Friends, there is something very wrong in America. This time it”s not drugs or wars, but the way we take care of our own people.
I am a proud American. I vote. I love the patriotic songs and support the police department.
But when we can send millions of dollars to foreign countries in aid, but can”t take care of our own, something is drastically wrong.
Homelessness is at an all-time high and what alarms me is there seems to be no help. I am lucky enough to have a job but I wonder what would happen if I, like so many others, lose that job? I met a 74-year-old man yesterday who had a stroke and can”t move the right side of his body.
His house is his car parked at a lot in Clearlake. They have sadly closed the homeless shelters and most recently the transition house because of lack of funds.
A friend of mine went to get help with their heating bill with the HEAP program but again no funds. Yet we have funds to send overseas and to pay for a war that seems to drag on. I wonder how many of our children or seniors went to bed tonight hungry wondering what”s the answer.
I try to get help for some of these people everyday and it seems like an endless battle fighting the red tape to get help from the county; it”s like they look for a reason to deny rather then a reason to approve.
We desperately look to put into office a person who promises more jobs and less taxes. I firmly believe that maybe it should be law, a person running for office has to be poor or at the most a shrinking middle class person; then they truly know how people feel.
I wonder how many of our elected officials have gone to bed hungry or wondered when they were going to rest their heads that night I heard someone say well if you”re homeless its normally because of drugs or alcohol and sadly some of that is true but then sadly to say a lot more then we want to admit is not the case.
I don”t care that we help our neighbor”s overseas but I feel we need to also take care of our own here at home first.
God bless America or maybe he”s stopped hearing that prayer.
Paul Hysell
Lakeport
