Editor:

It is not my nature to raise issues in our community with a negative voice. I have upon occasion written and submitted items to this newspaper in which I have always attempted to be as positive and conciliatory as possible. I have sought to celebrate the goodness of this community and express my joy at being able to live here.

However, I feel a need to respond to the article in last Tuesday’s paper entitled, “Are group homes danger to residents?” Beginning with this headline, it is my opinion that the article was seemingly deliberately written to stir up animosity toward group homes with fear and innuendo. Why else did the article begin with an almost lurid, or at least dramatic, account of the incident? 

Please do not misunderstand me. The incident was serious and what happened should not have happened. We expect people to do their jobs properly and that institutions maintain appropriate levels of education and accountability in regard to their employees. But we also might hold parallel expectations with homeowners and the general public.

I speak as one who has been a victim of burglary and theft, primarily as a result of failure to lock the doors of my home when we were away. A simple twist of a key would have prevented the theft, but, hey, we live in Evanston where we don’t need to worry about daylight thefts, right? No, wrong. We all bear some responsibility to secure our premises with, at least, common sense.

Could the Jorgensens have responded differently, and in a manner that might have changed the outcome of the incident? Perhaps, perhaps not — it is difficult to sort things out when startled awake in the middle of the night. But is it unreasonable to suggest that one might not want to open a locked door under such circumstances until one knows for sure who is on the other side of it? I leave that for us all to ponder.

There are other issues with the rest of the article. Police Chief Jon Kirby was reported as saying that there have been a few more incidents of problems with persons connected with group homes than in the past. What is a “few more?” Are there any actual statistics available as to the number, nature and significance of such incidents? What has been the number in the past? Is the increase suggested by Kirby’s reported comment suggesting a statistically reliable trend, or is it simply rare anomaly? 

A more serious problem I have with the article is the exchange regarding the “what can we do about this” question. A similar question arose in this community around 20 years ago when at least one resident objected to the number of group homes in Evanston that were owned and operated by MRSI and Pioneer Counseling Services. We had a brief spat of “not in my back yard” noise for a short time.

However, many residents from our good community pointed out that these two operations contributed to the local economy and, more importantly, the residents of these homes were human beings that deserved respect and compassion. I sincerely hope that the alarmist material in this article does not spawn another round of negative expressions regarding group homes in Evanston.

Finally, let us remember that we are all in this together. We all can make mistakes, but more importantly, we all have something to offer, not only to our friends and families, but to all the residents of our community. By accepting our responsibilities to be good citizens and working together, we can find solutions to those situations and issues that challenge. This is a great community. Let’s keep it that way.

Roy Walworth

Evanston