Don’t just ship the homeless downtown. Suburbs should provide services, too.

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Regarding the March 15 story, “Kindland: McNeeley, Metanoia Project in Lakewood are beacons of home for the region’s unhoused,” it’s good that homeless service organizations are providing assistance in Lakewood. Homelessness is not solely a downtown or inner city issue.

But suburban governments should take it upon themselves to provide needed services, such as housing and employment assistance, to their own residents in crisis, instead of shipping them off to Cleveland.

Likely, part of the lack of crisis intervention in the suburbs for people facing homelessness is due to prejudices and stereotypes surrounding homeless people. Rising apartment rents, limited job opportunities for many young people, and the increasing number of broken families contribute to homelessness. The suburbs are no different from the city on those counts.

While I applaud the Metanoia Project for trying to help, let’s not understate problems associated with homelessness. Quite a few unhoused persons have mental health disorders and other disabilities that prevent them from pulling themselves out of homelessness without significant help.

A cot on the floor of a church or auditorium can be a lifesaver during subzero temperatures, but without a real, stable, secure home, the homeless face problems far beyond mere temporary shelter.

Ken Johns,

Brunswick

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