Feeding the homeless in Esther Short Park in downtown Vancouver highlights an ever-growing problem: Too many of us are un(der)employed. Pushing the homeless down the road is not a solution.
One solution might be to put the able-bodied to work, probably in a combination of public and privately sponsored projects. Public projects might consist of picking up trash, planting trees, painting stripes in parking areas or ? — in return they could receive a minimum, meals and a bed for the night, i.e. not a hand out, but earning one’s keep.
Private sponsors might provide resources (including mentoring) for making items for sale such as arts and craft goods, restoring old furniture or building small portable construction projects (doll- and dog-houses, sheds, small green houses etc.). The sale of these items would provide an income and, equally important, a sense of accomplishment and pride.
The well-paying jobs are now in Asia. We need to invent jobs that are locally controlled using local resources. Such an endeavor might prove to be a useful example for all of us.
