Some of the candidates for city council in Port Angeles do not seem to understand the homeless situation.
Many homeless people do not want help of the kind that is being offered.
The housing assistance programs have rules and regulations that some cannot abide by, such as no drug use or maintaining the condition of the space they are offered.
Many have mental issues that prevent them from being able to live with such requirements.
It is hard for them to show up to appointments and take care of a room or apartment.
They would rather live in a tent somewhere, where they can come and go as they please, rather than being stuck in a housing unit far away from where their friends and associates, or drug providers, are.
Some would rather live in their car with their dog than take a room where they cannot have their dog.
These people have needs of their own, which the candidates do not seem to recognize.
They think it is a simple matter of giving them a room somewhere, but it isn’t that simple.
Wake up, politicians.
Tracy McCallum
Port Angeles