Community Chat

[BirkiLady]

Do you live under a rock?

[Kay Vee]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

I know this is a problem in many metro areas.  In Albuquerque, we've had homeless tent villages pop up in a number of inappropriate places under extremely unsanitary conditions. 

Now the city fathers have proposed building a community of "tiny houses" on a donated lot in town.  It seems to me like this would be a ready-built slum and would require a full-time warden to keep drugs and heavens-knows-what-else under control.

What are they doing where you live?

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Not all homeless people are drug users. A lot of them have some form of mental illness. And this country as a whole doesn't do enough to help the mentally ill. Some of the homeless are families down on their luck that would probably benefit from and maintain a tiny home.

[LUVNLIFE]

I think it occurs more than people see or think it does. I am in a midwestern city of about 60 thousand people. 

If someone reports people are homeless or transient- police and a charity person goes to locate them. They bring them blankets and water and information where they can eat/ sleep for men, women. There are plenty of churches, charity places and homes that no one would be turned away.

[RedTop]

I’m not aware of this area having a big problem with homelessness.

Actually the only case of homelessness I’m even aware of here was back in the 1990’s, and involved a married couple  that police used to pick up on bitter cold nights and bring to the hospital.   They were never happy with whatever accommodations were made for them, and started hiding from the police.   Both passed away years ago.

[BirkiLady]

Unless you volunteer in your community or work with your City's goals, you probably aren't aware of the scope of the problem. If I looked at my neighborhood, it certainly isn't visible in my everyday life and where I shop, dine, meet friends, walk, etc. But when I drive into other parts of the City, I'm well aware of the places that make a great place for a homeless person to sleep. I've become aware through education and compassion of others. My son is also aware of these issues and volunteers. Doubt my DIL has a clue. 

[proudlyfromNJ]

We are in a town of about 16,000. Am not aware of any homeless. This is in our town, not the county.

[willdob3]

@Kachina624

We have a lot of different, well established programs, shelters, etc.

I have heard about a tiny home community being proposed here, too. I am not a fan of that idea. But, then again, the idea of tiny homes for anyone kind of horrifies me. 

Not everyone who is homeless wants to take advantage of available help.

[GCR18]

I live in a very small town in the midwest.  The next town over has a shelter and soup kitchen.  When I lived in the east coast, there were numerous homeless shelters in town.  It's a huge difference between here and there.

[bikerbabe]

Sometimes homeless leave certain towns precisely because there are no services and no way to survive.

[dex]

We have a huge problem with more than a billion dollars spent but it keeps increasing.I can’t even tell you how horrible it gets with people using the streets as a restroom.They had to get rid of the planters and flower beds because they became full of human waste. There is much being done to help but sometimes I wonder if all of those programs don’t just bring more people needing help.