Hi Al,

I don't think that I lumped all homeless people into one group. The discussion started concerning buying burgers for homeless guys hanging out somewhere. That segment of the homeless population was my target and I'm sorry if it looked like I thought all homeless people fall into that category, because I don't.

The methods needed to handle this social problem are very complicated and complex. The $25/night room vouchers are supposed to be temporary help, not something that would have been paying the rent next door to hard working people. That might sound harsh, but it's a catch 22 situation. ...and giving a monthly lump sum of $1500 to two eligible homeless recipients to use to pay monthly rent would result in a majority of that money being spent on drugs and alcohol instead of rent.

About 7 years ago, a former girlfriend called me. Her husband (at the time) had abandoned her and her 6-month-old baby boy. Her husband left behind a pile of computer stuff. She called me because she knew that I was into computers and wanted me to look at what he had left behind to tell her what was what and how to use it. It was all slow, or junk or broken, nothing that she could really use.

She wanted to work out of her home using the computer equipment that she had. She was on government assistance, but it wasn't enough to pay her mortgage and she was very close to losing her home. I could have payed her mortgage for 6 months, which would have been the timeline that she would have felt comfortable leaving her baby with a daycare provider. Back in that time frame, there were a bunch of daycare providers finding themselves arrested for child sexual abuse. She was scared, and broke.

Instead of paying her mortgage for 6 months, I bought her a new computer and all the business software that I thought she could use to work from home. That worked! Last time I talked to her, she was making more than I am! It was my providing the tools for her to get out of a bad situation that did it for her.

I don't lack compassion. I also don't think that blindly throwing taxpayers money at a problem is the way to solve every problem.

I'll be staying at the Sahara the 23rd thru the 27th. The night of the 23rd (a Wednesday) will probably be my best shot at getting together with you for a beer or two. I'll email you details as that date approaches to see if we can make it happen.

Take care,

Bob