Homelessness

These are scary economic times, to be sure.

My first thought is, Where are that person's friends and family? My second thought is, that the homeless person has probably offended every person in his / her life to the point that none of their friends or family would be willing to take them in.

Dupre makes a good point that many homeless people have exhausted the patience of friends and family.

Alcohol, drugs and mental illness frequently complicate the homeless situation.

Re: Homelessness


My view....having been a homeless person for about 5 years..
is going to take a while to type.
I willpost it when I am done.

Why goes through your mind when you see a homeless person?

Honestly?
Do i know them? My second thought tends to be ' whats their story?'
Then I usually examine them for signs of alcoholisim , drug use etc if I plan on handing them
some money.
Arrogant ? Yes.. very much so..
Further explaination .. keep reading.






I believe it was noddy who said that one of the major reasons for homelessness is the exhaustion of
friends and family when dealing with thier addictions, behaviors..e tc.
This is true.. but only to a certain extent.

most people view the homeless population to be the ones on the corner with a sign
The ones stumbling down the street or standing outside McDonalds begging for food.
This is only about 10% of the population. A very SMALL fraction.
Homeless people are homeless for many reasons.
My personal guess is that 60% of average americans are 2 paychecks away from being homeless THEMSELVES.

I have known people homeless because the company they worked for closed its doors and
they were not able to find a job in time to pay next months rent.

I have met people whos personal and property inurance didnt cover a house fire.
They lost everything.

I have met people who worked FULL time and were homeless because they only made
minimum wage and that wasnt enough for a deposit + 1st months rent + deposits on utilities + appliances + bus fare to GEt to work + laundry ..... you catch my drift..

I have told a piece of this story before -
There was a man who had won a gold medal in the olympics inside the last 12 years that was homeless. He lost everything to drugs. Was arrested for felony possession..
This ' possession charge?' a small corner baggie of coke.
If you would have poured it out, it wouldnt have made a dime size pile on the table.
Due to his felony, he was NOT LEGALLY able to rent an apt, vote, work ANYWHERE that there were 'drugs'
This included grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, ..etc
He could BUY a home, the laws were not against him purchasing a home.. but renting?
Nope.. not allowed. And in places where it was left up to the building management? .............Nope, unwanted felon.
He had to carry the label ' felon' with him for the rest of his life because
of a small amount of drugs in his pocket.Last i saw him, he was sober for several years and had a job at a local homeless shelter in Albq. His pay - 50 bucks a week + a bed.

The people who are TRULY homeless because of things that are out of thier control you will not see on the side of the road. Shame and humiliation keep them hidden. Small crappy jobs with tiny hourly wages keep them working 2-7 just to afford food and clean clothes.


THIS IS THE MAJORITY OF HOMELESS PEOPLE .


Unfortunatly , noone sees it . You are bombarded with the drunks on the corners with witty signs and toothless smiles trying to convince you they are just down on thier luck.
If homeless people have anything to be embarassed about, it is the ones on the corner. Because that is what people are greeted with when they are driving down the street, they lump them ALL together.

Alot of people think that if you want to get out of being homeless .. just get a job. How can someone get a job with no phone? No PHYSICAL address that the government REQUIRES for tax papers? No money for clean clothes? No alarm clock? No food? And sometimes , No ID?
True, there are homeless shelters that you can use for your mail..But I tell you this:
There isnt an employer in the CITY that doesnt have the address of homeless shelters listed on thier desk tops to watch out for.
Even when you bust your ass, the world is prejudice against you before you even open your mouth.
Most of the time, the only types of jobs homeless people can get are under the table, seasonal, illegal , and unfair jobs. Having to afford basic things like clean clothes and food to be able to KEEP this job, takes the 4 bucks an hour they are paid.

There is a reason why you dont see 'real' homeless people.
They are working their asses off to stay alive.

There is a reason why you see drunk homeless people everyday

Because people think there is nothing else and no other way to help them.. so they give them thier change and go off feeling good about themselves and thinking they just helped a person who is down on their luck.

Good post, shewolf.

:-)
thank you.
One thing I am passionate about- homelessness.
For obvious reasons.

Excellent post, shewolf.

Agree, excellent post, Shewolf.

anyone else have a diffrent point of view??
I am interested in hearing what other people have to say about this as well..

You are right...all I ever see is some guy without a leg or an arm, dirty and asking for money. I would rather buy them a hamburger than give them money because you know where that $5 is going to....However, most of them don't want food. They want the money to buy their drugs or booze.

I think that once some people become homeless, they just feel like that's the way it is and how it always will be. They get in a funk and can't get a job. Or can't hold a job, for whatever reason. Or they think that they just aren't worth it anyway. Or that life will just kick them down again so why get up. I think hopelessness is a lot to blame. That and the fact that Shewolf is right. Who will hire someone who basically has no history for the last 5-10+ years? No identity? On the flip side of that, most restaurants will take illegals and those without ID under the table as bussers or kitchen workers, so many of these people COULD get jobs. I just think they don't want to do that kind of work. I think they think it's more demeaning to work as a kitchen drudge than it is to be homeless.

But then you have the type Shewolf is talking about. Those who literally got down and just can't get back up, no matter how hard they fight. The ones who would rather scrape for rent money by collecting bottles than get it from the state. The ones who lose everything because maybe they got sick and lost their job, or just can't feed their babies and pay rent. The minimum wage in this country cannot feed, clothe and house a family, so a single mom/dad has no choice but welfare or 2+ jobs. And some people are just too proud to take a handout. So they end up homeless with nothing because then their families are ashamed of them and don't want them around or to be associated with them. And they fall further and further into the cracks until they don't exist anymore. At least not to society who just turn their heads on the single mom who waits on them at their local diner, instead of tipping her just a little bit more once a week. Or tossing away the not so perfect resume of someone who might not be able to get a job elsewhere, instead of offering them a job and taking a chance on them.

I think homelessness has so many causes it's hard to pin any label on any homeless person or any one cause.

you are right.
Many people just dont want to look around at the big picture .
unfortunatly.. jobes such as bussers are taken.
Or.. only offered to spanish speaking people because the boss only wants to speak spanish. ( this is a small percentage.. but it DOES happen. Dont shoot me for pointing it out)
Another thing is that even if there is no 'history' of work so to speak on the employees application, there is still the homeless -look-.
Not always clean cut hair, 5'oclock shadow at best, rumpled un ironed clothes... Imagine someone who is living out of thier back pack, sleeping in a tent , dressing for a job interview..
Now imagine hiring that person.
Doesnt happen too often.
Government assistance for homeless people is SHOCKINGLY hard to get.
If most homeless who were working HAD assistance, they wouldnt BE homeless.
Even the gov descriminates about who they hand out assistance funds to... But isnt the funding supposed to go to needy people?
So why is it more often then not going to the young woman or COUPLE who are having kids to increase thier government income?
It is easier for a person with several kids to get on assistance ( of ANY kind ) then it is for homeless people.


I am in NO way being judgemental with my statements.
I am simply pointing out a homeless discrimination in gov assistance. Not insulting parents with kids who are on assistance.

Most of the guys that my hubby has worked with in the restaurant industry in the back of house are spanish speaking men. He had to learn spanish to keep up.

Speaking spanish isnt a bad thing at all...
but it does seem to be an easy cover up for " employee selection"
not a common one.. but it does happen sadly enough

but then again, you could say so about the same percentae of american employers who DONT hire spanish speaking people because they ONLY want english spoken..

Very true. The reason most of the cooks at my hubby's store are spanish speaking is because the kitchen manager is spanish speaking and to be honest, you gotta speak it to keep up with those guys! If they got some middle class white boy back there, he'd be lost. He'd have no clue what anyone was talking about.

My first feeling is of sadness for them. I wonder what could possibly have happened to cause them this kind of suffering.

My problem with "homelessness" is that these people have oftentimes been off the unemployment payments for so long that the US government no longer considers them as part of it's "unemployied." This in my opinion is incredibly cruel, as these are the people who are the most obviously unemploied.

Why do you think it is cruel?
Yes being considered unemployeed CAN come with some benefits.. but not much. They usually expire 6mos - year

granted...
6 mos of a paycheck would be more then enough to get a significant amount of people OUT of the homeless ' society" and back on their feet...

i didnt think about that..

What I meant is that when people come off the unemployment status, they are not considered unemployed by the US government. The government can then say, as they said this year, that poverty is down this year because there are fewer people on unemployment. There are fewer people on unemployment because most have run out. The government can then deny that there is a problem. I don't know how identifying the problem would help, but it still seems like a vicious cycle to me.

My first feeling when I see a homeless person is deep sadness. But I don't judge any of them and, yes, give them money if the light is red and they can get to the car window.

I do volunteer work in The Caring Place near Austin where people donate TONS of stuff from clothes and jewelry to furniture. It's for sale to the general public but that's how the money is made. We give people free food, clothing, furniture, funds for electric bills, medication, even a box of food for homeless or transients, IF they qualify. They are also guided to programs where they can receive FREE job training at college level.

The "clients" are treated with respect. People do have to seek out assistance.