To the editor:

I’m moved by Irish Swearingen’s story. This homeless woman pointed out that she attended a meeting of Lawrence Coalition for Homeless Concerns. They’re taken up with attempting to meet the needs of the chronically homeless (mentally ill and addicted individuals who aren’t in proper programs).

After personal research of emergency shelters in comparable communities, I found Lawrence is behind in helping the homeless. We need a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week shelter where the homeless can get the counseling services they need to regain their lives. This type of shelter is called a comprehensive shelter. We have a gymnasium where the homeless sleep at night, then leave by day. The collaborative effort to get a permanent shelter with comprehensive services (mental health, addiction, vocational, budgeting help) is struggling.

In the communities I researched, the cities took a leadership role 20 years ago to help organize and get funding to their comprehensive shelters. These shelters better use funding to end homelessness. Here private or volunteer organizations struggle in frustration with each other. There is a new federal initiative to get grant money to the communities that can show they have collaborative, comprehensive services for the chronically homeless.

The city of Lawrence needs to take a leadership role in helping to improve public relations among the organizations providing services here, the people of Lawrence and the homeless population. This would be the intelligent way to obtain and use federal money available to help this population.

Janein Cardin,

Lawrence