Why I held off on St. Bernard's vandalism/fire incident today and a few personal details

If you have read Hank Sim's post on LOCO, you know the basics. If not, check it out, Hank did a great job.

2 clarifications from LOCO post. This happened around 12:46 am (and this is one of the side entrances in the front, not main entrance. The perpetrator/s tried to pry the lock. The alarmwent off.

This is what I walked to this morning. I  set up for mass daily and went to church early to pray. I took this photo. The door inside is damaged. The church smells like smoke. We did not have mass today due to logistics and reports being taken.

As a parioshioner, sometimes you let go of a scoop. This was 1 time I did.

Since the night Gary Lee Bullock broke in, we have had two break in the rectory. Trashing of the property, earlier this week twice, three transients hung around, smoked, were high and trashed and confronted me going into church. The first thing when I saw this was the thought, was it them? They were not mentally ill, three young people healthy that just did not care.

It is a downtown church but this year has had more incidents than ever and this is a place that has continued to be a refuge for people. Each time, it brings up the violation of New Year's Day.

Since Thanksgiving, three different groups/individuals have approached me individually and  refuse to go to Betty Chinn, DHHS, or any other resource for help. The problem is not that they are not offered help, the problem is their choice for no rules and wanting to drink or get high.

These are 3 individuals and not all down on their luck act this way. This hapens all over town in businesses and residences. A few people who make it harder on the rest like the gentle man I see in a downtown coffee shop every day who lost his job at an old age and then things spiraled. He never gets angry, instead makes the most of his day, reading a newspaper, walking, trying to keep normalcy in his life.

Or the young man with his dog who rather feed a few leftovers thrown away to his pet than eat something.

It is hard not to react because of the actions of a few, but I rather focus on the two individuals above. A tent is not going to uplift them permanently, a campsite is a bandaid that keeps them stuck. Transitional housing at low cost with no security deposit until they get a job, if they can abide by rules and have good references is one way to get some people off the street. Or allowing people to trade work for a month or two's rent.

I am not a landlord, an elected official but I know a hand up to the ones wanting to change can make a difference.