Regarding "St. Louis workers start removing homeless camps, but fewer than planned" (May 2): I'm with Peter & Paul Community Services, and I believe the crux of the homeless problem is public resistance to any real solution. What is needed is truly affordable housing for very low-income people, coupled with case management and supportive services.
The problem is that an entire category of housing was largely eliminated, with little or no discussion of the long-term impact. The private sector once made a profit providing single room occupancy housing without any government subsidies.
Public policy forced the shutdown of rooming houses and residential hotels over the last 50 years, without any replacement offered to those who depended on them. We need a type of housing that existed throughout history until these last 50 years, and to use tools like tax abatement and increment financing to return the private sector to do the bricks and mortar. We also need the private sector to partner with agencies offering case management and supportive services to meet the chronic needs of this population.
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Thomas B. Burnham • St. Louis
