Bread for Life

I am in favor of the new Bread for Life facility going up on Main Street.  It is disappointing to see the parents of Derynoski Elementary School rushing to judgment and making assumptions about the clients using BFL.   Just because someone needs these services doesn’t mean they are bad people.  In the most recent article, a parent was quoted as saying “she was worried about the homeless population being near the students during operating hours”.  The implication is that the parents don’t want their children “exposed” to the homeless population.  Being homeless is an unfortunate fact in our society, and there are many reasons people are homeless; job loss being a major factor.  Also, not everyone using the BFL services are homeless; they are living in your neighborhood and go to your church/synagogue/mosque, and their children attend Derynoski Elementary School.  You are judging unjustly the people you know.  Finally, the students are never alone during the school’s operating hours.  The children are either inside the school, or being supervised by teachers and paraprofessionals outside on the playground which is down the hill behind the school (off Eden Ave.), hardly close to the proposed Bread for Life building going up on Main Street.  Lunch is served at 12 noon at BFL; perhaps in the interest of eliminating the parents’ fears, BFL can agree that their clients are no longer on the premises by the time school gets out at 3:25.  Perhaps a fence can be erected in order to deter the BFL clients from entering school grounds.  I am sure there are compromises that can be made here.  I have generally had faith in the people of Southington to do the right thing, but I shudder to think how I would be treated by my community if one day I had to use the BFL services because I have been laid off for a year and can’t find a job.