Letter: Waltham Must Come Up With A Plan To Help All Residents

WALTHAM, MA — The following letter to the editor was submitted by Shaniely Fernandez a graduate of Waltham High School in connection with this article: What Do Homeless People In Waltham Do Amid Coronavirus Crisis?

Dear Editor,
We must get under resourced individuals the things that they need to overcome this epidemic with the rest of the community.

As a social work student, I was not surprised but yet I was frustrated to learn that many individuals that are under-resourced do not have access to adequate self-care precautions such as hand washing and social distancing during this hard epidemic.

It has been said that those that do not have a permanent home during this time, continue to walk around all day because they are not able to quarantine. This not only is a problem for the individuals but it is a problem that impacts the community as well.

It is difficult for me to imagine not having a place to sleep every night, not having access to food, not being able to work, and not having access to health care whether or not there is an epidemic going on.

People might call these individuals “homeless” but that negative connotation does not change the fact that they are important individuals nonetheless, and they are a part of our community in which we need to create effective actions to help. These individuals are the most at risk because of the fact that they do not have access to basic necessities already, never mind the luxury of having somewhere to call “home.”

Our city has not come up with an effective plan as to how we can help these individuals moving forward. And this epidemic has brought a shinier and even brighter light to the problems that these individuals that are a part of our community face on a daily basis.

Waltham can and must do better to protect those that are a part of our community!

We can start by asking these individuals what they need and how we can help them individually.

Our Mayor and other elected officials in our community can come up with a step-by-step plan that can help and empower those who lack the resources to help themselves. We must help one another through donating goods and providing resources to OUR community members.

We are ONE COMMUNITY AND ONE WALTHAM. Let’s carry our community on our wings and soar like a hawk.

Sincerely,
Shaniely Fernandez
Waltham Sr. Highschool Alumni
Bridgewater State University Student: School of Social Work