Government must intervene to address homeless situation

One of the features of the COVID-19 crisis is that while many people are out of work, some industries are doing very well. If you are part of one of those, count your blessings and then go help others. Include contacting your government representatives demanding they pass legislation for immediate aid targeted to those out of work.

Recently I drove around downtown Denver. Within a 10-block area, I easily saw 500 tents along the sidewalks. These were people with literally no place to go. In the park near the Capitol were easily 100 tents. We have always had a homeless problem here in Denver, but this is new, this is different — this is like reading “The Grapes of Wrath.” The state legislature just ended its session. They had a view of this camp every day. Is there anything being done for the homeless other than sweeps to move the camps when the neighbors complain?

Unless the U.S. Congress and Senate quickly to pass further aid to the unemployed, come August and September, we will have hundreds of thousands of people/families out living on the streets. None of these people want to go to shelters as the transmission of COVID-19 there is high. If we do no other aid, we must keep people in their homes — picture Denver with thousands of more families out on the street.

The pandemic is not over and our economy is not OK. Income inequality is allowing for two different outcomes here in Colorado and all over the United States. We are truly in crisis.

Kim Opler,