Homelessness and the Origins of the Court Street Zone

From a reader:

Several years ago the Timesdaily ran an article implying that a man living in Florence was the city's very first homeless person. The writer made a huge deal about how well dressed the man was and that he frequently used the computers at the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library to get on the internet. Well obviously saying that man was the first homeless person was naivety, but nevertheless the article did a good job shining a light on what at the time was still a touchy subject. A subject not talked about very often but one most readers were already well aware.

Even in the most rural parts of Lauderdale County homeless people exist everyday. Living away from downtown Florence it may be harder to see them but that is only because many live in wooded areas. In the 1970s, 80s, and even early 90s laws were very different in Florence. Most homeless people in North Alabama gravitated to living under overpasses in Huntsville due to the easier availability of things such as alcohol.

Fast forward to a few years ago when a young man was arrested for creating fires, to stay warm, inside a Florence Post Office on a freezing cold January night. If I recall correctly it was around that time when a few elected officials in Florence started to become more vocal and more defensive about the homeless situation. Wasn't the wife of one city councilman later quoted in the same paper mentioned above saying something that was thought to be very insensitive towards the homeless population at the time?

One thing that I know about the City of Florence is that some people would much rather have problems out of sight and out of mind. If at all possible place the blame on someone or something else. That does not change the fact that poverty, drug abuse, and mental illness are huge problems in this city as well as the surrounding areas. Take a look at the mug shots printed each and every week. Quite frankly, I do not see where arrests here are disproportionate by race. What I see are alcoholics, meth heads, and twenty year old white guys with tattoos in between their eyes.

The old ECM Hospital could have been used as a resource for mental health and drug rehabilitation. Instead what will the city do with the barren land? The sheriff of Lawrence County, Tennessee, was quoted 20 years ago saying that 90% of all crimes in that area were directly related to methamphetamine. Not drugs in general but he specifically placed the blame on meth. Did that come from an exact statistic? I'm sure that number was stretched during a moment of frustration, but still the point remains the same. I'm sorry if this offends members of the garden club or the fine arts league but what about here? What about now?

Does it not seem to be misguided anger that members of the LGBTQ community have latched onto blaming a 100 year old statue in front of the courthouse for the problems in our area? The Confederate Monument is an easy problem to solve. Let the people of Lauderdale County decide by vote if we want state law to be broken or not. Whether it gets moved or not it will not change the harsh realities of modern real life problems that every person in Lauderdale County face each and everyday. For example, why would the Florence Police Department run off homeless people waiting for a free meal yet allow protesters to yell at paying customers of a restaurant? If a homeless person told the police that they were protesting would the officers have left them alone?

With all of the enlightened people that we now have living in Florence I wish just one would answer this final question. What is more important - the name of a college building or the quality of education received inside? A very prominent African American Florence resident told me recently that he wouldn't mind seeing a statue of George Wallace, Jr., placed in front of the courthouse. Of course my mouth fell wide open, but when I regained myself I asked him to please explain. He said it was because of the number of books that have been placed in the hands of white and black students with the creation of Community Colleges in Alabama. This gentleman went on to teach me about people in the Bible. He explained to me how people can do terrible things at one point in their life but later still be used by God for His goodness.

He opened my eyes that things are not always what they appear. People are not always what they appear. We should not forget the bad times, but we also should not allow the bad times to keep us from remembering the good.