It isn't exactly effortless to successfully provide food and supplies for 80 homeless individuals every week. In truth, that aspect of our nonprofit takes a great deal of energy to organize. Nonetheless, my volunteers and I happily spend countless hours assisting our homeless community because they are worth it.
And while they are worth helping, recently it appears as though certain measures are being taken to discourage people from helping them. For example, there is a proposed ordinance that City Council will vote on in January, that if passed, will prohibit a homeless individual from being able to sit on a sidewalk or bench, or to sleep in a tent or under an overpass.
In addition, Charlotte Center City Partners had a meeting earlier this week about passing a law that would prohibit the homeless from panhandling in Charlotte. Interestingly enough, there is already an ordinance in place that prevents the homeless from panhandling near businesses and ATM's. Quite frankly, I'm not as overly concerned about this proposal as I am about the camping ordinance; however, based on the Press Release, I have a feeling that CCCPs may also try to prohibit the feeding of homeless individuals.
The Charlotte Center City Partners website states that they facilitate and promote the economic, cultural and residential development of the urban core for a viable, livable and memorable Center City. According to CCCPs, homeless individuals don't belong in the Charlotte landscape. That mentality is another example of intellectual arrogance at its finest. Simply stating that they "don't belong here" isn't going to rectify the situation.
Undoubtedly, the camping ordinance and the anti-panhandling law are both stop-gap measures to remove the homeless from the streets. Both proposals are instances where our city continues to ignore the underlying and debilitating problems of the homeless population. It is completely asinine to propose ordinances and laws that don't offer solutions to ending homelessness.
Furthermore, these proposals are just obstacles that nonprofits like ours have to continue to battle. All in order to simply help a fellow human being...
