‘Vulnerable’ should refer to people in city who don’t feel safe

EDITOR: I have four concerns:

1) If 70 per cent of the homeless in Lethbridge are Indigenous, why is the Blackfoot Confederacy not helping them be re-housed in Indigenous communities where they could be supported by their cultures? Then Lethbridge would have enough services to help the other 30 per cent. If that isn’t going to happen, the Blackfoot Confederacy should be providing 70 per cent of the funding and programs at their cost to stay in Lethbridge.

2) The term “vulnerable” should be applied to the citizens of Lethbridge who are trying to live responsible lives, taking care of themselves and their properties and paying taxes but who are no longer safe in their homes, streets and parks.

The criminal element is allowed to run rampant with no consequences. Try waiting for a bus at the downtown transit hub, standing on its filthy, littered sidewalks while trying to avoid the groups of drug takers, drug dealers and begging.

3) If it is illegal to camp on boulevards, in alleys, in public parks and empty buildings, why are encampments even allowed to start?

Why is the first tent not taken down immediately? Just keep doing it until word spreads that Lethbridge is not open to illegal activity. Those who are homeless, through some sudden disaster such as financial or medical, can be helped by agencies already here.

4) Stop building shelters. More shelters equal more homeless showing up just as the safe injection site brought more drug dealers and addicts. There are many programs available to help people get jobs, get temporary housing upgrade education, et cetera. Supporting that will decrease homelessness.

Karen J. Collin Lethbridge