We're not the only ones asking!

Ya know... god bless these poor homeless folks that have this burden...

but unfortunately, this reeks of "feral cats". You keep feeding them, they come back. You quit feeding, they bite...

Yesterday I drove through town around 5pm. In almost every covered doorway in the CBD a homeless person with numerous bags of belongings waited for PADS to open. I went to the GEPL and outside were about 5 individuals with bags waiting under the overhang. Several were smoking.

I went upstairs to look for something. There were at least a dozen apparently homeless people seated in the chairs at the top of the stairs. Some were sleeping amid piles of bags. I did not look at any other areas of the second floor.

As I checked out, I mentioned it to the librarian. She said that during the day, there were many more. We agreed that while their's is a sad situation, residents pay a lot of taxes to support the library and this presence is not conducive to browsing.

I had to pick up my husband at the train station at 9:25. A homeless "rasta" guy got off the train from the city and, I believe, proceeded towards the PADS site.

PADS has a bowling fundraiser coming up. The PR pieces I've seen claim that it is to get more money for the employment training that is one of their main goals. Maybe they should have this training on rainy days in the GEPL. That's where the population they claim to serve is waiting.

"We've kind of institutionalized an enabling environment downtown for this transient population to grow unchecked . . . In a way, they're taking advantage of us," says Madison Police Lt. Joe Balles. Sound familiar?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: GEmom2,

My husband proposed that the library should have a card scanner at the door and that you have to scan your library card to enter. That would keep the space set aside for people who actually want to USE the library instead of hang out in the library because there is no place else to go.

I think the question is, are we mean enough?

OMG Mr St Hubbins....have you ever met anyone on this board???? They are ferocious...especially those with avatars of animals carrying weapons and the sea creatures. The one with fan blades tries to act scary, but once unplugged he is harmless.

If you are speaking of village government...surely you gest. We don't allow garbage pick up in the CBD let alone enforce laws regarding vagrancy or panhandling.

quote:

I had to pick up my husband at the train station at 9:25. A homeless "rasta" guy got off the train from the city and, I believe, proceeded towards the PADS site.

And you're surprised? Of course you are, through no fault of your own. If you see something often enough, more likely than not, you start to believe it. PADS through its literature pounds the "we're going to cure homelessness in DuPage" thing and as a result, everyone is led to believe they are serving mainly DuPage residents. Sells much better this way. Problem is, this is a BIG....FAT.....LIE! 49% of PADs clients come from outside of DuPage. This number has increased by about 7% since 2001. More heads = more $. Quite simple.

I give Mike Lynch much credit for taking a stand, he had some balls. I may be not far behind him. I am fed up with this nonsense, just sick of it.

Where the hell is the ACLU? I'd think they'd want to come in and shut down PADS federal funding.

A LOT of the homeless come into our local grocery store to buy lottery tickets. A good rip off sanctioned by the State of Illinois.

quote:

Originally posted by Gus:
A LOT of the homeless come into our local grocery store to buy lottery tickets. A good rip off sanctioned by the State of Illinois.

There's a reason the lottery is called 'The Idiot Tax'. It's simply a tax on stupid people being stupid.

I recently had coffee at Starbucks in Oak Park. It was pristine and no homeless. What are we missing?