Homeless are taking advantage of Flathead Valley's generosity

Another individual who I assume was homeless lost his life in Kalispell early last Sunday morning. This time in an altercation with another individual who I assume was homeless (Victim in deadly fight near Parkline Trail identified, Aug. 17).

The moral outrage from our local media and homeless advocates was lacking. We saw moral outrage a little over a month ago when Scott Bryan had the same fate befall him.

We didn’t see the same moral outrage when a resident of Samaritan House allegedly was sexually assaulted July 29 by his roommate while he slept. Instead, the story (Homeless shelter resident accused of raping roommate, Aug. 1) was buried on page 6 of the Daily Inter Lake.

We didn’t see outrage when a man I assume was homeless allegedly assaulted a Kalispell Police officer on June 18 in Depot Park (Kalispell man faces felony charge for punching officer during arrest, June 27). Our law enforcement is under attack and that story must not have fit the right narrative.

My understanding is that this latest alleged assault of a father of two children could have been committed by an unhoused individual from California. This is the type of individual the commissioners wrote about in our letter last January (Don’t empower the homeless lifestyle, Jan. 24).

They have come here from somewhere else to take advantage of our generosity and prey on the vulnerable of our community. They don’t show up here for our views and scenery or to fill much-needed jobs, but because they know that they can hold a sign and that our well-meaning and kindhearted citizens will give them their spare dollars. They come here and take valuable resources away from the truly needy that are from our community.

If we truly want to end homelessness in our community, we must attack it at its root cause, which is a lack of purpose in the lives of those in this community. A lack of understanding of the benefits and rewards of giving back to the community. This is a major reason behind our detention center being at maximum capacity, the rampant drug and alcohol abuse we have, the mental health crisis we are struggling to fix, the violent crimes and vandalism to our private and public property we see and read about daily.

So where does Flathead County fit into the solution? Flathead County vigorously supports youth programs. We partnered with Montana State University to bring two new extension agents to the Flathead to help support our local 4-H program, we fund and support a youth recreation program through our Weed, Parks and Recreation Department, our Northwest Montana Fair and Rodeo supports our local FFA and 4-H Market animal sale with the help of local businesses who put the sale on.

If you want to save people from a destructive lifestyle, raise them up in a manner that they should go. Get them involved in sports, in 4-H or FFA, in Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts. Take your neighbor's kid or your child’s best friend with you when you go. Mentor that kid down the street who doesn’t have a parent as involved in his life as your kid does. Teach them the rewards of hard work and accomplishment. Take them fishing or hunting or just go on a hike. We have youth programs; we have state and county parks. If you want to see and support the future leaders of our community, go to the county fair, go in the livestock barns, go to a ball game.

It may not fix today's homeless problem, but it may help tomorrows.

Brad Abell is a Flathead County Commissioner representing District 1.

[Editor’s note: No suspects were in custody and no charges were filed as of press time in the case involving an alleged deadly fight in Kalispell on Aug. 13. Authorities had not confirmed the living situation of either the individuals allegedly involved.]