Anderson letter: The homeless

Here’s an idea that may help relieve the homelessness in Boise: There’s an abandoned RV park and lumber yard east of town that have been idle for years, and there must be hundreds of unused RVs parked in fields and backyards around the county. Let’s bring these resources together and get our neighbors out of tents.

We need the umbrella of a nonprofit as an incentive for donations. We need the cooperation of the city and county building departments and transit support. If we could get a few contractors in the area to supervise apprentices in various trades we could also train willing workers during the renovation and restoration processes. Not just a shelter, this park could generate income from salvaged RV parts, repairs, sales and annual services. It could become self-sufficient.

While RV living is not ideal for everyone, statistics show it is a growing trend among some fixed-income elderly and the ‘working poor’ and is certainly a much better alternative to unsanitary urban encampments. If enough of us get involved the individual burden would be very small and the impact to those in need could be enormous. Come on Boise — we could do this.

This story was originally published December 28, 2015 at 10:50 PM with the headline "Anderson letter: The homeless."