GuelphToday received the following letter from Don Rusk in response to letter of James Gollinger on Dec. 2:
In his letter Mr. Gollinger opposes the location of a supportive housing project in the Dawson, Willow neighborhood. While I applaud him for his personal involvement in the community I take exception to some of the reasoning behind his opposition.
He states that what troubles him the most is that he is "quite sure that there will be a significant number of people housed here with potentially dangerous illnesses."
What does that mean? I will assume mental illness and not leprosy. I grew up in a nice neighborhood a few blocks from the Homewood. The residents there walked freely around the neighborhood as they still do and I cannot recall one incident of anyone being harmed.
Occasionally we had to help a patient find their way back but that was it. With his comments he is stigmatizing people with mental illness and contributing to the same mindset that marginalizes them in the first place.
Being afraid of people with mental health issues only perpetuates the stigma that contributes to making them homeless. These people are already in the community.
Giving them stable housing and better support won't make them a danger. If anything, it will give them better access to better health care, if he is correct about who they are.
He has provided no evidence that the facility puts anyone at risk. Housing policy should not be based on unsubstantiated fears and in any case he already said he doesn't know anything about the people who will live there.
- Don Rusk, Guelph
