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Letter: Helping the homeless

There is a faulty assumption that lack of a job is the only reason a person is homeless
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Penticton Western News letters to the editor.

Helping the homeless

In a recent media story about homeless there was failure to address the assumption that giving a homeless person a home would be motivation to get a job.

That is a faulty assumption that lack of a job is the only reason a person is homeless. Homeless people become homeless for a variety of reasons, some have drug addictions or health issues.

I became homeless due to my unfaithful employer who caused problems for me with an inadequate paycheque.

They never paid a living wage to begin with. Yes the other underlying cause was my spending and saving problems but my employer either negligently or intentionally cheated me. Ultimately my roommate and I fell out with each other and he cruelly ‘evicted’ me at around Christmas.

We may not be able to afford housing for every homeless person but we should have adequate and humane alternatives to them living outside. They need help re-entering society and work, if they are able to work.

Patrick Longworth

Penticton