Series on homeless captures the issue

The recent series on homelessness in our capital city was the best coverage of the topic I have read in the public media.

I cannot speak for the several agencies featured in the four-day long series, but your staff captured a very clear picture of the work we are doing at FISH. Their articles were balanced, accurate and fair.

Implicit in the series was the sense that no single agency or group is able to accomplish the very diverse mission that presents itself. One of the good things about living in a smaller city is that all of the care providers know each other, know the strengths and weaknesses of the sister agencies, and communicate rather well with each other. We do have some con artists attempting to skim benefits from this generous city, but they don't succeed very well or very long.

The founders of FISH, 21 years ago, were challenged by this problem. They set in motion a community-wide attitude that has kept our city amazingly clear of abuses of charity, but also has enabled a whole group of responses to needy people who generate success stories at a higher than usual level. Only one of these founders is still active, Father Jerry Hanley, but the principals they believed still guide us in a daily process.

The serious needs of mentally challenged people are the big gap. There has been a serious coalescing of leadership over the past six months to focus on these needs. Carson City Manager John Berkich, Carson-Tahoe Hospital, Sheriff Rod Banister, Ruth Aberasturi of the Carson School District, Division of Child and Family Services, State Mental Health and FISH have come together with at least 20 other care providers to force some progress in this pressing need. You will be hearing from these leading agencies over the next months and years, especially in the legislative process. The need is so great that something will be done.

Thank you to every member of the Nevada Appeal staff who spent so much effort on informing our community. Keep watching. The best is yet to come!

Editor's note: We appreciate the kind comments, although it is clearly the people who help the homeless who deserve all our thanks. Also, look for articles coming in this Sunday's Nevada Appeal about efforts to deal with the mentally ill.