SCARY-COLD TEMPS: Inspire candidate for Mayor to visit CoMo homeless camps

COLUMBIA, 1/5/25 (Beat Byte) -- Columbia Mayoral candidate Tanya Heath Saturday visited six Columbia-area homeless camps to discover why so many "unhoused" campers prefer the frigid outdoors to a warm bed in a shelter such as Room at the Inn (RATI).

"Those who said they were not going to RATI wanted to stay together as a couple; had pets; or they liked their independent life style and did not want to be in a room where they had rules to follow," Heath said in a video she posted on her personal Facebook page.

Pivoting off a commonly-heard argument about key differences between empathy and enabling, Heath said she "asked questions everyday Columbians want answered."

"What is their reasoning for not having gainful employment? Did they have any intent or long range plan to obtain a employment? If they are not originally from Columbia, what are their thoughts about returning home where they have a support group?" 

Unhoused persons Heath spoke with came to Columbia from Florida, Kansas City, North Carolina, Boston, and Arkansas, Heath explained, dispelling the notion that local resources (and tax dollars) are mostly helping local residents who have lost housing and cannot afford the city's high cost of living. 

Cots at RATIA tacful but persistent critic of homeless service providers and a 30-year Methodist, Heath penned a November letter to leaders of the United Methodist Church, which operates the Turning Point homeless drop-in center on Wilkes Blvd.

Citing "core principles" of love thy neighbor and do no harm, Heath wanted to know why the church never insisted on equal concern for the neighborhood, formerly segregated and populated with older homes, modest incomes and for the past decade, homeless foot traffic that has become both overwhelming and problematic.

"There has never been the promised collaboration between Pastor Meg Hegeman's initiative and the neighborhood," Heath wrote, referring to Turning Point's 2014 debut. "An ongoing lack of communication and action has brought to fruition neighbors’ rightful fears and concerns about negative impacts of Turning Point on surrounding residents and residences."

Though Heath left the video off her Facebook campaign page, critics still pounced, accusing her of trying to look good, ignorance about homelessness, and invasion of privacy, with the implication that true homeless outreach must involve a self-appointed expert of some sort.

A majority, however, thanked Heath for stepping up and "getting out of the warm, cozy office our incumbent Mayor uses in her videos."

"I'm asking these questions and gathering the answers in order to bring a balanced answer to our ecosystem," Heath concluded. "The one we call home: Columbia."

Tanya Heath will face Blair Murphy and incumbent Mayor Barbara Buffaloe in the April 2025 elections.