The Chi-Town Daily News takes a look at the situation of the homeless sleeping in the parks in its article "Homeless 'Sweeps' Get Mixed Reviews." An excerpt:
[Dana] Fritz, the aide to Ald. Mary Ann Smith, said: "No one is served well allowing people to live in the parks," not the homeless people living in parks, the neighbors who live around the parks, and especially not children who visit the park.
James LoBianco, Deputy Commissioner of the city's Office of Homeless Services, says that for his department, outreach is not driven by neighbors' complaints -- it's "a core part of the work we do. The goal is to get [homeless people] to a place where they can live independently," he says.
Read the entire article here. (Above, a reader-submitted photo taken at 4151 N Marine, across from the Walt Disney Magnet School)
Sweeps are needed to make our area safe and healthy. Curfew laws in the park are ment to be followed obeyed by everyone which includes the homeless. I face toward the clarendon park area and it is so bad to have to look out the window and see people under blankets and scattered about. Not to mention the smell of urine in the air when it blows toward our direction. I was told by park police that Helen Shiller tells them not to sweep the homeless out of the park. Maybe she would like them all to move down into her backyard behind her condo as they do by ours....
ReplyDeletePark dwellers are overwhelming in our area. I noticed today while driving to work, the green areas bewteen Lake Shore and Marine Drive are filled with homeless campers everyday. Something needs to be done to not make our shared areas, a homeless park.
ReplyDeleteThe City mowers had to wake them up and wait for them to move so they could cut the grass.