I agree with the letter writer who, when referring to homelessness in the Flathead Valley, says, “Throwing more money and resources at this problem will not solve it.”
I also lived in Seattle for many years and watched as Seattle accommodated homelessness by providing shelters, food, clothing, transportation, free healthcare and outreach support. If anything, this has increased homelessness by attracting more to the area to be taken care of. That’s just human nature; if you build it, they will come. The homeless population in Seattle increased from about 2,800 in 2010, to around 6,200 in 2018; an increase of more than 110%.
Montana has a tradition of rugged self-sufficiency and independence. I don’t think Montana can manage the economic impact of ever-increasing numbers of homeless people needing to be taken care of. We have neither the economy nor climate to meet such needs.
There is no easy answer to the homelessness crisis we’re seeing in the nation and increasing in Flathead County and the state in general. But it’s evident that providing for and caring for the homeless tends to increase the problem over time. Homelessness is predicted to become dramatically worse this year as millions of foreigners stream across the now open southern border and into the heartland. Maybe we should encourage them to travel further west to Seattle, which has the means and motivation to accommodate the unsheltered homeless.
John Cartmell
Whitefish