Community Chat

[AuntG]

@cherry, can you elaborate on the Chicago story? Why would the city take away the few possessions those people had?  Did they take the people to shelters?  It was disturbing to read but maybe there was a good motive that I didn't understand.

[cherry]

There are elderly homeless. They can't live outside like the younger people do

I volunteered at a local Thrift Shop. We had  such a sad  person that would come in to get free clothing

She was an alcoholic ,and had  mental problems. I don't know if it was drink related or something else

She took a shine to me, because I would talk to her. Most of the women working there  were deathly afraid of her. She did look very fierce, and I think she  could be capable of  violence ,if provoked

She used to ask me to call the shelter and tell them she was coming. She got mad ,because one of the other customers said ,you don't need to do that, you just turn up

Well, I think she only wanted to be treated a bit special. So I would pretend to call ,and make a reservation for her. This pleased her to no end. She looked just awful ,her hair wasn't combed  and is stood on end, her teeth were all rotten stumps and she was rather scruffy looking, but she was still a child of God and needed help. I hope she is OK. Her life was so hard, and I think she was much younger than she looked. An older person couldn't withstand the rigours of her lifestyle, for long

[Noel7]

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@AuntG wrote:

@cherry, can you elaborate on the Chicago story? Why would the city take away the few possessions those people had?  Did they take the people to shelters?  It was disturbing to read but maybe there was a good motive that I didn't understand.

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It's done often @AuntG  Some cities say they will come in and remove things in certain areas, some just send in a clean-up crew and confiscate everything.

[cherry]

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@AuntG wrote:

@cherry, can you elaborate on the Chicago story? Why would the city take away the few possessions those people had?  Did they take the people to shelters?  It was disturbing to read but maybe there was a good motive that I didn't understand.

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@AuntG  I guess an alderman ordered it. I'm not sure why. The city did say today ,it was a mistake. Too little , too late ,if you ask me

[Noel7]

FROM THE SALVATION ARMY

Homelessness can be caused by:

• poverty
• unemployment
• lack of affordable housing
• poor physical or mental health
• drug and alcohol abuse
• gambling
• family and relationship breakdown
• domestic violence
• physical and/or sexual abuse.

All these factors can cause a person to become homeless. They can also be one of the reasons why a person remains homeless. For example, drug and alcohol abuse can be both a cause and a result of

• domestic violence
• mental illness or addictions
• family instability

[Noel7]

One that hasn't been mentioned (that I have seen) is the growing number of homeless families, a lot of whom are living in their car.  When they have to move, the children are sent from school to school.  A little hard to get an education that way.

[Preds]

Some homeless don't want your help.  Some get angry if you invade their area to offer it.  Some make the choice to be where they are and live the way they do.  How are we to know the choice? 

We have been abused by trying to help those that we assumed needed help.  We dropped everything an left.  What we dropped was not used and we found it later in the week when we went back. 

[cherry]

@Preds     everyone is different. Just like people who are living well.

The best thing if you are scared ,is to donate to a charity ,that helps them. There are still lots of good ones , who really struggle with finances, and can use some donations

[suzyQ3]

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@Preds wrote:

Some homeless don't want your help.  Some get angry if you invade their area to offer it.  Some make the choice to be where they are and live the way they do.  How are we to know the choice? 

We have been abused by trying to help those that we assumed needed help.  We dropped everything an left.  What we dropped was not used and we found it later in the week when we went back. 

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@Preds, you can't know. That's the business of social agencies and charitable organizations. I agree with @cherry's suggestion.

[Preds]

@suzyQ3 and @cherry ... we do the donations to charities.  These were people that my dad made friends with when he worked "the streets".  We found out so much from them.