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Editorial
Help for the homeless
Article published on Wednesday, July 11, 2007 |
The City of Pinellas Park, long an established stomping ground for a large homeless population, has taken the bull by the horns to help resolve this very complicated social problem.
Thanks to its recently-formed Homeless Outreach Team consisting of police Officer Stephen Vangeli and Sharon Nivens, a social worker with a background in helping street people, life is getting better for both sides of the issue.
On one side are the street people who have homesteaded mostly the eastern end of Park Boulevard from roughly 66th Street to U.S. 19.
They live in wooded areas, empty lots, at the rear of buildings and elsewhere. They certainly have become more numerous and noticeable in recent years.
On the other side are merchants, pedestrians and other taxpayers that are victimized by people who use doorways and sidewalks as bathrooms and sleeping quarters.
In the middle of the controversy are the police whose officers must enforce laws, and public officials that are mandated to arrive at solutions acceptable to all sides.
Homeless people have been around for as long as humans have roamed the earth. They used to be called hobos, bums and vagabonds. They once moved freely from city to city, but now have settled in big cities and even small towns and are not as transient as their predecessors. They have established camps and other habitats and rarely if ever leave the areas they call “home.”
Florida is a magnet for street people because of its mild winter months. It has become a popular habitat for homeless people who live up north and even out west during the spring and summer. That brings us to Pinellas Park’s homeless population of anywhere between 50 to 200 men, women and children. Instead of arresting street people or pushing them off on other communities, Pinellas Park took the initiative last February to launch the Homeless Outreach Team. The police officer/social worker concept is getting the homeless off the streets by providing services, assistance and even rehabilitation.
The Police Department and the City Council, especially Councilman Rick Butler who has worked diligently for the interests of street people as a member of the Homeless Planning and Policy Group of Pinellas County, are to be commended for recognizing a social ill and looking for ways to eliminate it.
The Homeless Outreach Team of Officer Vangeli and Ms. Nivens goes a long way in helping to make that happen.
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Article published on Wednesday, July 11, 2007
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