To the editor:

This is to the letter writer in the Nov. 12 Journal-World who states that she saw someone “masturbating at The Salvation Army.”

I have talked with several people, including staff and residents. It never happened. Do you just hate homeless people? Is your life so miserable that you have to take out your problems on people that are less fortunate? Not all homeless defecate, smoke crack or do obviously hideous acts as you suggest.

I am homeless, but have a job and hope to save enough money to get out of The Salvation Army and into my own apartment. I do not panhandle. I do not drink. I do not use drugs.

I do, however, perform music on guitar and sing in front of a store on Massachusetts Street (with the permission of the store) on the days I don’t work, so I can save money to get off the street. I do not need any handouts, but a hand-up.

And I am not the only one.

Maybe you should come down to The Salvation Army and see the love that is there between the homeless, most whom work to get un-homeless. You might even make friends with the women with children who live there.

Rondal Branigan,
Lawrence