Thanks to the Tribune and reporters Steve Kloehn and Ray Quintanilla for giving front-page attention to one of the more disturbing aspects of our boom economy (“Charities caught in financial squeeze,” May 28).
Although the increasing gap between the haves and the have-nots is widening, many of those who are benefiting from the good times seem minimally inclined to help those in need.
There are two pieces to the problem.
On the one hand both public and private dollars are not keeping up with the rising costs of providing services.
On the other hand there is a tendency for both public and private donors to want to fund new and innovative programs. Although we should always be looking for new and better ways to do things, there will always be people who need food and shelter, children who need foster care, working parents who need quality child care, and sick and elderly people who need basic assistance and health care.
Though new approaches to problems like gangs and drugs are critical, and perhaps more exciting, the provision of basic human services cannot be sacrificed to fund these new projects.
The most frightening aspect of the current scenario is that this is how we are treating those in need in good times. What will our society look like when the inevitable downturn comes along?
