Haiti needs help, but so does the District

By Virginia Saxton
Washington

Regarding the Jan. 19 Metro article “D.C.’s stressed aid centers are a stressor for poor residents,” which described the plight of the city’s poor as they try to get help at Income Maintenance Administration centers in the District:

Some residents are forced to wait days for assistance, and the photographs with this article showed long lines filled with these desperate people.

On the same day that the article ran, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty could be seen on television attending a news conference at the Haitian Embassy and speaking of the need for people to show compassion and extend a helping hand to earthquake victims in Haiti.

I couldn’t help but wonder why Mr. Fenty does not realize that charity begins at home.

This is not to deny the need for all of us to contribute to Haiti, as I have already done. But I think it is hypocritical of Mr. Fenty to speak about helping earthquake victims 700 miles from the United States while his government is not fulfilling its duty to relieve the suffering of the poor right here in the nation’s capital.

One of those standing out in the cold in Anacostia stated: “Fenty is not in touch at all with this community.” Sorry to say, but based on what I read in this article, I am in complete agreement with her.