How Cape is helping the homeless

The midtown and downtown areas of Cape Girardeau are a wonderful mix of residents and businesses, where we see a wide array of socioeconomic and demographic needs served and met.

We have preschools, elementary schools, and a college settled among family homes, home and clothing boutiques, tattoo parlors, antique shops, restaurants, grocery stores, churches, bars, offices, outreach organizations, and coffee shops, to name just a few of the various entities cohabitating closely together.

We also know that citizens experiencing homelessness live in this area.

Also within Cape's city limits, an outsized number of support agencies, not-for-profit organizations, churches and ministries, along with countless volunteers with giving hearts, strive daily to meet the needs of those in vulnerable and "less-fortunate" circumstances.

These organizations and individuals not only work to meet immediate needs of those hungry, impoverished, or unsheltered, but also strive to help individuals find the help they need to improve their own financial or physical needs.

Collaboration among many organizations involved in this work is now happening to offer inclement weather sheltering for those experiencing homelessness during the very worst weather events this coming winter.

The Salvation Army will host these events, and it will have stringent guidelines in place, including the need for a significant number of qualified volunteers.

These volunteers will be required to attend "Safe from Harm" training at the Salvation Army from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. Preregistration is required to attend the training, and those interested can register by emailing lily.reiner@usc.salvationarmy.org or calling (573) 335-7000.

We can all be thankful to see the time-consuming and dedicated work being done by many to ensure that these lifesaving events happen.

Agencies and their organizers involved include the Emergency Food and Shelter Program, the Salvation Army, Safe House of Southeast Missouri, the American Red Cross, Catholic Charities, Catholic Social Ministries, Community Partnership of Southeast Missouri, the East Missouri Action Agency, and the United Way of Southeast Missouri. Many other individual volunteers will be giving up their own time and safety in the middle of these bad weather events to help this all work.

In further regard to homeless issues, much attention has been paid to a recent bill passed in the state: HB 1606.

In various sections of the bill, it forbids the use of state funds for the construction of permanent supportive housing for the homeless (Section 4), and it prohibits unauthorized sleeping, camping or long-term shelters on state or local public land (Section 5).

The City of Cape Girardeau currently has ordinances in place that also prohibit unauthorized camping (Section 18-5 of the City Code of Ordinances) and set our public park hours of 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. (Section 18-6).

What HB 1606 does encourage is state funding and support for political subdivisions and nonprofits that assist and show progress with individuals with substance abuse, housing and/or a decrease in days in hospitals or jail (Section 2).

The city wants to be a good collaborative partner with our local agencies that provide this kind of extremely important work and maintains the stance that it is those organizations that work closely with individuals in need, day in and day out, that will most effectively get that work accomplished.

The City of Cape Girardeau intends to be supportive of this activity and work in whatever appropriate ways are determined. That determination will be guided by the principle that the safety of our citizens, regardless of an individual's stature or means, is city business.

Stacy Kinder is the mayor of the City of Cape Girardeau.