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CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – Wausau Police Chief Matt Barnes says there’s been a surge in the homeless population in Wausau over the past few months.
The causes are no surprise: its been a mild winter. Living on the street isn’t an option during a frigid January. The homeless go somewhere else, and return the following spring. Wausau has warming centers that operate during the coldest months, but staying there involves being clean and sober and leaving any trash you’ve accumulated outside.
I remember watching a documentary about homelessness in a Los Angeles neighborhood where block after block became tent cities. One of the unhoused was a girl, probably a teenager or in her 20s, who made it to California from a cold weather environment. She introduced herself as a “stoner girl,” and in warm-weather LA her life could revolve around staying high. She matter-of-factly said she lives in a tent, steals food, and uses a cafeteria-sized coffee can as a toilet. She told the filmmakers that gangs steal about half of whatever she panhandles, and when her body smells so bad that she can’t stand it, she trades sexual favors with a friend who lives in a hotel in exchange for a shower.
Well, that existence is below human dignity. And yet, the challenge for the rest of us is that it’s the life she chooses.
I see the same thing happening in Wausau. What’s the common denominator among almost everyone who’s living rough on the streets? They’re addicts. And when you’re addicted, nothing is more important than your next fix.
If there is one thing that’s missing from Wausau’s homeless plan, it’s this: we don’t have enough sobriety programs. We have warming centers. We have jobs that are available. We’re working on our affordable housing. But until someone beats their addictions, none of that matters.
You’ve heard me talk about The Gospel TLC. It’s a live-in facility for the addicted. They can stay there for up to 18 months to get clean and sober. But, when full, they have only 16 beds. It will change the lives of the people who go through the program. But it’s not enough. We need a dozen of those programs to make a dent in homelessness. Until we address addiction, we are spinning our wheels on the unhoused.
Chris Conley
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