OPINION
The Chronicle
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www.wschronicle.com
Ernest H. Pitt Publisher/Co-Founder
Donna Rogers Managing Editor
Elaine Pitt Business Manager
Our Mission
The Chronicle is dedicated to serving the
residents of Winston-Salem and Forsyth
County by giving voice to the voiceless, speak
ing truth to power, standing for integrity and
encouraging open communication and
lively debate throughout the community.
Helping others
can help our
economy, too
Samaritan Ministries opened its new building to
the public on Sunday for tours. Those who went on
tours of the facility were shown impressive new fea
tures and much more space for several facets of the
building, which holds 80 beds for homeless men.
These men, for whatever reason, are homeless.
Some of the men might have lost their jobs or were
in the military and couldn't find jobs in civilian life.
That could render people homeless. Without the
independence a job can bring, many people lose their
homes, their automobiles and even their families.
Jobs are important to people's well-being. It's
easy to become depressed without a job. This depres
sion can lead to destruction of self or of others.
Jobs are important to the economy, too. The more
people are working, the more people are contributing
to die economy by spending money on housing,
food, clothing and other necessities. People with jobs
also pay taxes.
Jobs are the linchpin that holds lives together.
Jobs allow people to feed their families and pay for
their homes so that they won't become homeless.
Fortunately for some homeless people, organiza
tions are helping them get back on their feet. They
are providing stopgap measures until they can get
jobs and provide for themselves, and for others too.
Whole Man Ministries is another organization that is
providing homes for the homeless ? veterans ? and
some low-income families. This organization,
Samaritan Ministries and others like them make sure
that some people without basic necessities have
them.
But those organizations and others like them need
help to do their work. They need money and volun
teers to help them fill a void that might not otherwise
be filled in Winston-Salem. They seek help to help
others.
The organizations have received help from large
donors and grants. Samaritan Ministries received
help from a housing fund agency. Whole Man
Ministries received help from several businesses.
These donors recognize the importance of what these
organizations are doing.
And volunteers help keep their organizations
going.
Willis Miller, assistant director at Samaritan
Ministries, spoke highly of his organization's volun
teers on Sunday. ^
"We have the best volunteers in Winston-Salem
and the state of North Carolina," he said. "I'm not
bragging; I know that for a fact!"
While some people can't volunteer to help the
organizations, many more can give money, which
usually is tax-deductible.
Giving of time and money is helping the econo
my. Eighty men are not living on the street as a bur
den to public safety agencies. They are encouraged
to be working toward being contributing citizens to
the Winston-Salem community. Just imagine if that
happens. People's lives will be changed, and money
will be flowing into the economy.
Samaritan Ministries has portions of Scripture
from the Bible on the donor wall of its new building.
The words are from Matthew 25:35 ? "for I was
hungry and you gave me food ... I was a stranger and
you took me in."
Helping an organization that helps others is good
for the economy, and will probably be good for the
soul, too.
CAPITAL CAMPAIGN DONORS
? ?? 2010-2014 # . ?
Photo by Donna Rogers
Visitors look at the wall of donors at the new
Samaritan Ministries building on Sunday, April 12.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Where is leadership
from Roy Cooper?
To the Editor:
Where was the chief law enforce
ment officer of this state, Attorney
General Roy Cooper, before the
North Charleston [S.C.] shooting?
Where was Roy Cooper on body
cameras during the Ferguson and Eric
Garner tragedies?
In December 2014, when it was
not popular to call for police video
body cameras, _
I sent a letter
to Gov. Pat
McCrory call
ing upon him
to join me in
seeking leg
islative sup
port for requir
ing local law
enforcement
officers to
wear ooay
cameras as
A?_ A
Spaulding
nicy tarry uui
their official
duties. This
occurred at a
tenuous time
when demon
strations and
emotions were
very heated
and high.
Attorney
General Roy
Cooper
remained politi
Cooper
cally timid, shy and sileh't. As usual,
he offered no leadership or construe-;
tive solutions to address a major
problem for so many minorities and
citizens in North Carolina and across
this country.
Now after an obvious video
showing in North Charleston, Roy
Cooper wants to finally show up and
support the use of body cameras in
North Carolina. He has been a day
late and a dollar short for so long
when it comes to the need for coura
geous leadership.
If Roy Cooper is proving he can
not lead as Attorney General, then
how can we trust his leadership as
Governor?
Ken Spaulding,
Durham, N.C.
Democrat,
North Carolina
? gubernatorial candidate
PETA and possums
To the Editor:
House Bill 574 ? which would
decriminalize cruelty to opossums
and nullify every other law relating
to opossums in North Carolina
between Dec. 29 and Jan. 2 each
year ? makes a mockery of the
legal system and puts animals in
danger.
This bill caters to the interests of
one man ? the organizer of Clay
County's New Year's Eve "Opossum
Drop." It would allow him to contin
ue terrorizing opossums by capturing
them, confining them in a tiny box,
dangling them above a rowdy crowd,
and bombarding them with loud
music and fireworks. Wildlife
experts warn that the stress of such
abuse can be fatal to these shy ani
mals.
If passed, this bill would also
grant anyone in North Carolina carte
blanche to torture, dismember or oth
erwise abuse and kill opossums dur
ing that time period.
A similar law was passed last
year, but PETA's legal challenge
ensured that no live opossum was
tormented at last year's Opossum
Drop, and it is expected that the law
will be permanently struck down by
the court. But now, the sponsors of
HB 574 are trying to replace one
unconstitutional law with another.
I urge readers to ask their state
representatives to oppose this shame
ful bill today. Visit www.PETA.org
to learn more.
Amy Elizabeth, Writer
The PETA Foundation
Black Mountain, N.C., branch
EDITOR'S NOTE: On the web
site of the organizer of Clay County's
New Year's Eve "Opossum Drop," it
states: "We just want to let you know
that we do ABSOLUTELY NOTH
ING to harm the 'possum. We cele
brate in honor of this marsupial!"
A personal plea for
action
To the Editor:
My name is Charles R. Peet. I
reside in Troutman, N.C. and I am a
career Army veteran who filed a
claim for PTSD in the year 1990.
This claim has been active since that
time. Eventually I sought legal coun
sel with the case and after several
attempts, my claim was awarded.
This took a long time in which my
lawyer had to take the case to a
Supreme Court Judge in Washington,
DC.
My dilemma is that I've never
been compensated for this case. I
have made numerous trips to the
Veteran's Administration inquiring
about the matter. I have been given
the run-around every time. Several
employees at the VA in Winston
Salem told me that African
Americans have a hard time getting
compensated, whereas whites don't
seem to have as much trouble.
I even went as far as to write to
Senator Kay Hagan and
Congressman Stanley Purple about
this matter. They also were given lit
tle help. They were told that my
paperwork was on the desk at the
Finance Department. This led me to
believe that my case was in the
process of being settled ... to date
nothing has happened.
rv_
v_?n my
visit to the
VA in
Winston
Salem, the
man that
was helping
me said that
I was paid
retroactive
payments
for my four
dependents.
The amount
that he
showed me were $280 and $800.1
disputed the $800 payment. I was
told by the Salisbury, N.C. Veteran's
Administration prosthetics depart
ment that the $800 payment was my
yearly clothing allowance.
lite information that he gave to
me was from an employee. I have
made several attempts to speak with
her to no avail. How can $280 be
retroactive pay to four dependent
children with a claim that has been
running since 1990?
Charles R. Peet, Army Retired
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