Matthew 26:11 Vs. Deuteronomy 15:11

We have a situation here in the Rose of New England, Norwich, Connecticut. Many years ago, one of the city's nearly-native sons, John Manuel Andriote, repurposed the 'America is a great melting pot' metaphor to create one closer to home, "Norwich is a saucepan." 

He was right then, and he's right now. You can find the same hopes and hates here that you have all across our nation. We are America in miniature, with opportunities and challenges.

We're currently engaged in a serious discussion about siting a homeless warming shelter in a former church in the middle of a historic residential neighborhood. It would be for winter-time use only, from mid-November to mid-April (advocates estimate that there are about 80 homeless people within our city limits). 

The discussion is just getting started, but there are, as you can imagine, very strong feelings on the issue, from across the city as well as across the street. I don't believe there's a right or wrong answer, but I think we're arguing about a band-aid for a situation requiring major surgery.

I'm struck by "If approved, the new shelter would operate from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. nightly from around Nov. 15 to April 15, Kelly has said." Where do/can homeless people go at any time, day or night, for the other seven months of the year? And why don't we concern ourselves with that?

Meanwhile, we entertain proposals for warming shelters rather than invest in permanent, affordable housing. "A lot of the people who are ...using the shelter have jobs, have cars...Kelly said."

I'm old enough to remember LBJ's War on Poverty, but now we're waging war on poor people. We need to stop chasing temporary fixes and create lasting and equitable solutions. We must cure the ACTUAL illness rather than treat the symptoms. -bill kenny