We don’t allow ignorant comments out of moderation to be linked with the original post, but we will present some of them in subsequent posts for the purpose of public derision and mockery. As we see fit.
Is there going to be a meeting for the citizens of warrensburg against homeless people on a fair basis and hear their opinions. If no homelessness is in warrensburg then nothing changes but if you keep attracting homeless people to warrensburg it can be the downfall of a very established driving community
First, there was a meeting. It’s on you that you didn’t bother to find out about it and attend. It was well publicized.
“Against homeless”? Seriously.
“Fair basis”? Un unedited audio recording of the entire hour and a half town hall is about as “fair” as anything can get.
“No homelessness” “Attracting”? They’re here. One has to wonder about someone’s sense of place and reality that they consider a small town in west central Missouri with limited social service resources an attractive alternative for anyone trying to get back up on their feet.
“Established driving community”? WTF is that?
By the way, the IP address and email address of all comments are attached to the original comment in our blog operating system.
A panel representing local shelters, community resources, the Trails Regional Library, and a local church held an open public town hall this evening at the Trails Regional Library Warrensburg Branch to discuss, explain, and enlighten the community about what they do and what they can’t do for homeless/unhoused individuals in Warrensburg.
A representative from the Trail Regional Library – Warrensburg Branch:
Kansas City media market news coverage:
The rest of the panel:
The town hall (1 hour, 37 minutes):
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It’s a special kind of irony when someone’s business plan is predicated on higher rents and profits, making housing less affordable, and thus helping create the unhoused/homeless issue that they’re complaining about…because business.
There were questions and statements from individuals attending the meeting:
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….And I really want to emphasize that then folks who are unhoused have a huge, huge just wide variety of reasons for being unhoused. Some of them are working, some of them are looking for work, domestic violence victims, there’s a lot of reasons that people become unhoused. Some of them are mentally ill. We don’t have any cure for persistent mental illness, except to take care of them the best that we can.
And trying to lump all of these situations, because we’re talking people that have jobs, they are, they’re living in their car, they’ve got kids that are going to school, they’re trying to do all the right things and they can’t afford housing.
So we can’t allow ourselves to lump them in to this cattle car situation and say all of the homeless can’t come here, we’re gonna ship ’em south of town, we’re gonna ship ’em to some other place. That is a huge, huge danger sign. That is cattle cars. And you should be, we should never go there.
People who are unhoused are human beings and they are citizens of this place. It may not be the most recent place, but they are citizens here. And yes, they pay taxes every time they buy something, every time they have to put gas in their car, every time they have to fix a busted car, yes, they’re paying taxes.
I’m over, over the demonization of people because they fell into the hole that we have been lucky enough not to fall in yet. I’m really over it.
I have worked with the severely mentally challenged. I have had people on moving…try to shove heads through windows. They don’t ask to be that mentally ill. And it’s a minority, but because we don’t have mentally, mental health services at the scale that we need these people get lost.
Warrensburg is a great little town. It cannot become that gated community where we cattle car people out because they don’t look nice.
Nobody’s got a scarlet H on their forehead that tells you that they’re homeless. I’m over it.
These folks [on the panel] are doing an incredible job and there’s more. And they have half the Warrensburg cat ladies here tonight [laughter] and I admire the work that they do, but they know that, that homeless people, sometimes the only thing they have that loves them back is their animal, and yes, they will stay out in the woods to protect that animal. I don’t care if it’s a cat, or a dog, or [inaudible] possum.
I’m over it. We can do better than this. And we do not have to get ugly about it.
These folks deserve our compassion and our attention and help because most people that are homeless aren’t homeless permanently. It’s very short term….
The Trails Regional Library is a public library consortium for Johnson and Lafayette Counties in Missouri. Over the past month there has been discussion on a social media platform in a community forum dedicated to Warrensburg about unhoused/homeless individuals at the Warrensburg library branch.
There are shelters in the Warrensburg area, but for the most part there are no daytime shelters. For an unhoused/homeless person this can be an even greater challenge in hot, cold, or inclement weather. The public library is a public library – it’s open to all, there is air conditioning or heat appropriate to the season, there is access to the Internet, and it’s a safe space.
Individual(s) brought their concerns to the Trails Regional Library Board of Trustees. The board met on Wednesday night at the Holden, Missouri branch with the concern(s) on the agenda.
We are kind.
We treat each other and those we serve with empathy and compassion. We see every day as an opportunity to inspire new ideas and make someone smile.
We are inclusive.
The library is for everyone, and everyone is welcome here. We recognize and value diversity and intellectual freedom and believe it makes us stronger. Though we may be different, we always begin each interaction with the belief that others’ intentions are good.
We are open.
We cultivate a space where we can share differing opinions without judgment. We stay committed to each other by trusting, communicating, working through conflict, and being open to feedback. Each interaction is an opportunity to learn, even when it doesn’t go the way we hope.
Advocates and activists for unhoused/homeless individuals attended the meeting. Several signed in to speak at the public comment portion at the beginning of the meeting.
From the public comment portion of the meeting:
“…And in the mean time you’ll make them feel like productive members of society and not outcasts. We want to be welcoming to our housing displaced and provide additional support…”
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. “…Librairies are for everyone…”
. “I run the homeless shelter in Warrensburg, one of them. And I am here to defend them all…They are displaced people. But displaced people are not bad people…”
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The speaker on the meeting agenda – on the subject of unhoused/homeless individuals utilizing the library:
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A response from an individual in the audience:
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The lack of sufficient resources in Warrensburg impacts the library branch which by all accounts – to the credit of its staff – tries to meet the challenges with compassion, service, and professionalism.