Log in

Zale, Lindsey, Murphy, Jones-McClintic: Compassion, charity should rule in Sun City

Posted

As we sit around the table this Thanksgiving Day discussing the article (“Beggars, homeless encroaching,” Sun City Independent, Nov. 27, 2019), we are deeply saddened by the concerns represented in the article.

The homeless are a “safety” issue? Of course. But, no, it is our safety that is at stake, according to the article, not theirs. The proposed solutions assume we are not safe from people who sit every day in the exhausting sun on a concrete median with a cardboard plea for “anything helps.” From people who live in tents or a van, often in clear sight. From people who feel they have no other option but to clean themselves with someone’s exterior hose.

Can we approach this issue with compassion and charity?

Perhaps the signers of this letter are wrong. Perhaps a few desperate homeless may finally say, “You’re not seeing me. You’re not listening to me,” and take aggressive action.

In the meantime, our concern is more about the hearts that identify with the sentiments in that article. Did the supporters of this article bow their heads on Thanksgiving Day and pray, “I am thankful I am not on a median, hungry and alone. I am thankful I am safe behind my gated and locked doors.” We would like it if they considered, “This holiday season, I will search for ways to be an ally for the homeless instead of using energy to support a bill for Greg Eisert’s enforcement action.” St. Mary’s Food Bank, for example, has a link with ideas.

Maybe, just maybe, the next time we see a homeless person on a median, we should look at them in the eye and say, “Hello.” It is true: “Anything helps.”

Sarah Zale

Tui Lindsey

Jim Murphy

Sun City

Sandy Jones-Mclintic

Sun City west