Note: The Lawrence Times runs opinion columns and letters to the Times written by community members with varying perspectives on local issues. These pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Times staff.
Would you like to send a letter to the Times? Great! Here’s how to do it.
Justice Matters has been highlighting the importance of ending chronic homelessness, through a comprehensive plan, for years. We researched other communities who have ended chronic homelessness through their “Built for Zero” programs and encouraged the City of Lawrence and Douglas County to bring the “Built for Zero” program to our community.
On Jan. 17, during a joint City and County Commission work session, the “A Place for Everyone” strategic plan was presented by several dedicated city and county employees. The written goal of the plan is: “By 2028, we will create a system that achieves functional zero through policy, system and environmental changes resulting in all Douglas County residents having access to the fundamental human right of safe, accessible, attainable and affordable housing, and in which homelessness is a rare and brief occurrence.”
As community members who have been working on this issue for years we must now say, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Thank you to all the people who have worked tirelessly to draft this plan. Thank you to our city and county commissioners for their continual effort.
As a community, we are just in the beginning stages with the proposed plan. Now the next stage of work begins. Justice Matters encourages the city and county commissions to approve, implement, and fund the comprehensive plan as soon as possible. The plan will save lives in our community and will work to make Lawrence a place for everyone.
Caitlin McDiarmid & Judy Pope, Justice Matters, Lawrence
If this local platform matters to you, please help us keep doing this work.
Don’t miss a beat … Click here to sign up for our email newsletters
More Community Voices:
Letter to the Times: Solar project would sacrifice farmland, require fossil energy
”I want to offer a perspective on the proposed Kaw Valley industrial solar project that considers the deeper energy lifecycle issues. I am concerned that this project actually would lead us to waste more fossil energy resources and sacrifice good farmland in the process,” Byron Wiley writes in this letter to the Times.
