Homeless dilemma cause for concern
Dist . C councilman calls attention to growing problem in Lake Charles
By Gena Latrell
glatrell@americanpress .com
<div class="Content"><p class="indent">There are no current statistics on Lake Charles’ homeless population, but residents in one district are concerned that it is growing.</p><p class="indent">During Tuesday’s City Council meeting, District C Councilman Rodney Geyen said several residents — mainly in the Greinwich Village and Greenwich Terrace neighborhoods — have called him about an influx of homeless people. He said some homeless people are asking for money, robbing residents and living beneath the Interstate 210 overpass.</p><p class="indent">“We don’t want to jeopardize these people who need a home, but some of them are walking through the neighborhoods and snatching purses,” Geyen said. “Just when people are trying to take groceries out of their cars, all of a sudden, their purses are snatched.”</p><p class="indent">Geyen said officials can work together on a solution. But Lake Charles Police Deputy Chief Shawn Caldwell said there isn’t “an easy answer.”</p><p class="indent">“We can absolutely take a more active approach with enforcement,” Caldwell said. “We can issue citations and arrest them, but after we take that police action, it’s up to the court system.”</p><p class="indent">Kristin Brooks, with the Lake Charles/Southwestern Louisiana Continuum of Care, said “the plight of homelessness is complicated,” and it requires help from the public.</p><p class="indent">Brooks said their organization offers help to the homeless, including a permanent program for the disabled and a program that pays a new renter’s security deposit or first month’s rent. The Emergency Solutions Grant Program attempts to mediate between a landlord and an evicted tenant.</p><p class="indent">The amount of paperwork, however, can stop some people from applying for help, Brooks said.</p><p class="indent">“There are so many restrictions and a lot of documentation needed,” she said. “For some programs, you must have Medicaid; for another, you must be disabled. It’s just not that easy to get into housing.”</p><p class="indent">Brooks said local residents can help the homeless by donating or volunteering at a local shelter. The real solution, she said, starts with empathy.</p><p class="indent">“I think people don’t put themselves in others’ shoes,” Brooks said.</p><p class="indent">Brooks mentioned one man who went “into a mental spiral” after his wife and unborn child died in a car accident. The organization later arranged a home for him, but he disappeared on the day he was supposed to get the keys.</p><p class="indent">“I saw him about two years later and asked him what happened,” she said. “He said he got scared of having that much responsibility.”</p><p class="indent">City Attorney David Morgan said Geyen and city staff members will meet to discuss further solutions.</p></div>
<strong>‘We can issue citations and arrest them, but after we take that police action, it’s up to the court system.’</strong>
<strong>Shawn Caldwell</strong>
Lake Charles Police Deputy Chief