4A • COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • FEBRUARY 13, 2019
O PINION
The First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridg-
ing the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of
the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition their
Government for a redress of greivences.
Letters to the Editor Policy
Th e Sentinel welcomes letters to the editor as part of
a community discussion of issues on the local, state
and national level.
Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or typed
letters must be signed. All letters need to include full
name, address and phone number; only name and
city will be printed. Letters should be limited to about
300 words. Letters are subject to editing for length,
grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not
guaranteed and depends on space available and the
volume of letters received.
Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumentative,
sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or
without documentation will not be published.
Letters containing poetry or from outside Th e
Sentinel readership area will only be published at the
discretion of the editor.
Political/Election Letters:
Addressing homelessness in our community requires
addressing our own assumptions, stereotypes
Th ere are a lot of things we
are proud of as Oregonians:
Th e scenic beauty that con-
stantly surrounds us;
Our generally progressive
thinking and approaches to
important issues;
Not being California.
Yet, amid all the things
about Oregon that make us
proud, there’s one thing I
fi nd hard to admit about my
beloved state.
While homelessness has
declined around most of the
nation, Oregon continues to
have the highest percentage
of homeless families and chil-
dren. As the number of home-
less families has decreased
in 41 states across America
since 2016, in Oregon we have
experienced a 2.5 percent
increase — the fi ft h-highest in
the nation.
Right aft er California.
According to the Depart-
ment of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD), more
than half of Oregon’s home-
less families (60.5 percent) are
without shelter, living in cars
or tents within areas of that
scenic beauty I mentioned
earlier.
As much as we may want
to tell ourselves that most of
the homeless are drug addicts,
criminals or suff ering from
mental illness, the fact is that
more than half of the home-
less living without shelter in
Oregon — over 7,000 of them
— are either school-aged
(64.4 percent) or displaced
veterans (55 percent).
up" and staying with friends
or relatives until a permanent
housing solution cmaes along
or, as is more oft en the case,
they are asked to leave.
Th ose 142 homeless stu-
dents with the SLSD go to
class, participate in school
activities and then fi nish the
day with no permanent home
to return to.
According to a study
released by the Oregon
tact with as we busy ourselves
past them;
Th e fact is, they are also
those whose faces we recog-
nize each day but who never
say a word about their home-
lessness.
Th ey are mothers and
fathers, sons and daughters,
students, cooks, part-time
employees, unemployed
veterans and senior citizens
faced with deciding between
medication, food or shelter.
Th at’s not a stereotype we
want
to acknowledge. But
From the Managing Editor’s Desk
it’s one we must be willing to
Ned Hickson
accept in order to aff ect the
kind of change that will, in
turn, change the lives of the
To bring it a little closer to
Department of Education in
homeless in our community
home, last year just over 10
November 2017, there was a
and our state.
percent of Oregon's home-
5.6 percent increase in student
As we consider state
less students — or more
homelessness — continuing a measures and explore local
than 2,400 — were in Lane
trend in Oregon for the fourth policies aimed at addressing
County’s 16 school districts.
consecutive year.
the issues of aff ordable and
Th is includes 142 students
Before we can truly address transitional housing, the
within the South Lane School the issue of homelessness, we most important component
District.
must be willing to understand to reducing homelessness in
About 9 percent, or 226,
that many of those who are
our communities will be our
of Lane County’s homeless
living their lives without a
ability to acknowledge our
students were counted as “un- home aren’t those who are
own stereotypes about home-
sheltered,” which means they readily identifi ed as homeless. lessness.
were living in cars, camp-
Th ey aren’t necessarily the
Th at is the most import-
grounds or doorways.
ones we see on street corners ant step we can take toward
Another 6 percent — or 115 or parking lots asking for
reversing the trend of home-
— were located in emergency change;
lessness in our state — and
shelters of some kind, with the
Th ey aren’t the ones we can achieving something we can
majority classifi ed as "doubled easily avoid making eye con-
all be proud of as Oregonians.
Election-related letters must address pertinent or
timely issues of interest to our readers at-large.
Letters must 1) Not be a part of letter-writing
campaigns on behalf of (or by) candidates; 2) Ensure
any information about a candidate is accurate, fair
and not from second-hand knowledge or hearsay;
and 3) explain the reasons to support candidates
based on personal experience and perspective rather
than partisanship and campaign-style rhetoric.
Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the
editor column to outline their views and platforms
or to ask for votes; this constitutes paid political
advertising.
As with all letters and advertising content, the
newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publisher,
general manager and editor, reserves the right to
reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above criteria.
Send letters to:
nhickson@cgsentinel.com or cmay@cgsentinel.com
HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS
Oregon state
representatives
Oregon federal
representatives
• Sen. Floyd Prozanski
District 4 State Senator
PO Box 11511
Eugene, Ore. 97440
Phone: 541-342-2447
Email : sen.fl oydprozanski@
state.or.us
• Rep. Cedric Hayden
Republican District 7 State
Representative
900 Court St. NE
Salem, Ore. 97301
Phone: 503-986-1407
Website: www.leg.state.or.
us/hayden
Email: rep.cedrichayden@
state.or.us
• Rep. Peter DeFazio
(House of Representatives)
405 East 8th Ave.
#2030
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: defazio.house.gov/
contact/email-peter
Phone: 541-465-6732
• Sen. Ron Wyden
405 East 8th Ave., Suite 2020
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: wyden.senate.gov
Phone: (541) 431-0229
• Sen. Jeff Merkley
Email: merkley.senate.gov
Phone: 541-465-6750
C ottage G rove
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