Community Chat

[Sooner]

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@dex wrote:

@Kachina62I live in the Pacific Northwest.We have one of the biggest homeless problems partially because of the milder temperatures..I see many young people living 8n the streets too.My friends daughter and her boyfriend choose to live that way .They have jobs but they prefer to live in a camper and move from place to place.They blog about it and have a lot of followers who also live that way.

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@dex  So you are sayng they are living that way by choice?  Are they living off of resources where they are at the time, like food kitchens etc.  Do or how do they afford to live like that?  Do they work?  

[Caaareful Shopper]

With the continuing rise of malls closing, the large city I live in has converted part of an empty mall into homeless shelters/units.  The mall had been shuttered for 1-1/2 years.

In June of this year, Macy's (the cornerstone of the mall) converted 16,000 square feet of space for more than 600 homeless and formerly homeless children and adults.

It has family rooms, rooms for single men and rooms for single women. It also includes a day shelter for the chronically homeless, as well as showers, laundry facilities, a medical clinic and all the year-round support services. 

There are plenty of transportation options around the mall, so the residents can still get to the services they use to try to get back on their feet. 

More plans are underway to turn some of the other mall space into affordable housing, shops, and medical offices.

I drive by it about once a week on my way to BJs.  Makes me feel great to see it.

[Sooner]

I hear statistics about the larger metro area I live near, and I simply don't believe some of the figures given for, as an example, how many children go to bed hungry at night.  

We don't have large homeless problem, the jobless rate is good, you don't see what you would expect, so I can't figure how these statistics reflect this area. 

I sometimes think large charities become an industry.  Like we were talking in another thread, how much of the donation money goes TO the needy, how much is kept.  I am not against helping people in need, far from it, but I am wondering sometimes about local and national charity groups that have become so large and is their own "feeding", sustainment and continuation an issue.  

Maybe it is my cynical side, but I am old and have many times been disappointed in some of the things I see.  Nobody seems to monitor a lot of this, and information is put out with no way to verify it.

[missy1]

Unless you have have been homeless, it is very hard to get out of it. There are waiting lists for years for low income/section 8/hud housing, One probably has bad credit by then, so it's hard to rent a place. (when they do get a job) Then some rentals require a deposit, outrageous application fees, and first and last. Also, getting a job with no real address, is  a problem. So these people stay in weekly rentals (motels), which drain most of their income, and they can never get out..

Lack of sleep, and hygiene are also difficult to get employment.

Many shelters are full, and have crime and bedbugs. They would rather stay on the street/or in their cars etc.

The best  solution IMO is they live with relatives/friends (some may not have any, or can help, or have enough room), or pair up with another family and pool their money together for one place.

Also IMO maybe cities who have a large vacant piece of land should have a zoned camping ground for homeless, that have rules or get kicked out. (keep it clean etc.) Maybe build a large bathroom/shower/ laundry facility) Give the tenant so many days to get it together, and then evict.

[Mominohio]

Where I directly live, nothing, because I'm pretty sure there aren't homeless people in the remote area we live. I don't even see the few empty farms with signs of squatters here. We live rural enough that anyone homeless would head to the nearest city because they would die of exposure here and there are no services close by.

That isn't to say there isn't some extreme poverty in this rural area. Some of the places people live would easily be condemned if there were zoning and enforcement in this area. Many would be better off living in a barn, the structures are so bad. 

The nearest city (pop. 50,000) has quite a bit going on for the size and the relative increased poverty of the area. 

There are several homeless shelters, a domestic violence shelter, a host of food pantries (many many food pantries), and many, many churches with various programs from free hot meals, to clothes closets, to counseling services.

There are 'stuff the bus' back to school supply drives in every town and rural school district, Salvation Army giving trees (and several other charities that do the same thing during the holidays and back to school time), there is a 'store' for kids at or below the poverty line to go and shop for new and like new school clothing, choosing the things they need. Kids are referred by school administration when they see the needs.

There are several organizations that do a big promotional "sleep out for the homeless" every fall and collect money and goods for the homeless. There are warming centers and cooling centers set up in the heart of downtown during the worst weather.

There are a few small organizations that canvas the downtown area on a regular basis with free food and blankets for those living on the streets. 

Again, I'm kind of amazed that for a town the size it is, and the way over the last several decades, has lost most of it's industry and tax base, it has so much help. Most of it I hear about is private charity based. I'm sure there are some government funded or aided things too, I just don't really know what they are.

[SeaMaiden]

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@proudlyfromNJ wrote:

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@wildcat fan wrote:

What are the homeless doing about their homelessness?

Our church runs a shelter and feeding program.  Many times, though, it seems people made choices to get them in the situation they're in, and they are ultimately the ones who can turn things around given the supports provided by the community.

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@wildcat fan. See, that is the problem. Many homeless are homeless because that is what they want. They don't want to turn things around. They are doing what they choose. Which is a detriment to everyone else.

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@proudlyfromNJ     Much of the reason they resist help is that they are addicted to drugs and alcohol and do not want to stop doing that to get into housing. THEY DO NOT WANT HELP.... 

 In Seattle, they actually BUILT tiny houses for the homeless  with power and bathrooms etc.... and ALLOWED THEM TO DO DRUGS AND DRINK just to get them off the streets and out of the bushes.... the encampment had to be shut down as the drugs and such spilled  out into the surrounding neighborhood and caused problems.  So even trying to appease them   was to no avail. 

[lovesrecess]

You can't eliminate homelessness simply by giving someone a home. The homeless are missing much more than a home in most cases....until the authorities figure that out, simply building tiny houses won't end the problem and may create more. Mental illness, addiction, and other problems need to be addressed, and most homeless are resistant to help.l

[Spurt]

@Kachina624

Yep you are right about our city....

They are cracking down on them in our city---there's an ordinance which was passed against panhandling, but some of them continue to do it.....but police have urged citizens not to give to them and to call 311...........

There was a "tent" established in a drainage ditch across the street from the shopping center where my hair dresser is...OH THE SMELL...it got shut down, as well as others around town per local news.  

One guy that frequented a grocery store parking lot the cashier said the Store Manager called the police.---he was really bothering people and had a toddler with him to gain sympathy......

Some sleep under expressway bridges around the downtown area---my friend and her co-workers who work downtown complained about homeless people sleeping in their office building doorway (it provided shelter from heat, rain, and cold)....Since it represented a security issue, they now hired a Security Guard to keep them away.  Theres a homeless shelter two blocks down too....

There was a local investigative report--

What's sad is there are plenty of non-profit agencies, church ministries, free re-hab places and city agencies available to help, with just the basics or some that provide job training, housing--they get a paid furnished apartment paid for by a church agency--not Hud.  There have been some nice success stories, however, some REFUSE the help---some are addicted to alcohol, some are mentally ill, some don't like the shelter rules---no alcohol/drugs, and hygiene rules (they provide them with clean clothes and want them to shower--not an unreasonable request).....So the police are not having any sympathy, when police give them option of taking them to a place for help, and they refuse.......

[Mominohio]

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@wildcat fan wrote:

What are the homeless doing about their homelessness?

Our church runs a shelter and feeding program.  Many times, though, it seems people made choices to get them in the situation they're in, and they are ultimately the ones who can turn things around given the supports provided by the community.

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This isn't a really popular point of view, but is accurate for many homeless. 

No matter how much help, even mental health help, some won't take it or won't follow through with the help they recieve (especially staying on meds for the mentally ill). 

There really is only so much others can do in many of these cases. 

[traveler]

We lived in Abq. In the 1980s-90s and liked it so much we talked about retiring there. So sorry to read about the homeless issue. Here in Anchorage we have charities and the city has a housing program but many would rather live in tarp communities. A portion are indigenous people believing this is their land.

i hope someone from Hawaii answers.  They have tarp cities popping up just out of sight of the tourists.