homeless people issues/questions

1. what would be the best way to deal with homeless people

2. should we blame anybody for them being homeless or just them or nobody in general, just bad luck

3. I live in kinda big town and we have homeless population, but the thing is though it seems likes no one really trys to do anything about it, i barely see any ads for organizations to help them or anything like that. we have one homeless shelter but its on the somewhat bad side of town and i dont usually see homeless people there i see them more on the better sides of town, and ill see panhandlers on the sides of the roads and my parents just blow them off like they're nothing. I always feel bad when i see them, but idk why because they have some help. any input would help

I have a question myself...

How come so many war vets are homeless? You would think the least the govt could do after you've fought for your country is try to guarantee you don't become homeless...

The reality is that back in the early 80's Reagan eliminated funding for the Public health sector which did away with not only the public Health Hospital system but public instituitions for the mentally ill. As a consequence the streets of this country were flooded with the mentally ill who were released to fend for themselves.

Good old compassionate conservatism.

What people forget is that we did have a semi public health system in place run by the Surgeon general up until the early mid 80's. I know we used to have a Public Service Health Hospital that anyone could go to at Martins Point in Portland Maine when I lived there.

[edit on 10-2-2007 by grover]

Irrespective of the debate, there was a lot of research done on both sides that you may find interesting or helpful...

Head to Head : Homeless

Semper

What I wrote is a historical fact Semper... not a political jab.

No No NO,,,,

I did not take it as such my friend...

I simply ran across this thread and knowing that Chiss and I did a lot of research on the subject, thought it may be helpful to members that would like it...

I know that I for one spent HOURS researching the facts and figures present in the debate...

I am sure Chissler did as well..

I am sure your figures are accurate, probably skewed, but accurate. LOL

Semper

ps.. Don't be so touchy

Reagan has been rated time and again now, even by the Liberal Professors as the greatest President in History.. I doubt anything you say will change any of that...

S

[edit on 2/10/2007 by semperfortis]

[edit on 2/10/2007 by semperfortis]

[edit on 2/10/2007 by semperfortis]

thanks for the info semper, i saw a show about kids in seattle that r homeless and a lot are addicted to heroin, i think alot were just runaways that left productive lives as you said semper

truthseeka to answer your question it could be because they were poor before they even went and some of the vets get postramatic stress sobad they have to leave normal life just to relieve it imho

[edit on 2/10/2007 by denynothing]

There are homeless people who you can not help as they don't want the responsibility that come with having a home, on the other hand there are alot of people who have had a stint of bad luck that do not want to be homeless. I think that it would be a good idea to set up facilities outside of major cities where there are vast expanses of open roads, in the vacant land that highway on and off ramps currently have. And give them the opportunity to work towards their own place. You could have them do the work that our tax dollars get spent to do, maybe even farm corn or sugar cane on all the wasted land bordering highways for use in ethanol. Provide them with food and shelter and say after two years give them a small place of their own along with some start up money in exchange for their work. After becoming a home owner set them up on a regular pay system with retirement as an option, I'm sure the money ethanol would create could provide the backing for this.

I feel at the program start they should have to pass a drug and alcohol screening to be eligible. Once the program gets up and running well enough to support itself without outside funding it might be possible to accept a percentage of people with known drug & alcohol problems. They do make up a decent percentage of the homeless and need help but could jeopardize the program at it's start, so for that sake they might have to wait.

I also feel that people who made a recovery would help support the program to help others with the problem they had. It could start out as a trial program to see how it works and if successful possibly branch out into other areas such as waste management/ recycling, farming of other government land available. I think it would be a win win situation for the taxpayer and the homeless, as well as helping with the migration from fossil fuels. It's not a new idea just a different take on it, remember the great depression? The WPA worked then and it will work now, if it helped to pull us out of the depression then just think what it would do for an economy like we have now.

Thats at least one way to help, but once again there is the part of the homeless you won't be able to help, because they wouldn't help themselves, even given the option. But there are alot of good people who deserve a second chance.

Shizzle,

Have you considered starting such a program yourself????

It sounds as if you have thought it out a good deal and I am POSITIVE that you could get backing (Financial) if you went to the right places and asked the right people...

Good programs often are never brought off of the ground because the one with the insight simply does not believe they could ever "just do it."

You would be surprised what could happen if you believe in it strongly enough and like I said, I have some small experience in this and you have some wonderful ideas...

Semper

Originally posted by semperfortis
Shizzle,

Have you considered starting such a program yourself????

It sounds as if you have thought it out a good deal and I am POSITIVE that you could get backing (Financial) if you went to the right places and asked the right people...

Good programs often are never brought off of the ground because the one with the insight simply does not believe they could ever "just do it."

You would be surprised what could happen if you believe in it strongly enough and like I said, I have some small experience in this and you have some wonderful ideas...

Semper

Thanks for your support! I have thought about it a great deal and have done some looking into what it would take to get grants or other funding. Every journey starts with a first step I know, my only concern is getting the states approval for use of the land. I also feel like I would encounter a great deal of trouble trying to get the highway departments help where needed.

Once again thanks for the support though and I am very seriously considering trying to get it off the ground so people can say, hey this works and we all win.

shizzle thats a really good idea like i was thinkin when i get old enough and have a job then retire put the rest of my money to givin homes to homeless free of charge but your idea is better since it will help homeless people get back on their feet and the enviroment since we do need a new source of fuel and ethanol, but in a way isnt your idea kinda like slavery in away, yea there gettin food and shelter, but youd have to provide themwith atleast minimum wage. no affence, like you could create little communities of homeless people working towards homes they can call their own, the little communties could have banks wherethe people could save their money and hospitals and rehabilition centers where the people testing positive can get help but until they can support themselves they would get food and shelter. but sadly that would take a lot of money and man power,also idk very many people who would help them unless the government helps this out or a rich sponser just an idea

Originally posted by denynothing
,but in a way isnt your idea kinda like slavery in away, yea there gettin food and shelter, but youd have to provide themwith atleast minimum wage.

In no way was I suggesting they would get nothing for the first two years, I just feel it should only be enough for some basic needs/wants that are not met in the community. Keep in mind it would take at least a year and a half before you started having the fruits of the project giving a return. I don't want it to be like slavery in any way but I want it to get off the ground first and then you have the luxury of finding out just what the in and out flow of money allows.

o ok i thought they would just get food and shelter, my apologies. but seriously if anyone start somethin like this i think it would give hope to every homeless person that wants to get out from bein homeless. this is such a greatidea i just hope u start it or someone that really wants to help, cuz i could see a greedyperson startin this and hoggin all the money, jeeze the united way or salvation army or even the your local shelter should try to do this, i mean there is a lot of wasted space on the sides the highways and even farmland that seems like the farmers dont seem to use much anymore

[edit on 2/10/2007 by denynothing]

allright fair enough I have kicked off a new thread and would love anyones input on this as it seems to have the potential but is a rather daunting task. It can be found here

Originally posted by semperfortis
No No NO,,,,

I did not take it as such my friend...

I simply ran across this thread and knowing that Chiss and I did a lot of research on the subject, thought it may be helpful to members that would like it...

I know that I for one spent HOURS researching the facts and figures present in the debate...

I am sure Chissler did as well..

I am sure your figures are accurate, probably skewed, but accurate. LOL

Semper

ps.. Don't be so touchy

Reagan has been rated time and again now, even by the Liberal Professors as the greatest President in History.. I doubt anything you say will change any of that...

S

[edit on 2/10/2007 by semperfortis]

[edit on 2/10/2007 by semperfortis]

[edit on 2/10/2007 by semperfortis]

Reagan the greatest president in history... ROTFLMAO!!! Just so long as you weren't poor, or female, or anything other than white or had AIDS etc.

Reagan was a very good puppet... Lincoln was a presdient.

Many homeless people have addictions and mental illness and need long-term residential treatment. There was a program started in Toronto, where they gave homeless alcoholics a certain amount of booze everyday to lure them into the program for nutrition and health-care. Surprisingly they had a very high recovery rate for the most chronic and hopeless cases.

There's always the case of homelessness being the result of economics. A lot of people live on minimum wage and it doesn't support a single person let alone a single parent.

I was talking recently with someone who has a wealthy friend in Venezuala, a group of squatters just set up shop on his land. He's building them a small community with plumbing rather than try to kick them off or tolerate their tents and sewage.

Take away the handy accoutrements of hopelessness like drunkenness and mental illness and you're left with an economic problem the proponents of private wealth have no intent to plumb.

The homeless issue is just another example of how our government has forsaken the American people. Did you know that an illegal immigrant cannot be turned away from an emergency room? And how do you bill a patient who doesn't have legal documentation proving who he is?

Homeless people on the other hand, are routinely turned away. Working in a restaurant I know several homeless and have heard their stories. One man told me how he was refused treatment for a broken leg at the local hospitals because he couldn't pay.

Yet the son of an illegal worker at my restaurant just spent several days in the hospital compliments of the American taxpayers.

Last year a friend of mine without medical insurance went to the emergency room for pneumonia. It cost her $5,000 and destroyed her credit.

These double standards have got to be stopped. Our homeless deserve our help before those here illegally do. We Americans need to stop the complacency and start demanding our rights!

I will chime in on this one:
I am from a large city in southern California. I am currently watching the debates on where to put the homeless shelters and services. From my own experiences, I can say if you have never been in a homeless shelter, I can tell you that it is a scary place to be. And that was several years ago. I do know based off of what I have seen of other homeless people in my area, that the homeless break down into 5 groups. Group one is the mentally ill. With the break down of the public health system, they can not get the medication to help themselves, and have no where to go. The next group are the addicts. Those who are downtown being alcoholics and those who are out in the suburbs are drug addicts. The next group are criminals or have a background making them undesirable to the local population in general and getting a job, any job viturally impossible. There are those who are capable of working a job and can, just choose not to, and finally the illegale immigrants. Where I live, billions are spent on services to help them out. But the main question becomes how do you help a person who does not want to get help? I do know that most communities worry about the crimminal elliments, as there have been a few cases where a homeless person raped children. And most business do not want them around as they can scare away customers. I have seen it all, and the solution is not so easy. I do believe something has to be done and in the early post, I do agree with, as it would help them get back on their feet. I also believe there should be a place for those addicted to alcohole and drugs go for rehabilitations.


Just my thoughts.

It is truly a sad state of affiars that we live in in America today when I see people on the street begging because they cannot find work nor are they able to find work because of a handicap like mental illness. Every day I work I take the bus and I see people whom the system has failed because no one cares. I see these people yelled at and mocked on the street because they cannot help themselves.

I have even seen the videos of people that actualy engage in the sick sports of Bum fights and beating homeless people because they feel that these are less thain people but animals.

I have witnessed police officers harrass homeless people and run them out of town because they have no where else to go. I am sickened to my core when I see this type of behavior.

Now there is even a article about an LA hospital that dumped off a homeless person in the gutter because they had no where to take him.

Our system has failed and the worse part is that many don't care.