by Bob Orleck
Vermont has a critical homeless problem and there seems to be no adequate and financially sustainable solutions on the horizon.
It was not always so.
Many years ago, Vermont engaged in the movement toward community-based mental health services instead of properly maintaining their institutions such as the Vermont State Hospital and the Brandon Training School. For many of the residents of those facilities, those closings brought an abrupt loss of their home, and we will never know how many died as a result of those closures.
Now thirty or forty years later, it seems that the only solution we hear much about for the homeless, most of whom have mental health or drug abuse issues, is a stay at a hotel, bus tickets out of town or a prison cell. That’s what happens when you tear down institutions and have nothing that replaces the remedial and housing services they provided for those who are being turned out.
Such a non-caring approach to societal problems injured and destroyed many people. It has permeated all areas of our life today. The more outrageous and destructive an idea might be, the more it is embraced by the far left and the deceived of our state and nation.
From traditional family values to Christian faith, those things that our nation relied on to become the most wonderful place on earth, have now and are continually being torn down with devastating consequences. Drug addiction, suicide, mental health deterioration, crime and disrespect for life and values are beyond epidemic. Our nation is on the verge of collapse, but citizens carelessly ignore how bureaucrats and even elected leaders are leading them over the cliff.
There is “cause and effect”, and it should be obvious by now that the paths we are on will lead to destruction and death. Time is short. There must be a revival across our land. The false teaching and disregard for the way our God established this miracle of America is without doubt taking us down the same road that led to the end of many past civilizations. The Bible clearly describes our condition today in Proverbs 14:12. “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
The author is a retired pharmacist and prosecutor.