Homeless need public help

EDITOR: This past Friday morning, I joined others in conducting the annual Sonoma County Homeless Point-In-Time Census and Survey. What I observed made me feel ashamed of our community’s apparent indifference to what is happening to our shelterless residents.
Each time their camps are destroyed and their possessions frequently carted off to the dump, their living conditions deteriorate.
The city, in conjunction with the county, is finally paying attention to and applying for funding for transitional and permanent housing with associated mental health services. Realistically speaking, this housing is at least a year, probably longer, away.
I ask the city decision makers: How about a temporary legal encampment while we wait for that housing? Situated on public land, all that would be needed is 20 tents, tarps and sleeping bags (for starters) sanitary facilities (portable toilets and hand washing stations) and a Dumpster.
Gail Jonas
Healdsburg