EDITORIALS : Our Problem, Too
Posted on Thursday, February 1, 2007
One of this region’s defining characteristics is its relative prosperity. Compared to most of the rest of Arkansas, the northwest corner of the state is doing well economically — so well that we’re often regarded with envy by many of our fellow Arkansans.
It’s the Streets-Paved-With-Gold-Syndrome we discussed in Wednesday’s editorial. That’s a disease characterized by the belief that northwest Arkansas is so well-heeled that we, as a region, haven’t a care in the world.
That’s a misguided point of view. But it’s true that the character of this area is so defined by growth and economic development that people — even many people who live here — often see northwest Arkansas through rose-colored glasses.
But there are people here whose streets are not only absent any precious metals — their lives are absent many of the basics most northwest Arkansans take for granted. They’re the homeless, and thanks to an ongoing effort to count them, we’re getting a better idea of their number.
As reported in the Northwest Arkansas Times this week, the Northwest Arkansas Housing Coalition undertook a 24-hour census of the homeless in Benton and Washington counties last week. The census found that about 839 homeless people reside in the two-county area. Of that number, about 397 are children.
“ In some ways, I’m shocked by how high the numbers are, ” said Kevin Fitzpatrick, project director for the census. “ There are just more than I might have expected. ”
On one hand, we share Fitzpatrick’s surprise — and we imagine a large percentage of our fellow northwest Arkansans share it as well. Some might even be incredulous. After all, one wouldn’t expect this region, the name of which has become synonymous with booming success, to be home to more than 800 homeless people, almost 400 of whom are children.
But when one considers the homeless here as a percentage of the overall population — about two-tenths of 1 percent — a realization takes hold. That’s just about the same percentage of the population homeless people account for statewide. In this respect, northwest Arkansas, for all it’s real and imagined affluence, is not far removed from the rest of the state.
We constantly hammer on the need for the rest of the state to realize that northwest Arkansas isn’t some mountainous nirvana, where the streets are paved with gold and material wealth is commonplace. But sometimes, despite all the hammering, we — and other residents of this area — tend to forget that ourselves.
This head count of the homeless should serve as a reminder that we, too, must remember that in many important ways, northwest Arkansas is much like the rest of the state. Despite all the positives, the area still has its share of problems — including more than 800 people without a place to call home.
Fostering awareness of that is the first step in finding a way to help. We owe it to our area’s homeless not to fall victim to Streets-Paved-With-Gold Syndrome. As we’re all painfully aware, it isn’t easy to cure.
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