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Carolyne Wolfe of Denver writes:

Thank you for covering the recent Project Homeless Connect event at Invesco Field on October 19th. It is easy to forget how close we all are to this issue. For many of us, the line between the comfort of our home and homelessness is only one paycheck. In a 2007 statewide survey by the State of Colorado, 28% cited the reason of their homelessness was due to loss of a job and 23% attributed it to the high cost of housing.
While Colorado leads many states in the number of services and non-profits dedicated to serving the needs of the homeless population, often the neediest do not have the tools or resources to research and identify potential opportunities. Project Homeless Connect has been trying to successfully meet this need over that past few years.
One of our country’s most fundamental values lay in Thomas Jefferson’s assertion in the Declaration of Independence that man has certain unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This famous maxim was taken from the writings of John Locke who originally coined the phrase “life, liberty, and the pursuit of property”. It is not surprising that the substitution was made with the evolution of the phrase. The happiness that stems from the security and power of possessing our property is an intrinsic part of our history and a growing struggle in our present times. Man should be given the tools and rights to pursue property.
Efforts to solve this issue are not only practical for society as a whole, as Mayor Hickenlooper details in his 10 year plan to end homelessness, but preserving this value is as important and fundamental to our country as the battle to uphold our freedom of religion and freedom of the press.

This letter has not been edited.

READER COMMENTS

“For many of us, the line between the comfort of our home and homelessness is only one paycheck.”

I would disagree. For most of us the line between the comfort of our home and homelessness is only one bad choice made. We've forgotten that there are natural concequences for our actions, both good and bad.

I would tend to agree more with bjs than with Ms. Wolfe. If the reality of homelessness is really one missed paycheck, than WAY too many people are living beyond their means. If you are truly living paycheck to paycheck, maybe it is time to rethink your lifestyle? How is one planning for retirement if they live paycheck to paycheck? How is the expectation to live the American dream supposed to blossom if they live paycheck to paycheck? Where is the personal responsibility, especially if one has a family to support, if they live beyond their means and live, paycheck to paycheck?

There is a solution to the problem of high housing prices in Colorado for the homeless. It is called a one way ticket to Alabama. With unemployment at a low 3.9% as of Sept. 2007 here in Colorado, maybe it is a lack of education and training, of abuse, of total disregard for personal responsibility that attributes more to the homeless issue, than say, high housing prices, or lack of a job? I know that mental illness is a HUGE factor, and maybe it is time to institutionalize those who do not have the ability and capacity to care for themselves?

Compassion is a tremendous gift, but should be reserved for those that seek to better their lives. Maybe instead of increasing services that provide hand-outs, shelter and a free meal, we should focus on mental health, education and training, and programs to address abuse? The old proverb goes something like this:

"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day, teach him to fish and he can feed himself for a lifetime." The problem may not lie within the causes of homelessness, but in the enabling of the State to continue homelessness, and the dependency the State contributes to those who are homeless.

You've gotta love Compassionate Conservatism.

8:43
I'm a proud libertarian you loafer enabling apologist a-hole. Ron Paul rules!

GET A JOB OR GET LOST BUM!

"For many of us, the line between the comfort of our home and homelessness is only one paycheck."

Nice reguritation of the liberal mantra. If you are that close to homelessness, maybe you should re-evaluate your education or the way you have been indoctrinated to believe that government is the solution to all your problems and inadequacies.

Are you THAT ill-prepared to deal with the real world? Perhaps public schools should bear some of the criticism of the woeful state of our youth. Didn't they teach you SOME individual responsibility?

I am one of those who actually earn more than the state average, and who (mainly because I am single & have no children to support - and grew up in a household which was ALWAYS on a budget) actually has savings, but I have also gone thru a Colorado downturn where it took 15 months to find a job (which drained my savings at the time). I know others in my industry who have had 7 jobs in 3 years because of offshoring & H1Bs. That said, I am appalled at some of the postings here.

I sincerely hope none of you who are so happy to bitch about "handouts" never lose your middle-class jobs to offshoring or budgetary cuts & find that the only replacement job you can get is at a 30-50% pay cut (without benefits - and find the cost of health insurance to be higher than your monthly food bill) - and then either get seriously ill or have a child that gets seriously ill & find yourself facing medical bills of tens of thousands of dollars . WAIT - based on some of the posts - that would be YOUR fault - you should have planned for the greed of your employers.

Yes - many Americans live beyond their means - but since you want to blame those who are needy, here's a little factoid - apparently, to be able to rent & have normal "amenities" (heat, food, water, insurance, etc) in metro Denver, it requires a job that pays $15-18/hour. The minimum wage was originally the minimum to cover those basic expenses - today it isn't even close. Even the state & local governments offshore/outsource jobs - when they aren't hiring contractors who use illegals who drive down the wage base. As I understand it, many of the homeless are children - do you really think we should turn them over the to tender mercies of the same governmental entities which have at least contributed to the deaths of so many kids recently when their parent(s) only "crime" is to lose a job?

Maybe starting in middle school kids should be taught the economic 'facts of life' - including how to budget, what qualifies as a necessity & what is a luxury (even though it appears that "everybody else has ..."). - and information about what the impact of education is on their earning power. It might not be the total solution, but it certainly couldn't hurt.

We should just kick the unemployed out of the country along with the illegals. America should exist as a paradise country, for the comfort and well being of corporations & big business ( just the headquarters) and of course the rich. Why we tolerate the poor, children, and the elderly is beyond me.

P.C of 11:46 - Why did you bother to post? What kind of a discourse is that?

Mary of 5:51am - You are correct, many of the homeless are children and yes, they do pay for the mistakes of their parents. I am at a loss for this one.

At one point, I too, bought the complete argument, kit-and-caboodle; that we should support the homeless with kids, because the kids are suffering. Then, closer to home, my sister and her two children (my nieces) became homeless. The sister received great amounts of money (more than $5,000 over a two month period – that is NET) from family members. She asked for more. She ran my mother (nearing retirement) out of money. We all tried to help out “for the children.” However never once was the money used change her situation or make a better life for her girls.

And just to dispel another myth, drugs were not involved, nor was mental illness.

The ending to the story is that the girls no longer live with their mother. I worked to get the girls into a stable home with their father (If that didn’t cause a little bit of a family “row”). While no longer homeless, my sister still makes poor choices and is one of those that is just one paycheck away from becoming homeless again. I’ve never figured out if she was madder about loosing her daughters or the child support she received while she had them.

This is a long story, I know. I also know that there are stories of the exact opposite scenario where homeless parents DO put their children first at severe sacrifice to themselves. However, I use my true story to point out that there is NOT a simple solution and it is just foolish to just throw money at the problem.

Sometimes, life is just not fair.

Cheney,

That country exists. It is called Dubai.

Mary,

Here is another "factoid" for you. If you read my post above, you will see that if we look specifically at cost of living, Denver has a 25% higher cost of living than ANY CITY in Alabama. Housing prices too high here? Time to move.

Also, with a simple search on rent.com I was able to find 22 apartments for under $400/mo. And those are just what is listed on rent.com, available for move in Jan 1. I would like to know where you got your information on your "factoid" regarding salary data for affordable housing?

Of the 22 apartment listings that I found, 12 of them are "all-inclusive" (rent + heat + electric + water/sewer). Under $400/mo. That equates to $4800/yr or $2.31/hr. $18/hr is aprox $37,500/yr. If we take that number and do the normal 40% of salary MAX for housing, that leaves housing costs of $1250/mo, or according to HUD statistics right around median mortgage for Colorado residents. (2007 economic recovery study US Housing and Urban Development). And that is for a single person, no additional income.

If we use the statistics that Ms. Wolfe uses (a very accurate and scientific survey of Colorado's homeless - read sarcasm), the VAST majority of the homeless are NOT effected by housing or job loss, but "something else," 72% of the homeless in fact. You talk about children and teens and in the same survey that Ms. Wolfe describes 33% of the homeless in Colorado are teens (but doesn't go into any detail about run-aways, those that just transitioned to Colorado and are living with family/friends etc). What I do find fascinating is that the majority (the other 72% referenced above) are for these three main reasons: substance abuse, mental illness, and medical disability.

I will assume that you work in the IT field, or maybe even a bit more specialized, Oracle or SAP, or perhaps physical sciences, as that is the industries where over 82% of H1-B visa holders are employed (according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics 2004). I will also assume that you wanted to stay in that field, which is why (probably in 2002) you were out of work for so long. Regardless of your circumstances, you have done what SHOULD be done, and that is save enough for a rainy day, at minimum. Why would you so appalled at the postings? Since when is personal responsibility a character FLAW? I remember listening to my Grandmother talk of the Great Depression and not taking a dime from the Government because her family didn't take a hand out from anyone! What has changed since then (other than the "we know best for everyone" baby boomers attitude)?

One final question, that I hope you take the time to review. Where do you get your numbers? I am a consultant for Recruitment, Retention, and Change Management for a $1B+ company here in Colorado, and the data that I receive quarterly shows no net income loss in the Colorado employment landscape, but an INCREASE in actual wages of 1.8% (adjusted for inflation). Again, I will assume that you just make up your own numbers more to make a point, than to provide factual information?

For Dan2 & his ilk - ok - metro Denver is expensive. At what point does someone on the edge of poverty pick up & move? And - part of why Denver is so expensive is the classic vicious cycle: wages are higher, therefore the renters (among others) charge higher rent. If the wages are lower, and the housing costs are lower, won't those costs be roughly the same percentage of low-end income? In other words, housing costs more than low-end income can afford wihout a problem ANYWHERE - you just don't want it to be here.

In addition, I know you are going to hate the story just released: "Study: 1 out of 4 homeless are veterans" (found at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071108/ap_on_re_us/homeless_veterans;_ylt=AufjZdQP1Z0TesWRSFBJ6LGs0NUE).

The article points out that at least since the Civil War, a higher than expected percent of the population is homeless veterans (right now, vets account for 11% of the population - and they are 25% of the homeless population). So folks - is this just more of the US wanting their military to die for this country - but heaven forbid they survive & need our help.

Mary--

Dan2 and his circle of friends don't care one little bit about the homeless vets. In their warped little minds, these soldiers made the choice to fight and it is their own fault for putting themselves in bad situation. As bjs states--it is their own "bad choice".

There's a special place in hell reserved for these "compassionate conservatives".

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