ApplaUSe For A Cause: August 2009

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

According to Wikipedia, there is about 100 million people homeless throughout the world. While many residents feel empathy for the homeless, they still don't want homeless shelters in their neighborhood. This is true from Fresno to

Chattanooga, from Chattanooga to Western Springs, Illinois, and from Western Springs to
London, and from London to Long Island, New York;

. Many of the concerns the NIMBY(Not In My Back Yard) communities cite for banning homeless shelters include: that some of the homeless may be drug and alcohol addicts, that crime would increase in their communities as a result that some of the homeless may be sexual predators, and that the presence of the homeless shelters in their neighborhoods will bring down property values. Nevertheless, one thing that the NIMBY committees seem to forget is that many of the homeless that need these shelters are children

and families. Also, most of the homeless shelters post
and enforce strict guidelines for their beneficiaries, and if they don't follow them, they are turned away. The NIMBY committees also seem to forget that homelessness could happen to them, as many people are 1 paycheck or 1 disaster away from being homeless.

Here are some more interesting videos about homelessness;

What are your opinions on this debate between the homeless shelters and NIMBY committees? What solutions do you think might best serve everyone involved?
Please share your responses in the comment forms below. Thanks.