Morning Read: Homeless man’s death sparks debate in Burlington
Paul O’Toole, a former carpenter from Middlebury who has been homeless for two years, was found dead this week on a heating grate in Burlington. The cause of death was apparently hypothermia.
The 56-year-old man’s passing has revived a debate in Burlington over how to help people suffering from addiction in our northern region, particularly when the weather turns dangerous.
This from the Burlington Free Press.
Family and friends say O’Toole might have benefited from a low-barrier, or “wet,” shelter that would have taken in drunken people when the air turned frigid. Burlington police have yet to determine whether O’Toole had been drinking at the time of his death and are awaiting the results of an autopsy report, Deputy Chief Andi Higbee said Tuesday.
In the meantime, city officials and social workers have resumed talks about whether Burlington should create a low-barrier shelter. O’Toole’s family and friends, joined by a former Vermont state auditor, say the city should.
“A low-barrier shelter would be so awesome,” Mary O’Toole said. “He was not able to navigate the rules of, ‘You have to stay sober, you have to do this or do that.’ He just really had a hard time navigating all that stuff. … Why should someone have to navigate getting a warm place to stay? It should be wide open.”
So what do you think? Is our society doing enough to help those who spiral down to these dangerous depths? Do you see people at risk in your community?
Comments welcome.
Well, no, probably not, probably because we don’t want to recognize we have problems like that up here.
But that said, where were his “family” and “friends”?
Family and friends get worn out eventually, then we expect the state to step in and do what the individual can’t or won’t. We rage about being overtaxed, and we’re sorry that governments can’t do more.
If we had a single payer health care program…like just across the border…there might have been an effective treatment program.
Conversely, if we had Ron Paul and his folks in power…there might be many more such incidents.
Remember the poor at Christmas time.
Pete, people who are homeless generally have done an excellent job of cutting themselves off from family and friends. That’s why they’re homeless. Think about it. Would you let a family member or a friend become homeless? So the answer to your question is almost certainly that he had no family or friends who knew of his situation.
We need to do more. There is a movement called “housing first” which has shown great promise. It basically says the obvious; homeless people need housing first, then you get them supports such as drug/alcohol treatment or mental health counseling. The studies show that this is the path that works.
Does someone deserve to die because they are an alcoholic?
Wet shelters have been successful but they are often controversial. I do understand that many shelters simply cannot take people who are highly intoxicated, they don’t have the staff, medical treatment, detox ability and they have to consider the safety of their other residents.
I always remember the Red Skelton skit where “the poor soul” tries everything to get arrested so he has a warm place to stay and something to eat for Christmas.