An Ohio city known for helping the
homeless now questions its limits
Washington Post,
by
Kevin Williams
Original Article
Posted By: NorthernDog,
1/2/2020 9:07:22 PM
MIDDLETOWN, Ohio —This small city, situated almost halfway between Dayton and Cincinnati, has long had a heart. In good times and bad, it has offered a generous network of privately funded homeless shelters, drug rehabilitation facilities and soup kitchens, plus a library that promotes access for all. Yet in recent months, officials and residents have begun to question whom those services are benefiting and how to shoulder the cost. The police chief was the most prominent voice, accusing other communities of increasingly using Middletown as a dumping ground for their own problems. “It is inhumane and it is irresponsible,” Rodney
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Petronius 1/2/2020 9:08:33 PM (No. 276893)
Build it and they will come.
9 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
chumley 1/2/2020 9:26:28 PM (No. 276913)
You always get more of what you pay for.
5 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
gramma b 1/2/2020 9:33:17 PM (No. 276918)
What ticked me off was the attitude of the homeless guy/addict/criminal they interviewed that it was society's job to take care of him, and he's just a helpless victim of circumstance.
6 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
DVC 1/2/2020 9:43:01 PM (No. 276930)
Suckers get more of what they subsidize. And then they are surprised.
4 people like this.
Old people in my neighborhood feed the Canadian geese. We are now being overrun!
You can't walk around the pond for the goose crap all over the sidewalk, and some of them get aggressive.
When you cater to something, you get a lot more of it. Just ask California.
4 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
RuckusTom 1/2/2020 10:32:07 PM (No. 276972)
Do gooders get hit up side the head by a reality 2 x 4.
3 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
DVC 1/2/2020 10:55:12 PM (No. 276995)
Like feeding pigeons, a real mistake, you get swarmed.
1 person likes this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Trigger2 1/2/2020 11:09:33 PM (No. 277007)
The more freebees that politicians pass out, the more the leeches who refuse to work will show up. Start changing laws by upping the penalty for drug dealers. Personally, I recommend the death sentence for any drug dealer or manufacturer. Stop the BS about tracking the drugs that someone died from to a particular dealer. They're all guilty.
0 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Omen55 1/3/2020 12:44:08 AM (No. 277055)
Fools & their $$$..
0 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
DVC 1/3/2020 1:19:47 AM (No. 277065)
#9, actually, it's fools and OUR money.
2 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
tech10171968 1/3/2020 2:06:38 AM (No. 277095)
I grew up in Columbia, SC, which seems to be yet another homeless haven (you cant swing a dead cat around there without hitting a soup kitchen; plus, warmer winters). I definitely believe in charity towards the homeless, as not all of them are on the street because of drugs, mental illness, etc. but, yeah, there's only so far you can take it before it starts to become a problem. At some point you have to put your foot down and say, "we'll help you get back on your feet but we're NOT interested in subsidizing your lazy, layabout lifestyle." Maybe putting a hard time limit on the assistance you're willing to give, and making it known, might help here. More like a and up rater tan a andout.
Its not helping when you take away the incentive for someone to help themselves, it's more like ENABLING at that point.
1 person likes this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
DVC 1/3/2020 2:23:08 AM (No. 277108)
#12, I believe that former Sen. Phil Graham of Texas made your same point in a short phrase, suitable for a bumper sticker.
"It's supposed to be a safety net, not a hammock"
Yeah, that.
2 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
Strike3 1/3/2020 3:36:15 AM (No. 277128)
Ah yes, put the giveaway program in place and then try to figure out how to pay for it. Where have we seen this strategery before? Hey Chief, do you feed the birds and the squirrels in your yard as well?
It's a good thing that Middletown does not have nice weather and a beach or they would really be overwhelmed.
0 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
DaddyO 1/3/2020 4:50:21 AM (No. 277142)
Southwest Ohio has probably the country's worst opiate addiction problem. More deaths from overdose than just about anywhere else in the country.
0 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
berthabutt 1/3/2020 11:12:22 AM (No. 277481)
Who gets to pay for the property damage from this re-location plan? There was a huge closed paperboard warehouse that burned in Middletown this week. A homeless man builds campfire - ''quickly got out of hand''. Luckily the other squatters weren't harmed.
1 person likes this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
BigGeorgeTX 1/3/2020 4:52:46 PM (No. 277873)
Plenty of social services, freely given, are a great enticement for those who chose life on the street in order to feed their addictions. Toss in a temperate climate as seen on the west coast and you become a magnet for the flotsam from surrounding areas.
0 people like this.
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Surprise! It's like feeding flies.