"I thought you would like to know that the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless received this letter from the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment stating that our Integrated Screening for Chronic Disease Among those who are Homeless Program was terminated immediately due to the recently announced budget cuts. This $199,000 program at Stout Street Clinic has been credited for early detection for many homeless individuals for colon and breast cancer leading to life saving treatment. The letter states in part:

The Review Committee for CCPD has met several times to determine how to make such a large reduction while still maintaining a foundational chronic disease grants program. Simply put, the foundational chronic disease program is a determination of "core programs" for each disease area and the cross cutting area that are deemed to be most important for the scaled back grants program. On Friday, September 11, the committee voted to continue 34projects and discontinue 24 projects for the remainder of this fiscal year based on match with core areas, evidence basis, and ability to measure effectiveness. We regret to inform you that the Integrated Screening for Chronic Disease Among those who are Homeless Program fell outside of the core areas and will be discontinued. You will receive official notification of this action within a few days and will be instructed to stop work on the project.

This is the fourth letter of this type we have received in the past two weeks, totaling more than $2.5 million in funding cuts, retroactive to July 1, 2009. Needless to say it will be a long, sick winter for homeless persons in Colorado."

Such a drastic change affects the lives of countless citizens who will die without being identified with serious medical problems. What this decision says is that the poor have no place in society because they're lives are expendable.