Austin should strengthen homelessness ordinances

Regarding “Church protests new ordinances tagging homeless” (April 22):
San Antonio, as with every major city, faces a balancing act of upholding the “quality of life” concerns of the majority while not inhumanely hurting those in need (in this case, the homeless).
In downtown Austin I interact daily with both the homeless and the business community. The business community, downtown residents and the tourist industry would like to see Austin’s ordinances strengthened.
Unless you work with the homeless, it is a common mistake to lump all the “homeless” into the same category. There are various reasons that individuals are homeless.
About 5 percent are “service resistant.” They are causing the majority of the problems. Social service agencies are well aware of the problem. These individuals prey on their clients.
Austin built a state-of-the-art homeless facility downtown, which opened last year. But to the business community’s dismay, it didn’t resolve many of the homelessness problems. An individual in the 5-percent problem group is not going to walk three blocks to relieve himself after a couple beers.
Years ago Austin tested portable facilities in strategic locations. It turns out these facilities were perfect for drug deals.
Certain downtown Austin churches have thought over the years that it wouldn’t be Christian to stop people from sleeping on church grounds.
One time in the last eight years, I have walked up to a middle-age couple sleeping on church grounds. The couple was there to sleep in the spiritual safety of the church’s front door. I turned and left them to sleep.
Unfortunately, I have no idea how many times I have found drug paraphernalia on church grounds. That especially upsets me when the church has a daycare center on site.
I say strengthen the ordinances so that service-resistant individuals will either accept help for their addictions or go to jail.

Dane Sullivan
Waelder