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6 stouffville suntribune thursday aug 11 2005 0mbiouffwle m m suntribune a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave 3rd floor stouffville on l4a 7z5 publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief debord kelly business manager robert lazurko director production interactive media john futhey advertising director retail flyer sales nicole fletcher advertising director classified real estate events management gordpaolucci distribution director circulation barry black director circulation systems lynn pashko marketingpartnerships director debra welter york region printing general manager bob dean editorial some things better left to government there are some things that are better left to government courts hospitals and even prisons are institutions that may include some private sector involvement but are ulti mately best run by governments in the public interest when private companies become involved in some areas highways for example the public isnt always the top priority and even nonprofit agencies while wellmeaning should be pushed aside when it comes to areas government may be able to run more efficiently by drawing on its huge resources and expertise one such area is public housing including emergency shelters for the homeless theres a prime example right here in york region regional taxpayers have had to come to the rescue of a failed emergency hous ing project operated by transitional and supportive housing of york region a nonprofit agency the group had ambitious plans for 15 cottages for homeless york region fami lies at leeder place family shelter on yonge street north of newmarket they would have offered struggling york region families which are becom ing more common some dignity and security as they clawed their way back to self sufficiency but construction of the cottages stalled when the agencys funding which was kickstarted by a 700000 federal grant fell short the agency had hoped to raise funds privately but that effort stum bled leaving the development more than 2 million in the hole rather than see the worthwhile pro ject die york region kicked in 22 million in return for ownership of the property now the partially constructed cot tages will be sold or scrapped under a new plan that will see the region build an apartmentstyle shelter for 15 families unfortunately social housing is now run through a patchwork of social agen cies and governmentrun projectsthis creates overlap and wasted dollars the cancellation of the leeder place cottage project is just one example earlier this year the largest confer ence on homelessness in canadian his tory called for a national policy on home lessness thats a good place to start but on the local level perhaps ifs time government took the lead on all major social housing projects with nonprofit agencies taking a supporting role by helping operating facilities that appears to be whafs happening at leeder place its too bad it didnt hap pen before public money was wasted- its natures way gentler andthesun- sanitizes the laundry thinkof the power saved if develop ers wereto supply cuothsllnes instead of banning them letters to the editor take a minute to thank a volunteer i have seen this more than once someone puts their heart arid soul into helping an organization association school or community group and does not even get a thankyou this person rearranges their life with their chil dren and spouse to follow through with their com mitment and still no thanks this person will show up early to help out attend meetings and even organize them and still no thanks then why do we bother helping i ask myself all the time its because of the children and the com munity if we keep the kids busy and involved with sports school outside interests church groups or parttime jobs it will help our community i have always been told keeping children busy will keep them out of trouble so lets all remember that in every facet of life someone has helped us out it starts with the local volunteer so turn to them and say thank you do not forget its the small things that go a long way remember it can be contagious so if no one has ever said it to all of you out there thank you michael humphreys stouffville positive message the answer re positive reinforcement still answer teachers say aug 6 as a retired educator who taught for 32 years in three school boards in ontario i couldnt agree more with york region education director bill hogarths statement i think its an old argument in the business world companies fail all the time remember the old adage if at first you dont suc ceed try try again lets take a look at history in education as well as the stouffville suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the stouffville suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor 34 civic ave po box 1 54 stouffville l4a 7z5 email jmasonyrngcom in the business world winston churchill did not become prime min ister of england until he was 62 and then only after a lifetime of defeats and setbacks his greatest con tributions came when he was a senior citizen albert einstein did poorly in elementary school and he failed his first college entrance exam at zurich polytechnic but he became one of the greatest scientists in the history of the world william faulkner failed to graduate from high school because he didnt have enough credits who flunked the first grade and went on to become attorney general and went on to become president robert e kennedy clint eastwood was once told by a universal pictures executive that his future wasnt very promising the man said you have a chip on your tooth your adams apple sticks out too far and you talk too slow i bet your bottom dollar that each and every one of these failuresuccess stories as well as the hundreds of others that are but there had a teacher mentor who saw the potential who posi tively reinforced who built self esteem and who contributed to success the moral of this story for parents educators and anyone who deals with our youth positive reinforcement is still the answer elaine tordai markham editorial editor jim mason jmasonyrngcom administration office manager vivian oneu voneilymgcom events management shows manager bonnie rondeau brondeauymgcom production manager pam nichols pnicholsyrngcom advertising classified manager ann campbell acampbellymgcom retail manager staceyallen sallenymgcom managing director new business flyer sales dawna andrews dandrewsyrngcom new business manager steve kane sianeyrngcom managing director real estate mikerogerson mrogersonymgcom editorial 905640261218668461889 fai 9056408778 advertising 9056402612 classified 18007433353fax 9058531765 distribution 9052948244 canadian aiajhl aixstboanlmtrobw ontario press council suntnbune a york region newspaper group community newspaper the suntribune published every thursday and saturday is a member of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd awhollyowned subsidiary of torstar corporation metroland is comprised of 70 community publications across ontario the york region newspaper group includes the liberal serving richmond hill and thomhill vaughan citizen the economist sun markham the erabanner newmarket aurora stouffville suntribune georgina advocate york region business times north of the city yorkregjoncom and york region printing off the top with jim mason wonder years replaced by safer times and suddenly the world turned dangerous back in the wonder years of my youth a 10yearold boy could take the bus alone across the city to go swimming or take in a movie seem- ingly without worry today often with good reason we dont let adults interact with children unless there are witnesses present heck you cant even take a picture of your own birthday partying child on the pool deck at the lebovic leisure centre sorry no cameras dad we didnt worry about slathering on spf 300 sunscreen sun glasses were more fashion statement than eye protection outdoor workers and vacationing children baked in the sun all day and blistered through the night bicycle helmets were only worn by geeky riders on the tour de france heck most nhl players didnt wear head protection and the hel mets worn by minor puck players were as thin as credit cards and when we got a ride to hockey practice it was too cold to walk there were no seatbelts in the back seat of the fury wagon and ho pro tective car seat for your baby sister we didnt think about only water- ing the lawn or washing the wagon on designated days and hours same for conserving electricity or gaso line its amazing we survived there were no smog warnings blackout warnings uv warnings or storm warnings the same quartet of impending doom has often been issued in the same breath this swel tering summer in stouffvilland and beyond today we wouldnt think twice about riding- a motorcycle without wearing a helmet unless we were somewhere less civilized such as south carolina the vast majority of us recycle judging by the steady stream of over flowing blue boxes come wednesday morning on our crescent we play by more rules we have more information we google and e with so much more ease than trekking to the library and snailmailing the way we did 15 years ago we live a longer and supposedly better life bottom line jim mason is editor of trie sun- tribune