I lived in a travel trailer in college, and I've lived in apartments that I never again want to see. But I've never been homeless. I've always had someplace to go to at night where I could close the door and feel safe. It's hard to imagine life without a place to call home.

But thousands of people in Kansas City are homeless on any given night. Sure, there are homeless people with mental illness and drug addictions, but among them are also veterans and women and small children. Recent turmoil in the mortgage business no doubt adds to the problem, and there is no easy solution.

Which makes it easy to shrug our shoulders and say, 'well, the poor will always be with us,' as if to say we've been given Biblical permission not to engage the struggle.

Morality arguments aside, there are practical reasons to care about this human tragedy. Billions of dollars have been invested downtown, and the last city council passed an ordinance directing the police to arrest panhandlers so the rest of us could go downtown without feeling accosted and afraid. Of course, many of the panhandlers aren't homeless, but regardless, the police chief refused to enforce the ordinance because it is unconstitutional anyway. And where would the police take people arrested for being poor? City jail so the taxpayers can bear the costs of an expensive and very temporary home for the evening? Not an elegant solution.

Another expensive solution is created by the homeless themselves. On really cold evenings, they go to hospital emergency rooms and say they're sick. Mandated by Federal law, hospitals must provide emergency medical care, which first requires expensive diagnosis. So the homeless person receives unnecessary tests but gets a bed and meals for the night before being released. Now we know one reason an aspirin administered in a hospital costs $10 and insurance premiums rise to pay the unfunded Federal mandate.

If there were an easy solution, it would be done. In September last year, KC Police Chief Jim Corwin began hosting meetings with representatives from area police departments, the mayor's office, the KC Downtown Council, hospitals, public and private agencies, churches, the KC Bar Association, KC Municipal Court judges and other interested groups and citizens. Our task force discussed the problems, explored programs in other cities and asked ourselves what could be done.

With support from Chief Corwin, Councilwoman Cathy Jolly, Mayor Funkhouser and other officials in the metro area, we hope to use the task force to supply research and proposed solutions to an appointed Blue Ribbon Panel that will lead to changes in policy and programs in Kansas City.

We know that a great deal of money is already spent on services and programs for the homeless, but there is inadequate coordination of effort. There are multiple governmental jurisdictions, and many private services that likely could be more efficient if well networked with public services. Before seeking additional funding, we want to determine if streamlining, consolidating and coordinating programs could achieve good effect.

There are also models for addressing homelessness in other cities that are conceptual breaks from past models. For example, we have intuitively assumed that addictions must be treated before arranging housing. But some cities have had great success by ignoring the traditional sequence and instead arranging a simultaneous program of housing and treatment. Will this work in Kansas City? We want to know.

Some services in other cities have been controversial, and to be implemented in Kansas City will require political will. The public will have to be informed about proposals and educated about the basis for the interventions. We will need the support of the media to get this information out.

Though I have never been homeless, the problem of homelessness is nevertheless quite personal. I have a 38 year old deaf and mentally handicapped daughter. When I am gone, I hope to have care for her already arranged. But the current "system" hardly assures that my daughter will be cared for if my resources are inadequate. I don't want to think about it for long or very much.

And so it is with homelessness for us all. It seems a problem beyond our control, so we divert our gaze to things more pleasant. But maybe we can do something. With support from political and business leaders, churches and thoughtful citizens, maybe we can find homes so everyone can know sanctuary at the end of a difficult day.

George Harris, Ph.D.
KC Star reader advisory board member