Helping the Homeless - Page 2

cherry · ‎03-09-2010

It greatly upset me to see what was done to the homeless in Chicago. All of their possessions were loaded into garbage trucks and carried off , in this terrible, bitter ,cold.They now have nothing at all, not even a change of clothes.

One small boy was handing out back packs filled with blankets and he was so upset, when he saw the way they were treated

Many , many of these people ,are mentally ill, and can't function, in a normal way

They need looking after, and help just getting through another day

The Capuchins in Detroit ,feed them daily, and house as many as possible in their shelters. They train some to work in their bakery. Others ,they just do what they can to help them.

suzyQ3 · ‎03-09-2010

@SeaMaiden wrote:
Helping the homeless is one thing... giving them handouts with no incentives to better themselves and live on the streets forever is another.

Here in Seattle we have a new name for Seattle..." FREE ATLE"... The city has opened it's doors for homeless people to come here and get free everything.... food.. clothes.... even building them boxes to live in. No incentive for these people to get out of homelessness... just live off of the tax payer who is footing the bill. More and more homeless camps are cropping up all over the city... dirty places needles everywhere... close to homes and schools....they do not clean up after themselves at all.

I am all for helping the homeless get back on their feet and become productive people in society. But in FREE ATLE, this so called handout help is only exasperating the problem.

@SeaMaiden, yours is, IMO, a cruel and actually short-sighted opinion. Of course we should do more to mainstream the homeless.

But meanwhile, they are often ill and very hungry. You can't rehabilitate without first adressing their condition. I thought that our country believed in compassion and helping those who need help, not shaming them as lazy ne-er do wells.

I have never in my life been hungry because I had no food. I have always had a roof over me. But I know darn well that but for the grace....you know the saying. So I try my best to understand what if feels like to be walk in someone else's shoes (or lack thereof).

I think we need to hold on to our principles now more than ever.

~Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

@SeaMaiden Clearly you have very little understanding about how people end up on the streets. For many, yes, it is a drug or alcohol issue. But for so many, especially our vets, it is a mental illness issue. Some of the homeless who come to the shelters are so severely mentally ill we can't even understand them when they try to talk to us.They can't even put together a sentence - how on earth are they going to be trained to get a job? Then there are issues like abandonment - women with a few small children and the husbands desert them. Childcare is too expensive when you are only making minimum wage, it uses up your entire pay. They can't find the father - what can they do? Or woman who find the husband sexually abusing their children - they take the kids and leave but now what do they do? You can't stay in shelters indefinitely. And , in my area, the landlords will let the poor rent homes or apartments for 9 months of the year but come Jan, Feb & march they boot them out because they can get triple the rent from snowbirds.So they have to go live in their car for 3 months every year, right in the worst of winter.

I really wish some people would go out into the world and become knowledgeable on the subject before they start giving their opinions about how we should "help" the homeless.

RainyDayGal · ‎03-09-2010

SeaMaiden is correct. Seattle is a freaking mess! They have thrown hundreds of millions of dollars at the problem, but it is only getting worse. Of course there are people that end up that way through no fault of their own. But there are people that come from other states because of the climate and they know they will get so many free things in Seattle. There are also those that choose to be homeless. Yup, they choose it. I've read the interviews from those people. They like it that way.

The city is disgusting and turning into a big, unsafe pile of filth and drug addicts. Until those people want help, throwing money at the problem is not the solution.

It's not lack of compassion. It's understanding that spending hundreds of millions of dollars is not working, and something different needs to be done.

chrystaltree · ‎05-10-2010

Wow, I never knew that Seattle had a balmy, tropical climate.

RainyDayGal · ‎03-09-2010

@chrystaltree wrote:
Wow, I never knew that Seattle had a balmy, tropical climate.

Seattle's temperature is pleasant enough. Yes, it gets cold in the winter but it's not piled up in snow or below freezing many days. Not saying cold isn't unpleasant. But a lot of the homeless refuse to even seek the shelter that is offered. But most of the year it is more than liveable. Also, money is being diverted from other much needed funds (think elderly) to "help" with the homeless.

missy1 · ‎03-10-2010

https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=08f_1514326890

I posted this in another thread. I couldn't believe all the homeless people in our own country. A drone took footage of downtown LA recently.

Noel7 · ‎03-09-2010

San Francisco has been taking care of our people for years, I am so proud of this city. Glide Memorial church serves thousands of meals daily to anyone who needs to eat, several smaller organizations do the same.

We have vans that scour the city for the homeless when it rains or is cold, they pick them up and take them to shelters.

We have renovated downtown hotels where they can stay while receiving social services help.

There are "stores" to get free clothing and shoes, and The City provides free medical care for anyone in need.

Noel7 · ‎03-09-2010

@SeaMaiden wrote:
Helping the homeless is one thing... giving them handouts with no incentives to better themselves and live on the streets forever is another.

Here in Seattle we have a new name for Seattle..." FREE ATLE"... The city has opened it's doors for homeless people to come here and get free everything.... food.. clothes.... even building them boxes to live in. No incentive for these people to get out of homelessness... just live off of the tax payer who is footing the bill. More and more homeless camps are cropping up all over the city... dirty places needles everywhere... close to homes and schools....they do not clean up after themselves at all.

I am all for helping the homeless get back on their feet and become productive people in society. But in FREE ATLE, this so called handout help is only exasperating the problem.

@SeaMaiden

The point that's missing is that most of the homeless are in no shape to care for themselves. 25% are severely mentally ill, many are our veterans suffering from PTSD. Every night in the US, 40,000 vets are sleeping on the streets.

Noel7 · ‎03-09-2010

@RedConvertibleGirl wrote:
@chrystaltree wrote:
Wow, I never knew that Seattle had a balmy, tropical climate.

Seattle's temperature is pleasant enough. Yes, it gets cold in the winter but it's not piled up in snow or below freezing many days. Not saying cold isn't unpleasant. But a lot of the homeless refuse to even seek the shelter that is offered. But most of the year it is more than liveable. Also, money is being diverted from other much needed funds (think elderly) to "help" with the homeless.

Seattle is known for rain, rain, rain. I lived there for a time.

A little difficult living on the street and functioning in the rain.

"Seattle averages 37.49 inches of precipitation a year, with the vast majority falling as rain instead of snow."

Seattle weather blog.