Editor:

Alienation and desperation are the roots of the anti-social behavior we would like to see improve among homeless ("Mailbox," April 23). An alienated person is constantly confronted by a disapproving society telling them their ideas have no value and forcing them into the margins. They come to view society as the enemy.

A desperate person has been driven into a corner by circumstances and will steal or lash out to survive. Alienated and desperate people don't have the tools to solve their problems to society's standards by themselves.

A society that continues to push these people further will never succeed in reducing their negative impacts on the quality of life for the whole. It's time to assign funds to create camps for the needy that raise their standard of living and give them hope that society does not hate them. Reducing the harm to them will reduce the harm to us.

Anna Hamilton, Eureka