County seeks funds for year-round homeless shelter

But we need to have a proposed site. Published 1:04 pm PDT Thursday, April 3, 2008 Homeless people in El Dorado County would have a place to take shelter year-round if the county obtains a $1.5 million grant. via Sacramento Bee Newspaper

[carmentduffy]

we had a town mting Saturday April 26th @ the community center and the towns people expressed out many concerns. Mr Conforti and his other partners felt our town needed a Homeless Shelter. First and foremost we do not have a homeless problem. If the owners really want to do something for our community they should take down that eye soar of a building and put in a park w/bar-b-ques and a play area w/ swings, and slides. Mr Conforti admitted at the mting that he has a security guard at the school site and that he can still not control the drug and vagrant problem. If I am not mistaken doesn't the building now fall under the Blight (blithe) law ( i am not sure of the spelling) at this point shouldn't the county have the building removed at the owners expense. Placerville has all of the programs that are needed by the homeless and recovering alcoholics. With gas prices as high as they are it makes absolutely no sense to bus these individuals back and forth to placerville. Has a impact study on crime in our community been done if the shelter was put in. What do we have to offer? On pony express trail alone how many bars are there? Safeway just added more isles w/ alcohol how does that help the recovering alcoholic? I guess my final thought is what are the owners getting out of this because when asked they would not answer us. Pollock Pines should not a dumping ground for Pedophiles.....

[Taxpayer]

El Dorado County should pay to build a homeless shelter, but in Folsom, so we can point the bums downhill for a cot and a meal. SEE YA! Why in the hell would we want to attract people to come to or stay in our county that are unwilling to keep a job, stay off drugs, or support themselves? I do not include mentally or physically challenged people in with the "bums." They should be identified and taken care of seperately from those who are mentally and physically capable but make poor choices that place them on the street. The only tax dollars that should be spent on the homeless is on a one-way bus ticket out of here! It's called "tough love" baby! I'm tapped out. I'm tired of watching my tax dollars get diverted from schools, safety, and infrastructure and thrown away on public assistance. Let the homeless earn their room and board by placing a shovel, rake, broom, or paint brush in their hands and put them to work building, fixing, or cleaning our county. Wouldn't that also help to build their self-esteem and possibly get them back on their feet?

[Jan]

We wanted to make the community aware that Mr. Conforti does not own Conforti Plumbing. Three longtime employees (Jan Zygalinski, Marvin "Nick" Collins and Wayne Lebel)purchased the company in 2004. Nick and I live in Pollock Pines. We agree that the homeless shelter should not be in Pollock Pines.

[downhome]

Jan wrote:

We wanted to make the community aware that Mr. Conforti does not own Conforti Plumbing. Three longtime employees (Jan Zygalinski, Marvin "Nick" Collins and Wayne Lebel)purchased the company in 2004. Nick and I live in Pollock Pines. We agree that the homeless shelter should not be in Pollock Pines.

Thanks for the info.I certainly won't be using Comforti Plumbing now.

[dontsweatit]

Have a heart you coldless people. Do you think that a homeless shelter will make that area any worse? LOL... get real!

[Jiminy Lummox]

If you build it, they will come...

[angie]

I dont want a homeless shelter right by where my son is about to start pre-school. Put it in Folsom or BETTER YET E l Dorado Hills!

[dontsweatit]

That is too funny. That will never happen. Know why? There is too much money in Folsom and El Dorado Hills.

Unfortunately, Placerville is on the wrong side of the tracks making it the perfect location for the shelter.

Advice: Get out of Placerville while you can. RUN and never look back.

[junebug]

with that lowlife Jack Sweeny on the BOS anything could happen.

[Joyce]

Having had a daughter and her children in a homeless shelter in another county I was able to see things from the inside. The shelter would not allow them to stay if there was any drugs or alcohol in their system. They were checked every time they returned. They were required to keep clean and keep their area clean.(good training)
Help groups were offered, different things were required to lead them to productive lives. There was a wealth of help and training that it would have been impossible to get without help.
The children also got help and learned many valuable lessons.
How can you be so inhumane as to want to put people and children out on the streets. That will promote crime as they get desperate and hungry.
I never thought I would come this close to homelessness but I have and it could happen to anyone.

[NoThanks]

Joyce wrote:

Having had a daughter and her children in a homeless shelter in another county I was able to see things from the inside. The shelter would not allow them to stay if there was any drugs or alcohol in their system. They were checked every time they returned. They were required to keep clean and keep their area clean.(good training)
Help groups were offered, different things were required to lead them to productive lives. There was a wealth of help and training that it would have been impossible to get without help.
The children also got help and learned many valuable lessons.
How can you be so inhumane as to want to put people and children out on the streets. That will promote crime as they get desperate and hungry.
I never thought I would come this close to homelessness but I have and it could happen to anyone.

Why didn't you take in your daughter if she was homeless? Why did you expect the rest of us to foot the bill for all of her help and training. The only valuable lesson the children learned was how to be dependent on taxpayers rather than their own family. HOW COULD YOU HAVE BEEN SO INHUMANE BY TURNING YOUR BACK ON YOUR DAUGHTER AND GRANDCHILDREN. HOW DARE YOU EXPECT US TO PAY FOR YOUR FAILED CHILD! You and your daughter should be sending all of us "thank you" cards for paying their way.

[Joyce]

I was not living in the area at the time and did not have room for 3 people at the time. If I had she would not have been able to get the services to provide her with tools for a better life. also there was an addiction problem that got resolved there and would have festered if I had taken them in.
I do not believe we need to support all these people but there are often little children who fall victim and social services is not helping. The answers I see are to get these people on a road to supporting themselves.

[Joyce]

I do thank you. But I also have worked and paid in to these services so I feel like I am getting a little of what I have paid for.
There were people there with 6 kids whose father was abusive. How does a mother of 6 find help and safety without these shelters? Who takes care of these kids? It isn't the over crowded foster system. Who looks out for their welfare? Not understaffed CPS.
Don't sit there well fed and unaffected and judge other people by their circumstances. It may come back to bite you.
these are homeless people, not criminals. they have problems. Why not, as a society do we not help the weak and disabled.
Thank you for the people who were there to do for me what I was unable to do to help my family when they were in need.

[Joyce]

PS One more comment to the above. You did not foot the bill because the organizations were all run by volunteers and churchs. The shelter was run by donations from caring people.

[NoThanks]

I sit here "well fed and unaffected" because I don't do drugs, I work hard at my job, I don't abuse my spouse or family, I make all my house and car payments. I can, and will, judge those who make poor decisions that negatively affect their lives and their family. Why did the woman have six children with an abusive man? did she just figure it out after the sixth one was born? Did he turn abusive only after the sixth one was born? I doubt it. She made several poor decisions that led her to her sad situation. Now she expects the rest of us to support her and her six children. No thanks!
The problem with THIS proposed shelter is that it will not be run by volunteers and donations. It will be paid by tax dollars. Let the churches, philanthropic organizations, and family members of the homeless pay for them.

[Molly Stevenson]

I'm an anthropologist and professional consultant. I was a Camino resident until my sexually abusive father illegally evicted me from the residence.
I am homeless. I live in my car. I am aware that many of us homeless are alcoholics; I have been approached my numerous homeless folks (mostly predatory men) who can "smell" it on me despite the fact that I make every attempt to appear professional.

It makes no never mind if you have a house and a 401K OR if you have no job and spend what little you scrounge off others on cigarettes and beer.
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF OTHERS IS NOT INCOME-SPECIFIC.

[KCC]

Judge not, lest ye be judged. Your day will come.

[DaJudge]

When MY day comes I will be able to rely on my family, friends, and associates because I have not lied to them, cheated them, stolen from them, abused them, or embarrassed them. I have been generous with my time, labor, and money to my friends when they were in need so I expect I will have developed enough good will with them that I will have people to go to if I found myself in need. If those on the street could say the same, they probably wouldn't be on the street.

[atoz]

we can gripe all we want but in the end what in heck is anyone REALLY going to do about this. There are so many sexual predators up in pollok it's not funny. They are already there but what do we as a community do about them? NOTHING. Ignore it and it will go away eh? Gripe all you want but in the end you can stave them off for awhile but not forever......

[A_Hole]

Farmers who have problems with predators killing their chickens shoot the predator, bury it, then keep quiet about it. Their neighbors might hear the shot but recognize it for what it is and feel good about it because their chickens are safer because there is one less predator out there. The neighbor isn't going to report the killing because they might have to shoot a predator on their property sometime in the future. Seems to me, if there's a problem with "sexual" predators in a town, the residents should take care of it before it becomes a real problem.