Discussion | 11 comments

The Mountain Democrat does not necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full policy

• HorsechuckleAugust 09, 2012 - 8:49 am

  They need to clean up and get a job like the rest of us. Why would you encourage their drunken laziness by giving them free stuff?

  Report abusive comment

• Evelyn VeerkampAugust 09, 2012 - 5:19 pm

  Horsechuckle: There but for the grace of god go many of us. I know NOTHING about the particular population being served by Hangtown Haven. But all of us still blessed to have roofs over our heads and a reasonable level of security need to become better informed about the several causes of homelessness. "Drunken laziness" is not at the heart of the matter, though homelessness and despair could indeed drive one to drink.

  Report abusive comment

• Evelyn VeerkampAugust 09, 2012 - 6:20 pm

  Do you know that about 40% of homeless men are veterans?

  Report abusive comment

• Evelyn VeerkampAugust 09, 2012 - 6:23 pm

  . . . and the above figure is 3 years old. Since then the economy has worsened, more people losing jobs and homes.

  Report abusive comment

• Evelyn VeerkampAugust 09, 2012 - 6:32 pm

  My mistake. That figure may be at least SIX years old, i.e. totally preceding the economic collapse. And, for what it's worth, 89% of those veterans received honorable discharges. http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/veterans.html

  Report abusive comment

• Evelyn VeerkampAugust 09, 2012 - 7:04 pm

  I quickly researched the causes of homelessness. Most of what I found names symptoms rather than causes. Therefore, in no particular order, my own short list: • Continuously escalating military budgets • Domestic programs slashed • Declining wages • Unaddressed government corruption • Banking deregulation • Failure to prosecute bank fraud • Reduced federal assistance to local government • Job outsourcing ********** The City has given the Homeless Coordinator a 12-point Job Description. One of his responsibilities is to “Assist Council in creation of a ten-year plan to end homelessness … .” What are the odds?

  Report abusive comment

• REWAugust 09, 2012 - 8:00 pm

  Welcome to GODS spaceship Mother Earth: A ship so ingeniously designed that humans never had a clue that we were on one. The spinning planet spaceship Earth is flying through the universe at a million miles per hour, with a really good water and food source. Mother Earth gives all passengers a set of instructions called instincts. All the passengers but one follows these rules. Humans have misplaced their internal handbook. Important rules like don't poison the water, soil or air, overuse resources, deforest massive areas, overpopulate or use dangerous genetically modified organisms and abuse domestic livestock for no other reason than to profit. Mother Earth has from time to time, decided some passengers have finished their flight. Only humans continue to force other passengers to leave because we ignore the handbook, Mother Earth and the other passengers are being very kind to us. We see everywhere in the world there are ordinary people willing to confront despair, power, and incalculable odds in order to restore some semblance of grace, justice, and beauty to this world. There are many groups and organizations who are working on the most salient issues of our day: poverty, deforestation, peace, water, hunger, conservation, human rights, and more. Possibly the largest movement the world has ever seen. Rather than control, it seeks connection. Rather than dominance, it strives to disperse the concentrations of power limiting the masses from purpose. The world is in our hearts. Life creates the conditions that are conducive to life. We should think of no better motto for a future life and global economy. We have abandoned homes without people and abandoned people without homes. We have failed lawyers advising failed bankers advising failed regulators and Lobbyists advising corrupt politicians on how to save failed assets. We are the only species on the planet without full employment. Every bacteria, insect, plant and animal on the planet has a purpose, yet some humans do not. We have a global economy that tells us that it is cheaper to destroy Earth in real time rather than renew, restore, and sustain it. Humans print currency to bail out financial institutions but unfortunately humans can't print life to bail out a planet. Currently we are stealing the future, selling it in the present, and calling it gross domestic product and leaving the cost to our offspring .We can easily have an economy that is based on healing the future instead of stealing it. We either create assets for the future or take the assets of the future. One is called restoration and the other exploitation. And whenever we exploit the Earth we exploit people and this causes untold suffering. Life on this planet should not be a way to get rich, but a way to be rich in life. Human greed by the few, for far too long has caused senseless suffering to the many. GOD and Mother Earth own and pilot the Spaceship Earth. Our fare is being paid by ordinary compassionate people from all the races and religions of the world. With GODS grace, hopefully their efforts will continue to be enough...

  Report abusive comment

• Evelyn VeerkampAugust 09, 2012 - 9:07 pm

  REW: Thank you.

  Report abusive comment

• Evelyn VeerkampAugust 10, 2012 - 8:52 am

  REW: Occasionally we find comments which deserve much wider distribution. Yours (IMHO) is one such. I hope you don't mind if I "borrow" it, attribution to "unknown".

  Report abusive comment

• A. PerronAugust 17, 2012 - 6:17 pm

  A lot of the people that are staying up at Hangtown Haven are disabled people that do not get any money from the state. I happen to know a few people that are staying there and know that they are banding together and that many of them have stopped drinking so that they can stay living there. NOT ONE OF THEM ASKED TO BE HOMELESS. Please reach down into your hearts and help them if you can, or at the very least let them be.

  Report abusive comment

• Helpu SeethetruthSeptember 14, 2012 - 8:23 pm

  I happened to see this on a Sacramento news channel-I do not recall at the moment. But, Chuck Holland did comment "How this upsets him, being right in his backyard". My immediate thoughts....what a careless, inhumane ass---e! You talk the talk about informing others and doing whats right for El Dorado County - or is it just Placerville - your "hometown"...homeboy! How could you show any compassion on television....what with that big gut! Looks like you never had a hungry night!

  Report abusive comment