how do we deal with them, especially if they don’t want help.
It just occured to me the proposed new white elephant downtown arena is going to contain perhaps 100 VIP “skyboxes” separated from the average folk even though paid for by average folk. And, yes, the homeless are also paying for arena skyboxes everytime they purchase food and hygenic supplies at Dollar General. For example, a bottle of 27% alcohol Mouthwash at $2.00 plus 7% sales tax would contribute 14 cents for sales tax including 2 cents per bottle of mouthwash for the new downtown albatross arena.
I believe you can anticipate my suggestion.
By 11 PM, convert the luxury skyboxes to dormitory rooms for the homeless. Most will contain couches, a microwave oven, a refrigerator often loaded with left-over ham, cheeses, deserts, Budweiser lite and even snacks.
This would be the ultimate in public-private partnership and might set a standard for other cities in America.
pmom..
I have to wonder why there are Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, etc. in the first place. Jesus stressed UNITY.. and the church has become anything but unified!
I would advocate for a non-denominational leadership for management… and maybe federal funding and oversight to keep everything honest.
The key is we need it SOON.. and outlawing public camping will not help!!
Wiseman…
There are still day jobs for the guys who can work… many are disabled or have mental problems. Many are addicts or have no birth certificate.. they cannot work…
New York has a wonderful housing program and Wichita should take notice:
http://www.pathwaystohousing.org/
You are right kansassam, we need to email and put pressure on the city to take a look at pathwaystohousing.org
I did not earlier address the recent activities of our city council. I’d like to do that now.
I am tempted to pitch a tent on my front lawn and spend some time out there. The weather is nice and I can come in to eat, wash, use the restroom and blog. These are things the homeless cannot do.
Anyways, I might spend some time in the tent on my lawn. And if one of Wichita’s finest comes to take my tent away I will sue the city’s ass for wrongful prosecution.
JR..Maybe the next WE BLOG get together could be a campout downtown somewhere! Then everyone could write about their experiences on the editorial page!!
Maybe y’all just need to talk to the Cadillac Pimps who hang out prosyletizing the homeless: http://one.revver.com/watch/42553/format/flv/affiliate/209
Why don’t we just have them clean up the bathrooms while they hang around?
Why don’t all of you kind hearted liberals each take two homeless people in and adopt them. The media has been talking about how you all have a shortage of kids these days. Two problems, one answer. All of the homeless left over after the adoption process is complete we can send to San Francisco. Isn’t compromise wonderful?
jw..
This is not a liberal/conservative issue, it is an issue of the heart! How about you adopt just one of the 20 or so that I have “adopted” and then we’ll talk…..
Most of them are good people, and I would much rather spend time with them than with self righteous windbags that point fingers and have no solutions..We have sent many home to places all over the country… need a ticket somewhere?
agreed KsSam - and especially when so many are vets who got screwed over by the military, the VA, etc.
First, we have to change the way we view the homeless, they need to be empowered, not taken care of. The more shelters, food pantries, and soup kitchens provided, the more homeless people there will be. Do something about drug and alcohol addiction, do something about the lack of acessible mental health services, and that will go a long way in dealing with the real problem. If you want to effectively solve on a problem, you HAVE to focus on the underlying issues, and not so much the symptoms or the consequences of the problem. Feeding into the hopelessness is the very worst thing you can do.
Mary..I totally agree that the first priority needs to be the re-funding and bolstering of mental health services in Wichita. This is a key area where Wichita really dropped the ball, and many mental health patients are now on the streets.
Try as we will, it is very difficult at best to help or even approach them on the street. They are tired, hungry and scared and they need help because they can be a danger to themselves and possibly to others.
This needs to be the first order of business for the homeless coalition. Winter is setting in, and I’m not sure many of them will know how to survive out there. Pathways to Housing has a wonderful approach to helping these people, but that would take time… something needs to be done soon… not just plans and ideas!
When we have as easy access to mental health care and drug and alcohol treatment as we do soup kitchens, shelters, and food pantrys, then we’ll less homeless people. Like I said before, we need to focus on empowering, not enabling.Sam, there are shelters available to those who seek them. The problem is that the shelters have rules, and many homeless folks don’t like that, so they choose to live under the bridge instead.Your heart is in the right place, but it’s no solution to the problem. Bandaid solutions are only temporary and don’t address the real issues.
Mary,
Better funding for and better mental health services will not help the homeless? Did you even read what I said?No, we do not need another soup kitchen… it would be nearly impossible to starve in Wichita.Having an emergency place to go when the weather is dangerously cold or hot is not enabling, it’s survival. The would still get to sleep “under the bridge” the rest of the time.But if you want to think I’m just enabling them, that’s ok.. I’ll just go on showing them that someone cares and is willing to give them a hand up. When they know that I care and that they are a valuable and loved child of God.. then I can address their issues. Wichita will go on cutting services, moving organizations like ESS out of downtown and sweeping the blight out of the public eye.
Which is better? My method is PROVEN much more effective than what is currently happening out there. If you want to call that enabling… fine…
What is sucessful about your method? Seems to me like we have more homeless folks than ever in downtown Wichita. Taking care of them and keeping them from the consequences of their choices is not helping them to solve the problems that cause them to be in their situation. You have to quit being afraid to let others be uncomfortable, because it’s only when we humans get really uncomfortable that we are motivated to make changes.Sam, there is a really good book that you should read, it’s called “Co-dependant No More” by Melody Beatty. It’s from the early 80’s, but the message is still relevent today…..The more anxiety and pain you take on for another, the less they will feel themselves. When that happens, they get stuck in their dysfunction. By “helping” them, we’re really hurting them….Believe me, passing out blankets, food, and clean needles does nothing to solve the problems that the homeless face, it just keeps them stuck in their misery.
Sorry Mary.. you are Wrong!
Besides.. we don’t give them needles… what a laugh.. you have no idea what we do!
hiThe subject was about the library but has turned to what do witht the homeless in general.
wished I could just post parts of my diary on here.I beleve some of the numbers are a little inflated here about the amount of “campers”.not sure what the current no,s in shelters are.I have some valid suggestions but it seems that people want to argue not try to figure out a prob.”When we have as easy access to mental health care and drug and alcohol treatment as we do soup kitchens, shelters, and food pantrys, then we’ll less homeless people.”
like it or not this is the answer to this .I have dealt with this in this city for yrs now and I am a vet. and interact with these folks also.12 yrs ago after in patient alcohol treatment at the v.a. I was in a 1/2 way house (houses) here as a stepping stone to get grounded and employed .I did so and have 12 yrs sobriety and a home almost payed for and a gifted kid that is in the top 2% in the state .
I want to post a question???who here, has had to try to find MENTAL HEALTH CARE for themselves or a family member in the last 5 yrs. I have and even with two insurance policys and 2 jobs have seen the dark side of this in this county.COMCARE as a whole is totally lacking and understaffed.not just babbling I can prove it.my advice for folks for 2 yrs now is if you are seeking mental care ,to cut a finger off because you will get help quicker.I am in a situation now and have been for 2 yrs with my d.w. that is like two jerry springer shows and a maury povich all in one .In short , my wife went nuts and did a lot of very unpredictable and scary things and was homeless, and I spent over 6 mo,s calling and going to offices and even to tried to get an order of protection on her and after all the drama the final answer in this whole thing is this “HAS SHE TRIED TO HURT HERSELF OR OTHERS” like a machine this is the standard answer in the system no matter what level you are at ,from the cop at my door to the head of com care this is the standard answer. She still needs help and until she becomes dangerous ,what do I do.To stay on subject. most of the folks at day labor are not homeless.I believe in forced labor ,not to sound harsh but literally they are using city services for their needs they (the needy,homeless) etc. line up at a designated spot and clean it .parks, the bus station, the library, the streets, all of it gets done by using a meal ,shelter ticket similar to a bus ticket or vision card that needs to get so many hrs of public service on it to stay valid , it would work and become normal and not looked down on, and our streets gets cleaned. Rick
Rick, you’re so right. It’s really hard to get help for the mentally ill when they don’t want it. Things have changed in the field of mental health and that’s one of the reasons we have so many homeless. Families can’t intervene they way they used to. You can’t even force someone into drug and alcohol treatment, and they don’t have the strenght to do it themselves because addiction is so powerful. I sometimes think the government would just as soon let these people die, because it means less of a drain on the system. Then we have those like Sam, who want so much to help, but often end up just enabling the addiction or the mental illness. It’s a catch 22 situation. You try to help those who need it by giving them food and shelter, which allows them to survive, stay sick and refuse the services available to only those who want it. Meanwhile families and loved ones are left helpless to intervene.
Yes.. the methods I propose enable.. they enable the homeless/mentally ill to succeed:
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/special_reports/2005/story/5608661p-5591116c.html?current_report=mentally_ill
What else has been proposed? Take away their benefits and they will succeed on their own! That is not God’s plan, nor will it ever be ours…..
Why get a deity and the rapture-wing involved. The last I recall-they billed the structure on South Main as a PUBLIC LIBRARY. If mental illness is an issue, every politician in Wichita will be refused service.
Most people can go home to a nice warm bed, crawl under the sheets and sleep the night away while the world is frozen outside the windows. Everyone should have that privilege, that right to be warm at night, the right to be loved; the right to have a home. I have friends who spend the night under a bridge, with nothing but the clothes on their backs, a bag with everything they own, and maybe a blanket if they’re lucky.The city of Wichita, Kansas knows of the homeless problem. I use the word problem because IT IS a problem. Some how the people of Wichita have enough money to build an animal shelter when there are people out in the streets freezing to death. They can somehow find a way to spend money and time on new buildings that won’t even be used, but they can let a man freeze to death? For example, this past winter Wichita shut down the Overflow Shelter. Where is the justice in that?There’s many solutions to this, problem. Instead of the police taking a poor mans bag and throwing it in the trash, the police could take that poor man out of the trash and help him back up on his feet. Instead of Wichita spending their precious money on animal shelters, new stadiums, new buildings, they could put the money to use. Wichita could build a 24/7 homeless shelter. Providing a 24/7 shelter with supportive services would be a critical first step to ending chronic homelessness in Wichita. This facility would provide services to help the transition the homeless into permanent housing options suitable to their situations