Letter to the Editor

Here is a letter that I wrote about Bellingham's homelessnes problem to The Bellingham Herald that will appear in the "Letter to the Editor" in the coming days.

Title: "Empower those who want help"

The past week there have been many letters to the editor about the growing problem of people who are homeless in Whatcom County. As someone who has volunteered in the social services in Bellingham I can tell you we are not doing a good job at empowering those who want help. It seems to me that a growing problem in society is providing people with more excuses for their problems. I have seen this while volunteering helping domestice violence victims. A women seeking help is fed the usual feminist line about society holding women down and does not come away with any answers about how she can empower herself to change her dire situation. When people who want help seek it, we must be careful not to bombard them with ideological propaganda whether it is leftist feminist opinion or religious opinion. We must empower them to know that deep down they, the individual, has the power to change their life and it is only the individual who can get themselves out of an abusive relationship, drug abuse, homelessness, and many other problems.