The Gospel Truth

I've got to admit that my own prejuidices were on display in my last post regarding the Gospel Mission. The assumption I made was that the client base of the Mission is entirely made up of homeless men riding Schwinn's with plastic bags full of empty pop cans. After all, when you drive down 8th St. that's what you see. However, as a quick scan of their web site will show, their client base and function is way bigger than a flop house for the homeless.

Hungry children, shattered families, and battered women are just a few of the many other constituencies that they serve. And my guess (although I have no data to back this up right now) is that those groups are going to be found in greater numbers in the west side than in the Country Club district. Locating this facility close to its main client base is probably pretty important in choosing a good location for it.

I'm still not sure about the wisdom of changing the street pattern in the neighborhood, but a good facility for an important social service provider is a good idea regardless.