www.WrensJournal.blogspot.com

I just sent this email to the head of the Denver Homeless Project in response to her email to me (see below):

Dear Ms. White,

Thanks very much for your email. Seems to me 40 to 60% alcoholic/addict is still
very much on the low side if we look at those on the street, those who most people
think of as homeless. What would you estimate for those folks?

I have a couple of meetings I attend at Trinity, that's my only connection there. For
the last couple of years I've been the manager of 1311 York Street Club
www.YorkStreetClub.com are you familiar with it?

Mayor Hickenlooper will easily be reelected, and it will be interesting to see how
the course is set for the next four years.

One thing we can certainly all agree on, the people on the streets in Denver are
a real, tragic problem for us all. The deaths far exceed those we see in any school
shooting, but they get over looked because they happen one at a time. Thanks for
your hard work to help find a solution.

John Wren

Mr. Wren:

I am confused about the quote you attribute to me. I don’t recall ever having said that only 13% have a problem with alcohol or drug abuse. I wonder if someone else misquoted me or if it was a reference to a specific subset of homeless but this number doesn’t make any sense. There are a lot of statistics on www.denversroadhome.org, but this shouldn’t be one of them. Depending upon the specific populations (chronic homeless for example), the number can be as high as 40%-60% of the homeless having serious substance abuse or addiction problems. The numbers are much lower for the children and families on the streets, but I am not familiar with any statistic that is 13%. The only 13% number I have is for 2005 when the % of people on the streets who were Veterans was at that point in time 13% but that was not in relation to substance abuse or addiction.

I noticed your involvement with Trinity and have had the good fortune to speak there several times. We appreciate the support from Trinity for the ongoing work at St. Francis Center and for the help with the mentoring program. Trinity is certainly a leader in helping end homelessness.

I hope this helps and if you have more specifics about the quote, I will try to figure out exactly what the reference was.

Thanks, Roxane White