Editor, Manteca Bulletin,

The ongoing discussion of whether or not the city should build a homeless shelter leaves one important question unanswered: Why is it the responsibility of the City of Manteca to build a shelter?  Let Lathrop build one. Why not Oakdale? How about Escalon or French Camp? After reading the coverage of the issue in the Bulletin, it sounds to me like Ripon sends homeless folks down the road, so I can’t imagine that building a shelter is a burning issue in that town. Does Tracy have a homeless shelter, and if so is it adequate to house that city’s homeless population? My guess is that many of the homeless in Manteca are from Stockton, but that they clearly feel safer here than on the streets of that city. Send Stockton the bill.

 The homeless individuals currently residing in Manteca could have arrived here from anywhere. Homelessness is not a city wide, local or regional issue. It is clearly more than a statewide issue and a national issue. There are people all over the planet cross international borders in search of better living conditions every day. San Francisco, because of its shelters and available services, a generally sympathetic population and city government, and a mild climate attracts homeless persons from all over the country if not the western hemisphere. Building shelters and providing services to the homeless there has done little or nothing to solve the problem in that city, in fact it has probably exacerbated it.

 Another consideration is that from what I understand, homeless persons generally don’t want to stay in the shelters that do exist. They find them dangerous and don’t want their few meager possessions stolen, and therefore many prefer to remain on the streets instead. It’s obvious that simply building a shelter does nothing to solve a problem that unfortunately may not have a solution. The root of the homeless problem as I see it is predominantly substance abuse and perhaps mental illness to a certain extent. If you think that you can cure those problems which are rampant in our society with a shower and a hot meal then more power to you.

 Don’t get me wrong. I think that shelters for women and children are vital and should be encouraged and supported. If the city of Manteca wants to direct more money to those shelters I would applaud that action. It might prevent another 11-year-old boy living on the streets from winding up dead. His family and the system certainly failed him. However, single adults who choose the homeless ‘lifestyle’ are another issue, and present a host of problems to society for which there may be no simple solutions. 

Stephen Breacain

Manteca