Our View: Helping the Homeless

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As our series on homeless people in Carson City concludes today, we hope the articles have given you an opportunity to pause and consider not only their plight but that of hundreds of others in our community who survive on a day-to-day existence.

We profiled a few of the extreme cases - hungry, no job, no warm place to sleep at night, and not much in the way of prospects for the future. Others are gradually pulling their lives together, with help from various people and agencies in Carson City.

But the message must be the one emphasized by Monte Fast from his perspective at Friends in Service Helping, which provides a helping hand but not handouts.

In a community such as ours, with many low-paying, service-industry jobs, a significant number of residents walk a thin line between sufficiency and poverty.

One bad break - a sick child, for example - might force a decision between paying rent or putting food on the table. From there, it could be a quick descent to joblessness, eviction and an undeniable need to depend on the kindness of strangers.

Fortunately, Carson City can be proud of the effort made by FISH, churches, the Center for Independent Living and many other organizations to provide emergency help and, beyond that, a path back toward a normal life.

Day by day, while most of Carson City is able to go about its business, this struggle goes on. The staff at the Nevada Appeal wanted to show what it was like, and just how close to the surface it is.

We suspect there are few families in Carson City who do not know someone, during this holiday season, who is part of that struggle.

While it is true that much is done to help them, there is no question that we can do more. Each one of us can extend a hand - if not to a stranger, then perhaps to a friend.