In response to the comments made to The Columbian by Hough Neighborhood Association leaders, Ben Joner and Nancy Schultz, the plight of Hough Neighborhood and its varied populations is due to the behavior of city and county governments, non-profits and its citizens.
• The county’s jail and detention services are located downtown.
• Share runs the county’s only men’s shelter in Vancouver.
• Share serves hot meals every day to homeless and hungry.
• Vancouver Housing Authority has hundreds of subsidized housing units plus Lincoln Place, which is for people who were chronically homeless.
• St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, an emergency winter shelter for homeless men, is downtown.
• Open House Ministries, providing transitional housing, is downtown.
• FISH, and other food pantries, are downtown.
• Friends of the Carpenter, serving homeless, is near downtown.
No wonder the residents of this young, growing, vibrant neighborhood are struggling with adverse effects of people’s behaviors. It is not their fault, nor is it their responsibility. It is a result of the actions of our community’s citizens and leadership.
