As a citizen of Portland for more than 30 years, during which I taught at the Maine College of Art, I read with interest your article about the Bayside neighborhood hitting “rock bottom,” and the letters that followed a week later, in the May 13 Maine Sunday Telegram.

What strikes me about the debate over Preble Street and the Oxford Street Shelter is that everyone seems generally to agree that people in need should be helped, and I personally think it’s noble that Portland wishes to continue to be compassionate. But I don’t see why moving the shelters out of downtown constitutes a lack of compassion.

Services can be rendered without them occurring where they currently are. Furthermore, this would allow Portlanders to extend compassion to homeowners in the Bayside neighborhood, to children at nearby schools (who currently witness more than they should) and to tourists, who are often the target of aggressive panhandling. Why isn’t “compassion for all” the best approach?

Dana Sawyer

Portland and Blue Hill