Letters: Full-time shelter not the only answer to helping homeless; Votes against plaza were votes against change
Full-time shelter not the only answer to helping homeless
Thank you for your series on the homeless in Centre County. As a volunteer for Out of the Cold and a board member of Interfaith Human Services, I learn about the individual people who face this problem. While a permanent shelter would give temporary protection, we need to change the conditions that cause homelessness.
Raise the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour, now.
Prioritize affordable housing when developers submit plans for residential projects.
Shorten the waiting period for section 8 housing by raising support funding.
Raise the funding for emergency rent assistance through Adult Services.
Restore the food stamp program to previous levels.
Restore and expand the Affordable Care Act with a focus on low-income subscribers.
Fight the proposed cuts in government disability payments.
Drastically reform the criminal justice system to focus heavily on rehabilitation. Limit the length of parole.
Seriously expand funding for every aspect of mental health care.
Restore the tax deductions for charitable contributions by middle income people so that churches and community agencies can continue to plug the gaps in the safety net.
Homelessness is complicated, but misinformed government policies have made it much more complicated. As much as we welcome new permanent shelter in State College — we thank all the people who are making it possible — it will not provide long-term stable housing. To prevent homelessness we need to change the laws that punish people for being poor.
Votes against plaza were votes against change
It is very disappointing that four members of the Borough Council voted to reject the idea of establishing a pedestrian plaza on Allen Street for a limited period of time this summer.
They must believe that they know better than 20 of the 22 businesses on Allen Street that voiced support for the proposal. They must believe they know better than the leadership of the Alpha Fire Company who submitted a letter saying that there should be no concern about their ability to effectively deal with a fire, if that were to occur, something that has happened only three times in the past 50 years!
The only rationale provided for their decision is that one of the members talked to people in the community who thought the idea probably wouldn’t be successful. Really? That input was more compelling than what the overwhelming majority of the business community members who would be the most affected provided to the Council?
The only way you understand if something new works is by trying it in a controlled, limited way, minimizing the risks. The proposal did exactly that and would have answered everyone’s questions about whether or not this is a good idea longer term.
Like it or not, State College is changing. You can either embrace the change and make it a good thing, which was the motivation behind the plaza proposal, or you can fight tooth and nail to preserve the past. Unfortunately, the four members of the council who voted against the proposal voted to preserve the past, and our community is not the better for it.