Greening the Homeless
In, “Rev. Larry Rice goes green in Dutchtown,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch‘s Tim Townsend tells us of the Reverend’s plans to open “a center that would assist the homeless by giving them skills in the burgeoning field of renewable energy.” One word: laughable. Townsend also writes, “Rice’s New Life Evangelistic Center has been one of downtown’s most popular and active homeless shelters for years, but critics contend Rice attracts too many homeless people to one area and exploits the very souls he claims to be supporting.”
I’m one of those critics. I live (literally) next door to this shelter, and Mr. Rice does nothing more than enable the homeless. Don’t get me wrong, the homeless are a marginalized group in our society, and more should be done to help them. But, this clown doesn’t do anything more than give them a place to temporarily suspend their spiraling into oblivion. I’m sure the good Reverend is well-meaning, but he operates with blinders on. Going from spending decades doing nothing more than providing food and multiple-code-violating shelter – and NO services – to training people to work in a field that requires specialized education is a pipe dream.
Larry, teach the people you claim you serve the basic skills of life. It will help them more than attempting to teach them to prosper in a burgeoning field, which incidentally will only happen as laborers given the 450,000 jobs generated in the renewable energy industry last year, “were disproportionately for scientific, technical, professional and skilled workers.”
Rice has found a bandwagon on which to hop, probably in hopes that it will mobilize the faithful who donate to him and help him so ineffectively help the people who need help the most. According to the article, he spent $216,000 on a house and flower shop, in which to establish the ‘St. Louis Renewable Energy Center, an educational center that will allow him to share the “green gospel” through the homeless he has vowed to help.’ WTF?! Putting that money into the New Life Evangelistic Center would have been a much better use of funds. It could have helped the people he shelters have a safer, cleaner place to find some peace and possibly learn to read, balance a check book, use a computer, be healthier, or find a job. Alas, the homeless will have settle for learning only to incorporate renewable energy credits into “green” developments, design more efficient solar panels, or shape public policy to create a more environmentally friendly America, all from a fire trap with broken windows that throws out its inhabitants during the day.
Here’s to the land of opportunity.
You obviously don’t know much about your neighbor, Larry Rice. He does have a training program for the homeless and many have rehabilitated their lives from NLEC’s services. He has also been doing many renovations on his shelters. You are talking or rather ranting out of your rear end, and know very little about NLEC or renewable energy. WHO are you to call Rice a clown? You are very misguided in your information on him and his work.
Jen, thanks for your comment. I would love to see more evidence of Mr. Rice’s progress. I don’t doubt he helps some people, and he does take in many of the people that other shelters reject, but his tactics are flawed. He’s combative in dealing with the City, the Downtown St. Louis Residents Association, and others who try to assist him. If he’s making improvements to his shelter, they clearly aren’t to the outside, which is riddled with broken windows. I work extremely close to the building and have seen very little progress in the past five years. He allows people to give food to his clients outdoors, which in turn creates massive amounts of litter. The structure itself is in severe building and fire cold violation, and those violations are overlooked because of fear of retaliation through TV stations, the media and via protests on private citizens’ lawns, all of which have happened before. I would like nothing more than to see the marginalized groups of our City given new life. Unfortunately, the ends don’t justify the means, which is why my money goes to places like the St. Patrick’s Center, and other organizations that are accountable to all of their shareholders.