Discussions

Thank you for sharing this with us here - I am shocked that we have "Homeless" people in Brandon. It is a shame that so many buildings are sitting empty - yet we do not value humanity and their lives/safety to allow housing for these Vulnerable peoples. Its time our Mayor gets actively involved. Why don't we ever hear from him - on this topic???

I strongly feel this is a must important subject here that we should all be interested in as human beings. It is not an easy subject to approach or to solve.. I think one of the first things that need to be done is a total evaluation of each homeless person that exist here in Brandon..Sit down with them,,examine each individual situation,,make a folder of what we learned from each person...Then offer each one a better way of life should they want it..I think we fail to see that perhaps there are some homeless people who do not want their life to change. This is all they know & it has become a way of life for them..Others perhaps would jump at the chance to start a new healthier life style. But along with that new life style would come conditions, & rules. & input from both the homeless person as well as the ones putting it into motion..This issue will never be resolved until we start doing something active & productive in the right direction.. More than likely most of these homeless people would love to have a warm,, clean,, home to live in & good food to eat & maybe even a job to go to each day.. There had to be a beginning of why these people ended up the way they did. They may need counseling,,, & programs to go to to enlighten them to a new lifestyle.. We have an almost entire Mall down town EMPTY... Nothing going on,, Tons & tons of space to set up offices & resource centers. to help people... What are we waiting for ?????

Username_required10 said "I strongly feel this is a must important subject here that we should all be interested in as human beings. It is not an easy subject to approach or to solve.. I think one of the first things that need to be done is a total evaluation of each homeless person that exist here in Brandon..Sit down with them,,examine each individual situation,,make a folder of what we learned from each person...Then offer each one a better way of life should they want it..I think we fail to see that perhaps there are some homeless people who do not want their life to change. This is all they know & it has become a way of life for them..Others perhaps would jump at the chance to start a new healthier life style. But along with that new life style would come conditions, & rules. & input from both the homeless person as well as the ones putting it into motion..This issue will never be resolved until we start doing something active & productive in the right direction.. More than likely most of these homeless people would love to have a warm,, clean,, home to live in & good food to eat & maybe even a job to go to each day.. There had to be a beginning of why these people ended up the way they did. They may need counseling,,, & programs to go to to enlighten them to a new lifestyle.. We have an almost entire Mall down town EMPTY... Nothing going on,, Tons & tons of space to set up offices & resource centers. to help people... What are we waiting for ????? "

And now with Remingtons closing down - there is a full kitchen available to cook healthy meals - maybe the Soup Kitchen could move down to the Town Centre - and space set up for housing - there are so many ways of handling this - and I love your idea of actually treating these people as HUMAN Beings!!! They deserve to be addressed - and its time for some outside of the box thinking to happen here in Brandon!!!!

whatthewhat said "    Username_required10 said "I strongly feel this is a must important subject here that we should all be interested in as human beings. It is not an easy subject to approach or to solve.. I think one of the first things that need to be done is a total evaluation of each homeless person that exist here in Brandon..Sit down with them,,examine each individual situation,,make a folder of what we learned from each person...Then offer each one a better way of life should they want it..I think we fail to see that perhaps there are some homeless people who do not want their life to change. This is all they know & it has become a way of life for them..Others perhaps would jump at the chance to start a new healthier life style. But along with that new life style would come conditions, & rules. & input from both the homeless person as well as the ones putting it into motion..This issue will never be resolved until we start doing something active & productive in the right direction.. More than likely most of these homeless people would love to have a warm,, clean,, home to live in & good food to eat & maybe even a job to go to each day.. There had to be a beginning of why these people ended up the way they did. They may need counseling,,, & programs to go to to enlighten them to a new lifestyle.. We have an almost entire Mall down town EMPTY... Nothing going on,, Tons & tons of space to set up offices & resource centers. to help people... What are we waiting for ????? " And now with Remingtons closing down - there is a full kitchen available to cook healthy meals - maybe the Soup Kitchen could move down to the Town Centre - and space set up for housing - there are so many ways of handling this - and I love your idea of actually treating these people as HUMAN Beings!!! They deserve to be addressed - and its time for some outside of the box thinking to happen here in Brandon!!!! "

the soup kitchen ( helping hands ) has a kitchen suitable for its purposes, they can always use support,especially financial. as to the downtown mall, it is private property and turning it into a homeless shelter would make it less desirable for commercial tenants, lots of ideas come forth but most people want their ideas supported by other peoples money or NIMBY

I am concerned about the plans Selinger and Drew have currently, re: the housing project close to the University. What happens if Selinger does NOT come back into power after this election??? Does this mean the project gets dumped/off the table???  
 
I felt Drew and Selinger were onto something here - to help with the homeless problem. And like I said, its time to start thinking "outside of the box"!!! As for the comment about the Town Centre being privately owned, perhaps some discussions need to be had with him/her/them???? In business it is wise to address the needs of the community. Maybe some minds could use some reprogramming - to help end the Humanity concerns this City seems to be having - and people seem to be OK with them not being addressed -  
 
 
 
Edited by whatthewhat, 2016-04-15 13:54:07

Username_required10 said "I strongly feel this is a must important subject here that we should all be interested in as human beings. It is not an easy subject to approach or to solve.. I think one of the first things that need to be done is a total evaluation of each homeless person that exist here in Brandon..Sit down with them,,examine each individual situation,,make a folder of what we learned from each person...Then offer each one a better way of life should they want it..I think we fail to see that perhaps there are some homeless people who do not want their life to change. This is all they know & it has become a way of life for them..Others perhaps would jump at the chance to start a new healthier life style. But along with that new life style would come conditions, & rules. & input from both the homeless person as well as the ones putting it into motion..This issue will never be resolved until we start doing something active & productive in the right direction.. More than likely most of these homeless people would love to have a warm,, clean,, home to live in & good food to eat & maybe even a job to go to each day.. There had to be a beginning of why these people ended up the way they did. They may need counseling,,, & programs to go to to enlighten them to a new lifestyle.. We have an almost entire Mall down town EMPTY... Nothing going on,, Tons & tons of space to set up offices & resource centers. to help people... What are we waiting for ????? "

These may seem like good ideas, but one must remember first and foremost, that these are individuals with a right to their independence and privacy. I do think options and resources need to be made available to them, but it should be left up to them to make that decision on their own. There are some resources at the 7th st access center. I do think a permanent year round homeless shelter is needed though.

we have home less people in Brandon,rest of the world doesnt hear about it. BUT they sure heard about us taking in refugees and giving them everything . WTF Canada/ MB

Yes, it is a complex issue when we consider some of the root issues. A permanent year round shelter in Brandon would be so valuable. Not just for short term support, but as a starting point for accessing other services and introductions to long term housing. We do have some emergency shelter space in Brandon, but they are often full and the turn away rates are pretty high so lots of folks don't get a chance to get started.