Only one church answers Tacoma's call for help with homeless crisis

[brooklynite]

KOMO-TV:

TACOMA, Wash. - The official call for help began three months ago, but so far only one church has joined city leaders to address the ongoing homeless crisis.

“If we have people who are in the cold, bring them in. Fortunately we have a physical space that gives us capacity to do it and we have people who have a heart to do it,” said Dr. Eric Jackson, pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Tacoma.

...snip...

What Jackson said he still struggles to understand is why no other Tacoma churches are answering that same call from the city for help.

“Fear can be a major driver to doing or not doing a certain thing, even when it's a good thing,” Jackson said. “So I think that's one thing. I think another thing is some churches have other missions and some churches don't have capacity."

I'm sure there are other more important religious principles to live up to.....

[pandr32]

1. They should lose their tax exempt status

Last edited Thu Dec 28, 2017, 05:17 PM - Edit history (1)

It was because of their supposed charity that they got it in the first place... wasn't it?

[MineralMan]

2. Hosting homeless people is a huge drain on a church budget.

It's also a logistical nightmare. Many churches just aren't up to the job, really. Others really don't want a bunch of smelly people camping out in their basement, too. All those unshaven men in their ragged clothing, and that. Good for Bethlehem Baptist Church, though. They understand the real spirit of the thing.

[procon]

3. Sometimes charity never gets past the pulpit. nt

[Voltaire2]

4. This is why we pay taxes instead of depending on charity.

But the endless fucknobbery of the right has sabotaged and crippled governments across the country, so our infrastructure, from roads and bridges to shelters for the homeless and everything else that is part of the public sector is in disrepair, has been privatized, or has simply been abolished.