Tony McNerlin, left, Frank Johnson and Tina Johnson chat and play card games as they escape the cold temperatures inside at the St. Francis Center on Jan. 29, 2013. (YourHub file)
Re: “Criminalizing homelessness chronicled in Colorado,” April 8 news story.
In one of the first few days I served as a volunteer at the St. Francis Center back in 1998, I was taught never to refer to the guests at our shelter as “the homeless.” To do so is dehumanizing. They are homeless men, women, children and people. In the first sentence of your article, you report that “Colorado’s homeless, according to a new report, are being ‘criminalized’ by local bans and laws that restrict their access to and use of public places.” Although the article does in one case refer to “44 homeless people,” it has five more references to “the homeless.” I hope that the writers, editors and readers of The Post can speak of these people as, yes, people.
Phillip K. Tompkins,Denver
This letter was published in the April 11 edition.
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