To the editor,
I loved your front-page stories on Tuesday, March 12: the luxury automobile crowd, side by side with the homeless.
Nanaimo council’s lofty dreams and excited optimism to remedy that gap are laudable. Keep dreaming, but let’s also get real: the photo of Victoria’s multimillion-dollar Our Place represents thousands of hours and decades of work by grassroots volunteers and NGOs. As noted, Nanaimo’s $100K budget would barely cover part-time staff, let alone building or leasing and operating such a facility. Yes, we saved $80 million on a waterfront hockey boondoggle, but ongoing social dysfunction (police, courts, cleaning up tent city and so on) is expensive – both socially and financially. Price tag? Millions.
In the short term, why not focus on collaborating more effectively with our existing and emerging non-profits?
Wisteria Community Association’s Stone Soup project, for example and in particular, supports street people seven days a week, for free. This innovative project has lowered neighbourhood crime and established human connections with people who drive bicycles and shopping carts instead of a Mercedes-Benz. Price tag? Priceless.
Norman Abbey, Nanaimo
The views and opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the writer and do not reflect the views of Black Press or the Nanaimo News Bulletin. If you have a different view, we encourage you to write to us or contribute to the discussion below.