The question of how best to help Jamestown’s homeless population has been open for far too long.

What we’ve done over the past three years best qualifies as stop-gap measures. Paying to put people in hotels isn’t helping homeless attain self-sufficiency. Local churches and charitable organizations have admirably tried to fill the gap, but in many cases if there isn’t mental health treatment to go along with then the help only fills part of the need. Temporary warming shelters a couple of years ago kept the homeless sheltered from the cold, but the strain was too much on the churches and nonprofits that tried to help.

Mayor Kim Ecklund did the right thing last week when she declared a state of emergency in an attempt to bring more outside resources to the problem. It was terrible to see people in the cold and the elements when the homeless population was limited to 15-20 people. But as the populations grew in recent months it became clear that the solution to the homeless crisis will require more resources than Jamestown, Chautauqua County and its myriad partners have at their disposal.

Declaring a state of emergency is only the first step, however. It’s time for the state to bring some of its expertise and resources to the situation. Some of those resources will be transportation funding to help people who have been left in the city after mental health evaluations to get back home. Resources are needed to help with cleanup of camps both downtown and in the woods. Some of the additional resources that we hope will come to Jamestown should help create the type of supportive transition programs from homelessness to self-sufficiency that county officials have said they are working to create, but that also take time to create. And time is in short supply as the homeless population grows.

We have seen an increase in the types of nuisance crimes that city residents and businesses shouldn’t have to deal with. We are seeing conditions that place public health in some areas of the city at risk. These issues are not aesthetic problems that may drive away some tourists. Instead, the rising homeless population and the issues they’re creating create very real problems that end up affecting hundreds of people’s livelihoods, property and well-being.

We can’t continue the way we have the past three years. We certainly can’t continue the way we have the past eight months. Solutions are going to be hard. We’re going to have to find ways to allow people to help the homeless without creating further dependency. We’re going to have to find a way to house the homeless without creating shelters the city and county can’t afford to either build on their own or staff on their own.

But perhaps the hardest part is not to assign blame. A lot of things have gone wrong to get to this point. The most important thing now is to have as many cool, solutions-minded organizations at the table as possible. Solving the homeless crisis in Jamestown will require give and take – and as much help as the state and federal governments can give.