Homeless need help, not blame, for their plight

I was impressed by Temple University student Steve Wood's courageous social experiment living among the homeless for a week ("Bummer," March 10). But as director of homeless services at Horizon House, I was disturbed by Wood's callous diagnosis of the homeless as a population with a "sense of entitlement" who "make their own bed." (While I realize that Wood was speaking figuratively, if only the homeless had their very own beds to make!)

More troubling still was Don Powell's March 19 letter, "Some of the homeless are beyond help," that blames the homeless for their plight. The suggestion that the misfortune of many homeless people is somehow deserved is a troubling and inaccurate assessment. Homelessness is a societal ill that is nothing less than a treacherous fight for a basic human need and right - a place to call home.

Since 1984, Horizon House has worked directly with the chronic street homeless population that Wood and Powell described. Our years of experience have revealed that most of these individuals can be successful in housing programs with varying levels of clinical and case-management supports. Most of them quickly reach housing and behavioral stability, regain hope, and begin working on the goals that all of us have: rebuilding relationships with friends and family, going to school, getting jobs, and participating in the community again.

Although not all of our clients are successful in their first attempt at stability, our work serving the homeless has taught us that no one is beyond help. While we can never predict who will be a success story on his/her first attempt at regaining independence, it is our collective responsibility to continue to provide the homeless with opportunities for second (and yes, sometimes third or more chances) at a new way of life.

David C. Dunbeck
Philadelphia

On a Saturday night recently, I left my purse in a taxi on Broad Street in Philadelphia. I didn't miss it for several minutes, then I realized I had paid no attention to the cab company name, not to mention the cab's number. I assumed I would never see it again.

After a somewhat sleepless night, imagine my surprise when I got a phone message that my purse was being held for me at a shop in the Gallery. The driver had found it and turned it over to his friend at the shop, who promised to try to locate me. There was no record of my phone number or address so the friend started calling numbers in my cell phone until he found someone who could give him my home number.

When I went to retrieve the purse, everything was there, intact, including all the cash! I was truly overwhelmed by the efforts he had made and by his and the cab driver's honesty.

Sara Richardson
Philadelphia

Re: "Student nightlife taxes W. Chester's resources," March 21.

I'm an anomaly and probably an antiquated one, but I earned my master's degree in psychology at West Chester University back in 1985, so I qualify as an alumna. I am now completing my doctorate at Walden University, and although it is an online university, I can tell you that college campuses have changed in the 20-plus years since I last attended school.

I know people who are attending traditional graduate schools and their experience is the same as mine. The primary focus of the halls of higher education no longer seems to be education, it seems to be a quest to party hardy. I see it in my graduate classes, when I read the work turned in by some of my classmates. There are people with undergraduate degrees who seem unable to write coherent, grammatically correct sentences using the English language. I often ask myself how these people manage to graduate from college, let alone gain admission to graduate schools.

I wonder what value a bachelor's degree will have if all you have to do is party well to attain one? How about a master's degree? Or a doctorate? It's time to bring education back to higher education.

Linda P. Erlich
Richboro

ryansmemom@aol.com