Homeless in Columbia: What a Mess

 

The results are in from my previous editorial in the Columbia Star dated June 10, 2022: “Homeless on the Streets of Columbia: Who is to blame?,” and the reality of the situation is now very clear to me. The answer…..Everybody.

I have heard from so many people just as perplexed as I was when I wrote that first editorial. Why are there so many homeless people in Columbia and why won’t “we” do anything about it? From Main Street businesses, to downtown merchants and Five Points restaurants, shoppers in the Vista, on Forest Drive, Garners Ferry Road, and even Harbison are fearful and intimidated with the ongoing and expanding homeless situation in Columbia. In Elmwood, neighborhood folks are afraid, that’s right, down right afraid to take their kids to a local park in fear of the overwhelming homeless situation in an area overflowing with homeless folks due to its proximity to Transitions at the corner of Elmwood and Main. The whole situation is overwhelming, and it is past time we acknowledge what is good for OUR community and what is holding us back. No more excuses, no more blaming the past, and no more pointing fingers. The time is now for change.

The message from just one of the many concerned downtown business owners, “Peter, I just finished reading an article you had in the Columbia Star about homelessness in the city. I couldn’t agree more with your statements. As a new business owner, I am feeling the struggles with the high population of homeless. The amount of mentally ill homeless is very alarming. As a citizen and business owner, I do not feel comfortable approaching them to leave the storefront. I have lost clients due to the fear of walking past them. What is a new business to do to survive?”

Wow. That is a striking indictment of the “system,” which really isn’t much of a system at all. Not only do I feel for this business owner, but it makes you realize what a burden we are putting on all these young entrepreneurs who are eager to make Columbia their home and want to own and run a successful business that will make Columbia a better place. Now we know why we end up with Vape and CBD stores versus “real” businesses that will make our community better. It is time to face our reality and do something about it.

This was sent in by a young Elmwood couple: “The large homeless man has been a fixture at Roy Lynch/ Elmwood Park for several months. He has been seen and photographed urinating at Logan Elementary School across the street and other places in the area during the day when children are present. He sleeps on the bench right outside the park on Lincoln Street and aimlessly walks through the park during the day. We see him washing his teeth and utensils in the water fountain.” OK, folks, let’s put that on the City of Columbia website. Doesn’t that make you want to live downtown?

So, now what? Well, here’s the deal. We have 101 providers on record affiliated with this massive problem That’s right. ONE HUNDRED AND ONE providers with absolutely no accountability. It makes me wonder if we had 21 providers or, I don’t know… three, what would the homeless situation be in Columbia. Just maybe, things would be better if there were less and more targeted providers for the homeless. And how much money does the City of Columbia and other local municipalities spend each year to mitigate this ongoing concern? Well, between the community, the City of Columbia, and the Federal Government, we are spending just around $25,000,000. (I will pause so everyone can take a deep breath and exhale.) Well, that seems like money well spent as the homeless situation gets worse and worse, doesn’t it?

Oh, and I need to mention there are a number of other willing accomplices to the problem (all well meaning of course, but remember no good deed goes unpunished) mostly downtown churches who provide meals daily and allow the homeless to “live” on their church steps and gardens, likely making the situation worse and more threatening to the public. This seemingly helpful attitude has turned Columbia into a walking tour for the homeless as they meander from breakfast to lunch to dinner across downtown and in and out of the providers for services and shelter. The situation goes from bad to worse at 5 p.m. daily when some providers release their day guests onto the streets. As it turns out, the “night shift” is only for the “nice” homeless crowd, not the “chronic” homeless or those with serious criminal records or mental health issues. So these folks end up on the streets, without the services necessary and without a facility for the police to take these folks regardless of the situation. The only option is to take the long term homeless to jail at night or on the weekends (providers don’t work weekends either) and with our current judicial system, these folks will be back on the street with a PR Bond before the ink dries on the arrest paperwork.

I know, it feels hopeless doesn’t it. But it’s not. So, what do we do now?

My recommendations:

•Someone or some entity needs to take control of the money.

•Listen to the people in our communities and build an awareness of the issue.

•Make someone in charge at the local level to hold the all of the homeless providers accountable to the community and for the money allocated for their services.

•Hire more police officers in the City of Columbia and empower the police to enforce the existing laws centered around illegal homeless activities.

•Compel our municipal judges to hold the law breaking homeless population accountable for its actions.

•Create a 24-hour, seven days a week shelter for the chronically and unsheltered homeless folks from our community.

Homelessness has and always will be a problem. We all want to help and I get that. I know this first hand as my family “adopted” a homeless man from our area several years ago. Unfortunately, our good deeds did nothing to solve his problems, and at the end of the day, maybe we even made things worse. Some folks just can’t be helped and I get that, too. What we are doing now is not working. It isn’t working for our businesses, our neighborhoods, our visitors, or for the homeless folks who need our help. The solution is not easy and the path forward may be complicated and messy. But come to think of it, change is never neat and clean. But the first part of change is accepting what we are currently doing is not working. I think at this point, we can all agree on that.