A disturbance at the Lawrence Community Shelter and Drop-In Center, 214 W. 10th St., sent a Lawrence resident to the hospital after he was pushed into a table.
Police responded to the shelter just before 2 p.m. Thursday after they received reports of a man inside wielding a hammer.
Police said the 39-year-old Lawrence suspect didn't have a hammer but had struck four people in the shelter.
They said he pushed a 41-year-old Lawrence man through a nearby table.
The victim suffered a laceration on his head and was transported to Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
The suspect was arrested on suspicion of simple battery and criminal damage for breaking the table.
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meadowbreeze (anonymous) says…
When will LINK and the Drop In have adequate staff on hand? It is difficult to handle these incidents without enough people-in-authority on site. 12-2 p.m. is when the soup kitchen across the street is open on Thursdays, btw. It is the time when there are large numbers of people milling around ... LINK serves over 100 on average, most of whom behave fine ALL the time. And there are regulars at the Drop In who wouldn't hurt a fly. The exceptions however make life dangerous for those who need the services provided by both LINK and the Drop In.
geekin_topekan (anonymous) says…
Regulars who NEED the drop and LINK?
Regulars and NEED are an oxymoron.Aren't they?
I love Lawrence,I dig my homeless brethren without regards to race creed or toe funk.If you want to drink thats your business.But,I have to say,keep it all in perspective.
Anyone who has the time to get to LINK or the drop in day in/out dont have NEED.Not need in the way that the above comment and the previous article concerning the shelters would like you to think that they do.
Every one that I encounter there has only one need.A)They NEED to get a drink or hit.or B)they NEED to get a job.And that is fine!Need a drink?I'll spring a few dollars,no problem.but dont give me some BS story about hardtimes and hunger.Here in toontown you can find everything you need and then some.
But there is no excuse for not working in Lawrence.None.You either don't want to or you are too mentally 'not there'.Otherwise,spare me the poor me stories about how life has dealt you a bad hand.You bring it on yourself and deep inside you know it.You just don't want to do anything for yourself and LOS is happy to provide what you are not providing for yourself,even then you complain about the nature that it is provided.
I know homelessness,I know LOS I know what it means to be too scared to live and too scared to die,I know life at the river camps and I know how to panhandle.
But,when the pain of that lifestyle out weighed the pain of change I was able to pull myself up and get the help I needed and it meant I had to do a few things that I didnt want to do.but I did them.And when the workers that handle cases sees that a person wants to change and is willing to die trying they will bend over backwards to help you help yourself!
It's simple but not easy.the lifestyle people CHOOSE to live at link/los are the easy way out.Some will die running away from responsibility.tragic but preventable.
So why do I continue to hand out cash to the drunks?Because if you want to drink thats your business.I'll help you.Because someday you will find yourself in the same position that I was in and seek a new way of living.Maybe this next bottle will provide the pain neccessary for that change.I pray it does.
When I gave up the homeless life here in toontown,I gave up a life I really did feel safe in.Community,freebies.Hell,I still dumpster dive and find cubbyholes for potential sleeping quarters.Old habits die hard.
It can be done LOS.Today if you want it too.But dont tell me great stories about hardship and lack of resources.They are out there when you are ready to get serious.until then you will continue to build and live in the style you choose.Enjoy that dinner and remember that good people who care make it possible.Quit the abusing that today.
From someone who knows and lived the homeless life,spare me the sob stories and get with the program,die a horrible death,or rot in a cell.those are your choices.I suggest you make a decision before one is made for you.
gbaker (anonymous) says…
I hope they didn't ruin any of that wonderful free food the tax payers provide.
smitty (anonymous) says…
LINK wasn't part of this story!!
It is about the wet shelter. Details missing are if drugs or alcohol were involved. I've ranted for a couple of years about the staff letting the clients run the show at the wet shelter. Violence is part of the drunken druggie scene only it happened inside the buliding this time resulting with a trip to the hospital by ambulance. A rare arrest was also made. Slow learners at the shelter and I'm referring to the management.
btw link at one time did not allow drunken druggies to enter unless they were under control enough to pass for sober. That all changed when Diane Morgan became the onsite director as well as a personal friend of Henderson's and volunteer/employee of the wet shelter. That's when LINK's problems got out of control showing disregard for the general populace and bias toward the shelter clients.
Others use LINK that are not out of control or loaded.
As far as geeks comments on the only long term users at LINK are loser/users...that's his perspective but not at all accurate.
There are those who are on disability SSI. In fact there are at least a couple of loooong term users who are on the board and/or volunteer who are on ssi/ssdi. Elderly on low set incomes eat there too. In fact anyone in the community can take a number and eat at LINK with no questions asked about their situation.
blue73harley (anonymous) says…
Well, so much for "progress"...
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2007/feb...
meadowbreeze (anonymous) says…
Well, let's get something clear ... 1. I do not drink. 2. I do not do drugs. 3. I don't beg. And may I make it VERY clear that there are large numbers of others that do not either.
I may be homeless, but I am not stupid nor violent.
Anyone who knows folks on the streets knows how many issues there are out there that have nothing to do with getting a job. If some of you 'kindfolk' would open up your homes, there wouldn't be such a homeless problem. There are many many homeless folks that would love to get away from the streets. But this 'kindhearted' town does not provide an alternative. Perhaps some of you 'kindfolk' could provide a viable job that would help those who are penniless. And I don't mean hiring a drunk who has a monthly check so they can drink more.
LINK was not part of the story. Everyone wants to protect LINK because it is a good service. However, anything that happens between 12 and 2 on Tue, Thur, Sat, Sun will involve LINK. Those that are coming to LINK or leaving can easily be caught up in the drama. Many are very poor. Many are disabled or elderly.
LINK's food is donated by the churches. LINK = Lawrence Interfaith Network Kitchen. It is NOT run by the mayor or the city.
Neither is LCS. It is 80% privately funded. You neither need to assist nor go there. But if you don't ... you don't get to complain as if you have been personally offended either. It's not your money nor your time.
My point was that neither place has adequate staff nor security. It is not polite to assume or suggest that the homeless folks are to be shoved into an arena so the 'kindfolk' of Lawrence can wage bets on who wins and who loses. The homeless look a lot like YOU!
geekin_topekan (anonymous) says…
I agree that my comments are directed at a particular group in the homeless population.But,what part is not true or is unjustified?
By making excuses for inexcusable non-progress you become a part of the problem.
There is a population of able-bodied men and women that have the capacity to find there way off the streets but do not.They have lost the choice to drink.But there is another way of life.Tough love is what I send out to them.Get real or you will die.
budwhysir (anonymous) says…
During the invention of the lightbulb, it was a very dark process, but then with a little effort, the light came on, this proves the theory that the light bulb was an invention and was at one time not in existance
geekin_topekan (anonymous) says…
Heck,yeah Send 'em to Topeka.
There is a place there called Valeo.Formerly SARP.
I believe it to be the finest program in the world and one that saves lives.
Inhouse treatment for users and the 6 months of continuous aftercare.
Sure,it's a tax supported,for-profit organization but who cares?The results could payback Tenfold in the long run.
How?Dig this>Since I went to get help and have maintained sobriety I have not once been to jail.Saved big tax$$$ that way.I have not once had the fire brigade come out and scrape me out of a planter downtown.Those are $400 a pop!
I work and pay taxes,I am still repaying those fire runs and jail is not cheap!
Maybe the city owes me a check every year for saving it so much $$!!Heck of a deal.Actually just send cash.I have enough paperwork as is.