To the editor:

I went back and forth with the Spotlight publisher. I wanted the paper to print my concerns over the homeless camp in my, and my neighbours,’ backyard on the river.

I was angry they were here.

And I tried to vent that through the media. But the more my wife and I watched, we began to learn.

Over time, I learned a lot about these homeless people. And yes, they are people. They are human beings.

These people never, ever impacted our home and never stole anything. They keep their heads down when walking to and from their camp, not wanting any confrontation with the neighbours.

Over time, my wife and I ended up trying to help them with anything we could. We tried to do that without our neighbours seeing. Because they haven’t really seen what we have, and we didn’t want the conflict of “why would you help them?”

These are peaceful people who are just trying to survive, stay warm, and make something look and feel like home.

It’s not them we all need to worry about. It’s the people who take advantage of them – the really bad people that come around in the dark and take their souls from them.

Until the provincial and federal governments, along with the court system, get an understanding of what’s going on with mental health and the drug addiction problem, they need to deal with the dark, bad creatures of the night that take everything from these human beings.

They say it’s complicated. No, it’s really not. Get rid of the monsters and then, more than likely, we have a chance at helping these people with counseling, homes etc.

Until then, these people have no hope.

Ed Farkas, Princeton

Related: Princeton’s homeless suffer harassment

Related: Editorial: Princeton needs a homeless shelter

Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email:andrea.demeer@similkameenspotlight.com