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Thu, May 8, 2008 (5:30 p.m.)
More than 100 UnitedHealthcare employees and business customers joined forces May 7 with the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth to assemble 2,000 survival kits for homeless youths living on the streets in Las Vegas. The bags, expected to be enough for a year, were made possible by a $40,000 donation from UnitedHealthcare.
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Helping people survive on the streets only encourages this destructive behavior. Society shouldnt encurage it and we should not allow it. It is most often a choice to live a care-free and lawless lifestyle and not a necessity.
The grossly erroneous comment by "manaboutown" that being homeles "is most often a choice to live a care-free and lawless lifestyle..." is one of the sad stereotypes that are perpetuated by ignorant idiots that don't know what they are talking about - and logic belies this untruth!
I hope readers will stop and think, just for a moment, who in there right mind would choose to be homeless? Who would want to spend their days foraging for food and water, constantly dealing with the anxiety to avoid being beaten by bullies, preyed upon by predators and hoping to find a safe place to sleep at night? NO ONE!
Most are struggling with severe depression, which is treatable, with medication, counseling and therapy - but, it takes several months to treat successfully. Think about this for a moment - wouldn't you be depressed too IF you were homeless? Surely you would - that's a normal reaction to an extraordinary situation - and YOU would need help too!
I've worked trying to help Homeless Veterans in our valley for years - and I can state unequivocally, I have never had a single moment when I felt my safety was at risk, the last thing a homeless person wants is an interaction with the law (they are not living a "lawless life-style"), and I have yet to meet one homeless person that "chose" to be homeless - in every case there was some sort of tragic event that drove them into homelessness - and the vast majority are not drunks or drug addicts (in fact, these are the minority, who make up the chronic homeless)!
Estimates vary, but I'm certain over two-thirds to three-fourths of our homeless can be successfully treated, are worthy and deserve the help of a compassionate society! We need to focus on the 3 out of 4 that we should help and not the 1 out of 4 that no amount of help will work!
Helping people to survive until they can access critically short social services programs is the humane and compassionate and right thing to do - we have 2,000 Homeless Youth, 4,000 Homeless Veterans, and some 10,000 Homeless Civilian Adults on the streets, in the back alleys, and valley washes of Clark County - it's nothing short of a shame!
Thank God for the dozens of organizations and the hundreds of citizens that volunteer their time and money just to see to it that these far less fortunate, at least, have something to eat and a bottle of water to survive!
Shame on you, and everyone that agrees, with the stupid stereotypes of "manaboutown" - shame, Shame, SHAME!