Friday night my husband woke up because of flashing lights in our bedroom windows. He's a much lighter sleepier than I am, so while I snoozed on, he went to the living room windows to pull the blinds.
In a parking lot near our condo building were 4 huge hook-and-ladder fire trucks and eight or nine police cars. Flames were rising high above the wall of an eating establishment beside the parking lot but the efficient firefighters had the blaze under control in minutes.
The next day my husband walked by the charred restaurant and some hydro workers were outside fixing the power lines. Dave asked them if they knew what had started the fire.
Apparently, it had been a homeless man who had taken refuge under the restaurant's back steps. It had poured rain earlier so he lit a fire to try and dry his clothes. The hydro workers said the fire had nearly reached the gas line which could have caused quite a disaster.
It made me think about how we are always applying bandage solutions instead of addressing the foundational problems in our city.
If that man hadn't been homeless - if we'd spent money on an apartment for him, or perhaps on helping him with the reason for his homelessness- be it an addiction, a job loss or mental health struggles we wouldn't have wasted the time of all those police officers and firefighters.
How much did it cost to have all those fire and police vehicles and personnel at the scene? What other people weren't being helped because they were there?
A guaranteed basic income, plenty of affordable housing, mental health and addiction recovery treatment for all who need it, sound like prohibitively expensive ideas.
But NOT investing in those kinds of programs is expensive too as my husband witnessed on Friday night.
End Homelessness in Winnipeg organization website
Other posts........
Teaching Kids About Being Homeless
I Shook Her Hand
The Beer Can
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