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During Tuesday's Wheeling City Council meeting, Councilman Ben Seidler gave a lengthy speech on homelessness in Wheeling -- particularly why the city's efforts are not working.
"We've thrown a lot of time, effort and money … into making this problem better," Seidler said. "I fully believe at this point that we have much less of a homeless problem than we do an addiction and mental health problem. And it's troubling.
"… We have worked to consolidate camps into one central location at the request of our providers so that we could consolidate resources and hopefully get those folks through the cycle of homelessness and back on their feet. It's just not working. Unfortunately, we still have a pretty decent number of folks down there that need rehab or mental health assistance. Our efforts are not working right now."
He's right. The millions in tax dollars City Council has spent on Wheeling's homeless problem hasn't made a difference. A new position in city government focused on solving the homeless problem turned into a complete failure. And, at least according to Seidler, some of the social service agencies that work with the homeless actually are working against ending homelessness.
"They might be experts on homelessness but they are clearly not experts on ending a person's homelessness," he alleged.
Where does Wheeling go from here? Seidler proposed a "Homeless Engagement Assistance and Resource Team" similar to what's being used in Douglas County, Colorado, with some success. That's a good start. What's clear is that something needs to change.