Letter: Can we help inner-city kids first?

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

My sympathy to Roxana Orellana for seeing her hometown deteriorate. I know the feeling.

I grew up in Cleveland in the 1950s and '60s. It was never a safe place. We didn't know that as young children, but it became more evident as we got older. We did know that the "mob" was everywhere. That came to a head in the late '60s and '70s. Refer you to "Kill the Irishman" movie, 2011.

When I visit, I go to my old neighborhood in the day. No one I know is still there. Less than a mile away at W 105th and Lorain is where Ariel Castro kidnapped three women. My cousins in Detroit can't even go back to their old neighborhood in the daylight. Chicago has more murders than we have American losses in Afghanistan per year. Can we do something for the children there?

I feel sorry for the children that are in danger in Central America. Children from Mexico and Canada don't have the right to a hearing. Dropping 50,000-plus children into an already overloaded foster care system is not feasible or safe. These countries need to step up and take responsibility.

Beverly M. Taylor

West Valley City