If you are elected, what would you do to resolve the homelessness issue in Salina?

Homelessness, we have some great Community Partners with the Salina Rescue Mission, Ashby House, and Salina Grace. I'm not sure it can be solved. The Rescue Mission has been in operation for over 40 years. I hear stories of other Communities giving Homelessness People a ride to Salina. It would be interesting to know where the People at the Mission came from. Those living on the street present the biggest challenge as they have concluded for whatever reason the street is the best place for them and or their lifestyle. We can't make them comfortable as we only encourage more in our Community. Just have to look at Communities that have success and try their best practices.

Resolving the homeless issue is a very complicated problem that has been part of every society since recorded time. Salina offers assistance for the homeless through various agencies and volunteer organizations. The rescue mission, The Asby House, and Salina Grace as well as Central Kansas Mental Health or CKF. With all of these programs and institutions right here in Salina, we have become a "go-too" place for central Kansas and beyond for the homeless. A recent report (slide show) that was presented to the city leadership showed that Salina has had a 32% increase in out of county homelessness. I would think that we would want to help our own county citizens well before helping people from other places who aren't doing what they can for their own citizens. If someone is coming to Salina for CKF and they fail, do they get to stay here? If they successfully complete the program and they aren't from Saline county, do they go back to their home of record or do they stay here and wander our streets? If CKF gets a certain amount of people, do they get more Federal and State Tax dollars?

I believe the homelessness issue is an economic, cultural and societal issue. There is no doubt that we have serious economic problems nationwide. The cost of housing, food, transportation, almost every basic everyday need is far outpacing the inflation especially over the last five years and a lot of people cannot keep up with it. Not to mention health insurance, medical debt is the number one cause of bankruptcy in America but health insurance is becoming unaffordable and oftentimes isn't enough to cover all medical costs. As far as cultural and societal issues, drug and alcohol abuse and mental health issues are clear problems. For now, I think all we can do as a city is try to find ways to support our non profits like Ashby House, Salina Grace and the Rescue Mission.