Governor right on homelessness

“An example of government failing at compassion,” Dec. 1 letter to the editor.

Letter-writer Brian Vande Krol argues that homelessness in Colorado increased by 6 percent in 2016 despite former Mayor John Hickenlooper’s 10-year plan to end homelessness in Denver. Vande Krol says it is “time to admit the government is particularly inept at compassion.”

As one who has studied homelessness for over 18 years as a volunteer at the St. Francis Center and has written a book — “Who is My Neighbor? Communicating and Organizing to end Homelessness” (2009) — I hasten to disagree. Does Vande Krol have any idea how many more homeless people Colorado would have had we not made those efforts in Denver?

In our nation of growing disparity between the rich and the poor, I applaud Gov. Hickenlooper’s compassionate determination to double down on this problem that should humiliate a proud city, state and nation.