What Is Your Community Doing About Homelessness? - Page 6

SeaMaiden · ‎03-10-2010

@traveler wrote:
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.

@traveler Here in Seattle they put up tents EVERYWHERE and everywhere... in fact right infront of the king county court house in Seattle people have to worry about stepping in fecal matter.... and the city has to hose down the court house where the homeless camped out pee on the building... the stench is awful. The city can not stop the homeless from setting up camps and tents anywhere they want due to some stupid laws in the books....

here is one recent incident last summer....

added( sorry part of the article was cut off...but I think you can get the idea even with the missing part...)

Arizona tourist says he was attacked by homeless man near Space Needle

POSTED 11:08 AM, JUNE 15, 2018, BY Q13 NEWS STAFF

SEATTLE – An Arizona man told police he was attacked by a homeless man near the Space Needle during a visit to Seattle with his family earlier this month.

The man told police the attacker punched him in the face several times and wrapped a rope around his neck during the June 2 incident in the Wells Fargo parking lot at 2800 3rd Ave.

It wasn’t clear if charges were filed in the attack. The King County prosecutor’s office said it didn’t have any cases associated with the police-report number, and the suspect’s name was redacted in the report, making it impossible to cross-reference.

According to the police report:

The Arizona man and his family were on their way to the Space Needle. They parked their truck, but saw the suspect peeked his head out of the tent next to the parking spot, got uncomfortable, and decided to move to a nearby parking lot.

When they did get out of the truck, the suspect came up behind them and started asking questions in a way that the family said “was threatening and scared them.”

The man said the suspect suddenly punched him from behind. He tried to get away, but said the man used the rope. The man said he wasn’t sure if the rope went completely around his neck, though officers said there was a “significant rope burn” near his throat that started at his shoulder and ran to his Adam’s apple.

The man and his girlfriend got away and caught up to the rest of his family, and the suspect ran back to his tent. The Arizona man said he felt safe and was crossing the street when the suspect “ran full force and punched (him) on the right side of his head,” knocking him into Denny Way.

The man said the suspect punched him several more times in the chin and mouth before a police officer arrived and broke it up.

The suspect was booked into King County Jail for investigation of felony assault and misdemeanor assault.

ALRATIBA · ‎07-15-2016

NYC has been dealing with it for years - numerous homeless shelters. But there are a large number who refuse to be helped. In addtion to what the city govt is doing, there are many charity organizations providing food and clothing for homeless.

From what I've seen of both San Francisco and Los Angeles - their homeless issue is 100 times greater than we have here.

SahmIam · ‎04-16-2010

I live in a county that is a suburb of Baltimore; a very wealthy county. Homelessness wasn't discussed at any county meetings or community meetings in decades (as far back as minutes go so back to the late 60's in some areas of my county) but it is now. Certain counties are becoming THE place to go to due to the services that are offered and though it was considered the humane, helpful and right thing to do. counties are now reconsidering the aid they offer.

We have a serious issue with panhandling. The cops swoop in, arrest (you must have a permit to solicit at any corner in the county) and haul off but another person takes the place of the one that just left. The county is aware that a number of these "homeless" are actually part of a large group that is just the opposite and act as those they are injured, sick, homeless, etc. They are not. It's a huge scam and their faces are becoming familiar to those who live in the area.

That said, not all, obviously. The camps of the homeless move from place to place and leave destruction in their wake; extreme litter, destruction of property and human waste. Used needles and empty bottles of pills are often found as well. With the cooler weather coming, it means campfires and so we have to deal with forest fires and the destruction that has been left. The camps have stayed out along the perimeter of the county where there are many exits and places along the highway to set up "Please Help" signs and then move into the heavy tree-line/forest at night but that started changing this Spring.

My county prides itself on the flora and fauna; keeping the area green as possible so the homeless can live/spread in the woods, not be seen but then appear in parking lots, stores, etc looking for money, food, etc. The hospital is now dealing with this in the ER and the parking lot: drug and alcohol issues have soared and the last report published (last month) showed that the vast majority of these cases were due to treating the homeless; many repeatedly. This same issue is happening in Frederick County and the hospitals are working the John Hopkins to figure out the best approach.

People are angry. Very angry. We have many grassroot organizations to help the homeless; there are numbers you can call if you see someone or a camp and the agencies send professionals to reach out and get them into shelters/care facilities. The majority are staffed by volunteers and run on donations with some county/state assistance but the demand is skyrocketing. Who is going to pay for this? Who is going to clean the up the mess? Who is paying for the medical treatment they are receiving for free? What about the damage being done to property?

We don't have the people living in tents along the streets, on the benches, etc. but...I don't believe it's not coming down the road. There are no easy answers.

traveler · ‎03-09-2010

Yes, the unemployment rate is easily manipulated. Retail jobs are rarely full time with benefits. So some people work 2 part time jobs. And it is hard to pay rent on minimum wage.

dex · ‎03-09-2010

@Sooner@The young people I mentioned choose to live that way and for whatever reason it seems to be popular.They work in the summer at seasonal jobs and then are unemployed during the rest of the year ....don’t know what resources they take advantage of but I am sure they don’t make enough money to live on the rest of the year.

My friends daughter is a college grad but so far has not started a career.I think the future generations may have different ideas about lifestyles and how they choose to live.

Sooner · ‎03-10-2010

@dex wrote:
@Sooner@The young people I mentioned choose to live that way and for whatever reason it seems to be popular.They work in the summer at seasonal jobs and then are unemployed during the rest of the year ....don’t know what resources they take advantage of but I am sure they don’t make enough money to live on the rest of the year.
My friends daughter is a college grad but so far has not started a career.I think the future generations may have different ideas about lifestyles and how they choose to live.

@dex Thanks for the response. That's a shame. I think they may be very disappointed when the day comes that people who work get tired of shelling out money to feed them and buy cell phones for them. I think this is going to be a major problem. If, in fact it isn't already.

puttypiesmom · ‎10-11-2017

We also have shelters, soup kitchens, charities, and outreach programs but you periodcially see someone sleeping in one of our many green and beautiful parks. I haven't seen a tented area but that doesn't mean they don't exist as often they are placed out of view. A neighbor told me he took a 10 mi run using back streets and found a tented area saying that he was observed and felt frightened like if he didn't get out of there immediately they'd steal his running shoes and strip him down naked for that matter. So apparently it is a problem just not visible to the masses.

libbyannE · ‎10-27-2010

Too complex an issue to reply to in this type of forum. Important but, again, complex in terms of breadth and depth of the problem everywhere.

haddon9 · ‎03-09-2010

@happycat wrote:
@haddon9 wrote:
I honestly have never seen or heard of any homeless in my community or local town. I've been living here for 26 years and it's never been an issue.

However Philly is about 45 minutes away from me and I know there is a big homeless population there.

My son lives in Philly and came home to visit this weekend. I will ask him in the morning since your question got me curious.
Wow, I'm not asking you exactly where you live, @haddon9, but I am curious, is it a very small town or community?
We didn't use to have this problem, but now it seems to have really grown in the last few years.

@happycat Yes it's a small suburban or exurb town (we're further out from the city) and the area isn't congested. Less than 4% of kids get reduced lunches in the local school district so that's still something.. It gets cold in the winter where a warmer climate would be more welcoming to the homeless.

I can see large homeless populations in cities, large suburban areas or small economically depressed towns.

What sort or area do you live in?

happycat · ‎09-18-2010

@haddon9 wrote:
@happycat wrote:
@haddon9 wrote:
I honestly have never seen or heard of any homeless in my community or local town. I've been living here for 26 years and it's never been an issue.

However Philly is about 45 minutes away from me and I know there is a big homeless population there.

My son lives in Philly and came home to visit this weekend. I will ask him in the morning since your question got me curious.
Wow, I'm not asking you exactly where you live, @haddon9, but I am curious, is it a very small town or community?
We didn't use to have this problem, but now it seems to have really grown in the last few years.

@happycat Yes it's a small suburban or exurb town (we're further out from the city) and the area isn't congested. Less than 4% of kids get reduced lunches in the local school district so that's still something.. It gets cold in the winter where a warmer climate would be more welcoming to the homeless.

I can see large homeless populations in cities, large suburban areas or small economically depressed towns.

What sort or area do you live in?

I live in a rural area. I had a man come to my door and ask for food a few years ago. He said his wife was a diabetic and they had no food. I loaded him up with food and took him home and got in trouble later from dh. Not from helping, from taking him home. What are we to do? You come here, tell me you are hungry, I'm gonna feed you. I have a long driveway, uphill and he was out of breath didn't look too good by the time he got here.

Where I do most of my shopping, the panhandlers seem to have taken over. Its crazy and I honestly don't go our by myself much at night anymore.

There is panhandling, but we also have people coming up to folks in parking lots and asking for money....I don't like it. I am compassionate, I do give to a few local charities, but I wish city leaders would do something about this business of the coming up to people in parking lots.