Homelessness in Colorado Springs and Genuine Solutions

In a survey conducted about a year ago (click here for the article), it was estimated that there are around 1200 people living on the street in the downtown area. Of these, an conscience-shocking 269 people were going without shelter of any kind, and this was in late January.

Homelessness and Mental Illness

According to a 2013 Fox News report, the overall number around that time was similar to one year ago, 241 were deemed to be "severely mentally ill." This means many of the people on the street may be simply incapable of functioning normally. Many people who suffer from symptoms will hear voices (often persecuting voices shouting at them internally), or see things, have "intrusive thoughts" (thoughts about doing or saying something that rushes into one's mind without apparent rhyme or reason), etc. Take a moment to imagine a single afternoon in that state, then think how this goes on for day after day after day for many of our unfortunate homeless.

It is worth noting that contemporary homelessness as we know it today simply did not exist in any significant way until the 1980's (for details, click here). This, along with the policy steps one could take in order to solve the issue need to be the basic terms of every conversation we have as a community about this issue. Very unfortunately, the approach my our city seems to be a heavy-handed, legalistic approach. Rather than address the causes, the approach by the city is merely to criminalize the outward manifestations of homelessness. Click here for a Gazette article on this issue.

The annual count of homeless people for the year 2016 is happening right now (see video below for news coverage). Perhaps rather than accepting whatever number is finally revealed, we need to think long and hard about what we can do tangibly, sensibly and compassionately to address the issue without simply pretending homelessness is a moral failing.

For anyone trying to learn more, you may want to visit the Facebook page of a local group dedicated to real solutions. Click here for that page.

My blog re: #homelessness in #ColoradoSprings: https://t.co/wK3h5nh4O6 pic.twitter.com/8JZJw82Q7z

— Sean A. Fitzgerald (@SeanAldenF) February 11, 2016

To contact Sean Alden Fitzgerald of Local Reach Mktg in Colorado Springs:

FB: SeanAldenFitzgerald
Google+: SeanAldenFitzgerald
Twitter: SeanAldenF
Instagram: SeanAldenFitzgerald
Pinterest: SeanAldenFitzgerald
LinkedIn: SeanAldenFitzgerald
About.Me: SeanAldenFitzgerald
Wordpress: SeanAldenFitzgerald
Medium: SeanAldenFitzgerald
Tumblr: SeanAldenFitgerald
YouTube: SeanAldenFitzgerald

Sean Alden Fitzgerald's Why Colorado Springs is Such a Great Place to Live Blog

My Hometown of Colorado Springs

I love my town. It's cliche, perhaps, to say so in such pat terms, and it is true. I love Colorado Springs and environs. There are a few reasons for this, and it will be the central objective of this blog to say some things about just why that is.In the macro-view, I'd say that the beauty of this place, the nature of the people and the overall culture, the sort of physical layout of the city (not all of it, admittedly, as the Springs has fallen victim to the soulless, corporate tsunami that has (very unfortunately) engulfed our country beginning...when exactly--not sure, perhaps the 1970's, perhaps earlier (it's an arguable point)--has left in it's wake a seemingly endless spider's web of congested, multi-lane quasi-highways, interlaced with carelessly designed, inadvertent "neighborhoods." To wit, take a look at the swath of suburban hideousness in the first photo.

Suburban Hell

I hasten to reiterate, however, that Colorado Springs, very unfortunately does have a lot of areas that were developed within this modality of planning (if that's the word that one ought to use in describing suburban-y nonplaces like that on the left. Yes, we do have our share of neighborhoods reminiscent of this image.That said, a lot of Colorado Springs was laid out by people with some degree of care and foresight. One sees this in the Old North End, downtown, Old Colorado City, and especially in the adjacent micro-city of Manitou Springs, Colorado (some of which is pictured below.)

Manitou Springs, and Old Colorado City represent a lot of what I find beautiful about this town. These neighborhood, yes bona fide neighborhoods, witness the picture to the right, from Manitou. The large, darkly-colored stone building near the bottom center-left of the picture is of the Historic Community Congregational Church, built in 1880. It is a gorgeous building, and holds pride of place in a town marked by quirky, winding streets that are studded by peculiar, old structures.

The picture at right serves as segue to that second attribute I mentioned the stark natural beauty of the place. As you can see in the picture at right, Pikes Peak serves as a kind of landmark and trademark. It is a landmark in the sense that it orients the Colorado Springs citizen as to his/her whereabouts, and it is a trademark in the sense that if the Springs were a brand, Pike's Peak's name and image would be its logo. Indeed, many a business and governmental entity has it as a part of its title.

The beauty of my hometown is profound, all-encompassing, and it is worth seeing. It commensurately worth considering it as a place to live, and a place to end up loving.

-----------------------------

Having bugun on January of 2015, this blog addresses various elements about life in Colorado Springs, its people, its culture, the arts scene, its business environment (featuring especially local businesses), its transformations and challenges. Look to this space for fresh viewpoints of life in Colorado Springs posted every Sunday.

Sean Alden Fitzgerald
Local Reach Marketing

Love me some old maps! #ColoradoSprings #COSprings #blogs #Colorado https://t.co/CeZCran8z2

— Local Reach Mktg (@localreachmktg) May 11, 2015

To contact Sean Alden Fitzgerald of Local Reach Mktg in Colorado Springs:


FB: SeanAldenFitzgerald
Google+: SeanAldenFitzgerald
Twitter: SeanAldenF
Instagram: SeanAldenFitzgerald
Pinterest: SeanAldenFitzgerald
LinkedIn: SeanAldenFitzgerald
About.Me: SeanAldenFitzgerald
Wordpress: SeanAldenFitzgerald
Medium: SeanAldenFitzgerald
Tumblr: SeanAldenFitgerald
YouTube: SeanAldenFitzgerald