Like Cows to the Slaughter

Commentary by Margaretta Ogletree

Several weeks ago in one of our male shelters, I saw the men lined up to go in for the night, but it looked more like a corral. They were herded like livestock waiting to be slaughtered. There is barely enough room for 25 to 30 people to sleep at night.

The T.V. news and entertainment shows rarely face this sort of issue and it should have come up. The Grapevine is a wonderful organization and I personally am 100% for them but we need to discuss more shelters for men who can’t seem to find a good night's sleep.

There are so many vacant properties out here just rotting away while Mayor White and the rest of the world spend money on new stadiums. My God people! I didn’t hear of any offer to take applications from homeless people to get a job to help build this project.

We write and sell these stories but still no one hears us. All over Cleveland and the state of Ohio there are jobs because you people want to build new things, but no offer to the homeless to work on these projects. Also, there is money being spent on a new football team!

Wake up, America! The sooner you give us an opportunity to work the sooner we will be on our way to being citizens of a city and state, tax payers, and off the streets--at least at night. Then we can get a room for a month, pays bills, move on and up out of these shelters. Shifting men in sites is more cause for disaster, if only you knew! I believe you should turn your sights toward a different type of helping hand and open more doors.

Copyright NEOCH and the Homeless Grapevine published June 1996-July 1996 Issue 16