You may have read my blog from 3 days ago regarding the Scam in Montrose. Actually I got sidetracked. The much bigger problem is with the homeless kids who roam the neighborhood in gangs. This is a neighborhood with million dollar homes in an old part of Houston. I live in the middle of it all (in a modest block of townhomes).
It's been "out of control" for about 6 months now. That neatly coincides with additional welfare-type services being provided by 2 charity organizations. They feed these kids and provide free medical services. One of the organizations provides short-term housing for up to 100 homeless kids. No job training nor job-related services are provided.
I attended a community meeting Thursday evening. Attendees included a police department spokesman, 2 area Civic Association leaders and some of the concerned residents, such as myself. The meeting was held at Interfaith Ministries and chaired by their President. Representatives of other service organizations were there. I refer to these people and their respective oranizations as enablers. The police officer was quite sympathetic to our concerns, but the police feel their hands are tied. Huh?
The message I got from the enablers was this: we must bring God into the lives of these unfortunate children and most of the problems will stop. (insert your own comment here)
These kids are taking advantage of the system. The more food that is provided, the more kids who will show up. In turn, there are more kids who live on the street, waiting for the next hand-out. In addition, a "no loitering" or "civility law" was recently passed for the "Midtown" area, about 1 mile from here. Midtown is going through a metamorphosis of renovation. That caused the homeless to come here. So, we are told, until these poor kids (I do have compassion for them) receive God into their lives, we, as residents, need to accept the prostitution, rampant drug activity, vandalism, begging for money and cigarettes, loud and unruly behaviour, verbal harassment on the sidewalks, dirty needles and other trash littering the yards and so on and so on and so on. (my first time to use 11 commas in a sentence)
I hope the message they got from the people who actually live around here and have to put up with the criminal activity 24/7 is that we expect current laws to be enforced. What the hell ever happened to people accepting responsibility for their individual actions?
There will be more meetings. The Houston City Council shall hear from us.
We have a looooonnng way to go.
4 comments:
You are right it is time for a meeting.
Good that you are involved in your community... As for me, I'm headed to a rally here in my own midtown against a proposed stadium in a hugely congested area... Not sure how much of the politics I can stomach... But I wanted to go to be counted!
What a mess! You are totally correct in your assertion that by giving handouts to these kids they are enabling them. Now, of course I feel for kids that have found themselves in this sort of situation but you can't just give them handouts and expect God to shine light into their souls.
What about "God helps those who help themselves?" Give the kids work to do, train them for careers, provide counseling and medical care. I'm all for that sort of thing but quit giving free handouts!
I'm curious to know why the police think their hands are tied? Prostitution, drug activity, vandalism? Seems pretty cut and dried to me.
Please keep us posted on the progress of this situation. Montrose really is part of the heartbeat of Houston, what happens in your area effects everyone who loves Niko Nikos! Let me know if you need help.
It's Us vs. Them now. I know I was them not so long ago, but I hadn't sunk so low as to lose my home, car, dog etc., however is there anything we can do to increase the chances that someone from those groups will benefit from out help? I'll help. Only problem is that I'm a sucker when it comes to someone's sob story and if their cute - it's all over. Thank Heaven I don't have any money or I'd be everybody's best friend. At least I know who my friends really are. That's you kiddo.
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