Sioux Falls Homelessness; The City of Sioux Falls hasn’t provided near close to the best form of support that it could to our homeless community especially, when you have cities like Forth Worth, Texas or many cities in the state of California hiring the homeless as city helpers to assist with litter control, landscaping, decorating, etc. and paying them wages between $9.50/hr in Texas and $15.00/hr in California! What the city of Sioux Falls has provided thus far has been very apparent for years that it isn’t enough when the homeless continue to be a nuisance in downtown Sioux Falls especially.

I encourage you all to sign this petition in support of encouraging Mayor TenHaken and the City of Sioux Falls to create and/or support a community group that connects with our homeless community directly. It’d be very beneficial for the community group to select some strong homeless leaders from within the homeless community that could assist with providing discipline to the homeless who get out of line and also who could help with ensuring the safety of everyone around in downtown Sioux Falls.(The homeless tend to listen to each other more than they do others.) Additionally and most importantly, I find it beneficial with support from Mayor TenHaken and the City of Sioux Falls that they offer the homeless employment positions as city workers in the environment their most comfortable in which is downtown Sioux Falls because they’re surely not going anywhere otherwise without any sort of opportunity. With offering positions as city workers, it’d be in the best interest of all if the city were to set conditions of employment such as drug and alcohol testing before every shift or randomly to ensure the integrity of the homeless employees. With such initiative it can help in the following areas and with so much more;
- Downtown’s appearance and the feeling of safety in downtown Sioux Falls with seeing the homeless at work.
- Removes the issue with the homeless being some much of a nuisance in downtown Sioux Falls.
- Removes the homeless from streets and into affordable housing. (This is important for the winter months when the shelters get full.)
- Reduces the amount the homeless maybe receiving in State benefits.
- Helps the homeless qualify for the minimum in state benefits considering being employed.
- Confidence amongst the homeless to clean themselves up and become financially dependent of themselves instead of depending on everyone else to support them.



I started this petition because...
January 15, 2019 was one of the first nights this winter where temperatures dropped below freezing in Sioux Falls. The next morning a "John Doe" was found under the 10th Street viaduct. Additionally, two more homeless individuals died in Winter 2019 here in Sioux Falls due to cold exposure. Sioux Falls Police says, “Even one person dying from cold exposure is too many”.