Letter: Don’t paint homeless with broad brush

Aug 20, 2023

Editor,

Your article about actions the county can take to address homelessness (Aug. 12 story) missed something vital: the voices of people in the encampments. The government officials — and your reporter — labeled “them” as mentally ill, dangerous and a nuisance to be managed.

Do all the people living in cars and motorhomes fit that cookie cutter description? How do we know? People like you and me may end up homeless because we lose a job, have an outrageous medical bill, lose a mate or lose a rental house that gets converted into a vacation rental. Send out reporters to interview “those people ,“ to find out – and share their stories. They are, after all, our neighbors.

People living in motorhomes aren’t really homeless, though they are parking-space-less. Where can they safely tuck in to existing properties? Many property owners in the county might be willing to park a motorhome on their land, out of sight of the neighbors, with a tight lease, if the county offered incentives – rather than discouragement.

The Tiny Houses in the Name of Christ in Langley assume the best about houseless people, while setting rules and criteria for who lives there. Where else can we have tiny house villages? Or campgrounds like we have at the fair?

We should be forward looking as well. So far, destructive fires, extreme sustained heat and droughts are elsewhere. People affected by the changing climate may come north, may come here. Our current encampment problem may seem mild when we’re faced with climate refugees. Let’s act now rather than react later.

I think of Matthew 25… “For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home… I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me.”

What other housing-in-the-name of Christ (or the God of our understanding) might we foster on our island?

Vicki Robin

Langley