This is going to be one of the most difficult letters I have submitted to my local paper in awhile.
In the last few years I have written a few letters because I could see a problem and felt that I had at least some idea as to what could be done to find a solution.
Trail is my hometown.
I was born here and most likely will end my days here.
That is the plan that I have in mind but we all know what the old saying is about “Man plans …”
I will freely admit that I am from the old school and I enjoy actually holding a newspaper and reading it whenever my paper person [thanks Cindy] brings it right to my door.
Okay, I am spoiled.
To get to the point there is a growing problem in Trail , all the articles and other letters that I have read in the paper lately have told me so. Everyone agrees that we have a serious problem but what I don’t see is a solution.
What I do see is many people who say what can I, as one person , do about this growing problem. I guess that would be my question, too. I am only one person, a senior at that and I will openly say that whenever I walk downtown I have to deal with this problem every time.
I feel an increasing sadness for the vulnerable people in our town and I realize every day how fortunate I am to have everything I need to get through each day safely.
Not everyone has that safety net.
I am a renter so I do not own a home with extra space that I can make available and even though I am on a limited budget I have been known to offer whatever spare change I have in my pocket because I know how it feels to be faced with the fact that just about everything a person needs is 15 cents more than what is available.
When faced with that problem it seems that the only solution is to take a deep breath and ask the next person you see if they have any spare change.
Some people ask nicely and some do not but the way I look at it is if I have it I will offer it and if I don’t I will say that I don’t. That brings about a few different responses again some nice and some not so nice.
Something else that I am beginning to see is groups of people lounging around in the downtown core talking or in many more cases yelling at other people or even just yelling at themselves and I must admit that when I am confronted with this scenario I have no choice but to turn around and walk in a different direction.
Where there used to be just one or two people who did this now there are groups of them and I am, as I said, a senior and not prepared to face anyone down for any reason.
What I do NOT believe is that all these people have come here or been dumped here from other towns.
Where they have come from does not matter, they are here and therefore they are a local problem that must be handled and sooner rather than later.
I have cut down my time in the downtown core and never venture anywhere near there after 7 p.m.
I must also say that includes the Esplanade and a couple of weeks ago it even included the farmers market because I was approached a half a dozen times for change and cigarettes before I even got to the entrance.
I suppose I am pretty much at the end of my letter and I still do not see a viable solution.
I also do not see what I can do to make it better either.
We have people in this town who are in the know and in charge of that knowledge so I would ask them, tell us what can be done and let us decide if we can provide any further resources that will fix this growing problem.
Sincerely,
Linda Grandbois