Have you ever been Homeless?

Originally posted by plainmike
reply to post by canadianmouse

 

kinda liked the earned income credit, not available unless you earn under a certain amount,,,norewards for doing better than the benchmark than suddenly needing assistance!wtf?

Yeah you would think more places would want to help those that are doing better and working hard to better themselves and then all of a sudden "bam" something in life happens. But no, they told me it was my fault I didn't save for this. Really ticked me off because I was only trying to get help because I had children. But I was being punished for working all these years.

Thanks to all who replied and told their story. Some very touching tales of hardship, abuse and courage.

All who are now able; please help our brothers and sisters that may be down on their luck!

I have never been homeless.A lot of homeless people visit what you call a soup kitchen run by a charity to get free food five days a week.I visit the soup kitchen all the time before work for a free breakfast.Some of my best friends visit the soup kitchen too.There not homeless though.Anyone can use a soup kitchen homeless people,poor people,students,backpackers,tightass rich people,criminals on the run and working people.My freinds are students ,workers and tightass rich people.We try not to asscioate with the homeless people.They are usually a bunch of desperate drug addicits or psycho's.We give them a wide birth.The food is great and we talk for hours.Sometimes you see some strange things happening there.So next time your in town,drop by and have some baked beans on toast or a nice coffie..In the desperate days a head many hard up working class people will have to forget there pride and visit a soup kitchen sometime just to survive.

[ps] On Tuesdays,Thursdays and Fridays they give people free bread too.

[edit on 29-7-2009 by GORGANTHIUM]

reply to post by The X


I am not going to walk away from my life, but what I have done is try to assist those in need! My opinions come from direct experience! Yours seem to come from watching Lifetime movies!!


Here is the story I have alluded to a couple of times:

I used to run a Family Entertainment Center (dance, mini-golf, go karts, etc.), and I had a construction company. Behind the dance club were railroad tracks and within a mile or two each direction were homeless people camps. We allowed them to take our extra construction supplies, use our rear water outlet for fresh water, and we offered left over food at the end of the night. We did not realize how dangerous this was. One night while cleaning up and working, my mother's purse was grabbed and stolen. A little upsetting, but no biggie. A couple of weeks later, my dog went missing. I found her decapitated and about to be butchered, by one of the guys we saw daily. We had been providing food and water to him, and he was aware it was my dog!

We went a little nuts and began ransacking his camp. We found a lot of very disturbing stuff, dozens of purses (including my mothers), and other things like children's clothes and stuff from teen girl's purses!

So, we called the police. But, we also started a program to help or remove these people before one of the teenagers that walked the tracks got hurt.

We found general labor type work that would accept these men, we found them cottages to stay in, and found missions and churches that would help them clean up and get work clothes. My bouncers and I took a 4 mile walk every afternoon down the tracks. We gave everyone the choice of getting help or getting out, but they weren't going to stay there. (I had friends on the police force that worked for me part-time, and they kept us out of trouble.)

Over a 3 month period, most of the people just wandered off. About 20 or 25 took our job offers, but usually quit during the first day. ONE guy actually kept the job, eventually bought a little travel trailer, and started doing well in travelling construction. Two guys began stealing equipment and were arrested. Two other guys turned out to be very violent and were also arrested.

Since then, I am still in contact with some large farms and some construction companies. They hire migrant workers and homeless people. They provide money and shelter in return for work. I try to get the word to the people that need a break.

Worst experience: One guy (the one who killed my dog and started the whole thing) turned out to be a murderer that had been released from a 25 yr sentence in Leavenworth, KS prison. He had ridden the tracks and settled behind our location. He attacked me during one of our sweeps, got beat down and arrested, but he came back. After one or two arrests, the police stopped arresting him!! So, we had to get more violent to run him off. It was temporarily successful, but then one night he harrassed a group of teen girls, and they came to us very scared! The police arrested him, and then released him on Monday morning. Luckily, he happened to jump in front of a delivery truck driven by a friend of mine! He didn't come back anymore after that!

SO, I speak from direct involvement. I will never deny someone food. When I am approached by a homeless person, I always offer to buy food. Maybe they are like some of the people here, and they have a real problem. About 10% of the time, they are grateful and they have a nice meal, sometimes I even offer a ride after they eat. About 90% of the time, they make excuses about why only cash will help them! I have even bought beer for a guy holding a sign that said, "I'm not gonna lie, I want beer." I by poetry from a guy outside one of my normal shopping spots. He hands it to you as you go in, you read it, and if you like it, you give him a couple bucks on the way out. I commend him for that.

But, I refuse to be cornered or harrassed by these people, and if they are aggressive, I take it upon myself to have them arrested or teach them a lesson. One guy tried to intimidate me and corner me by my truck once. I reached in his pockets took all his money and threw it in the busy street! Another one called my wife a beech when she told him no, he followed her to the car. I invited him over to my window, offered some cash, pulled him in the window, rolled it up and joy rode around the parking lot a time or two!

I have a lot of compassion for people down on their luck. I believe everyone deserves an opportunity to help themselves. I will never let someone starve, and I do have a vast network of people that can and will assist someone with a true need. The flipside is do not doublecross me, do not try to intimidate, lie, or harrass me or my family. Fair is fair. Human or Animal? They can go either way, and so can I!

[edit on 29-7-2009 by getreadyalready]

reply to post by getreadyalready


And when situation X occurs, these types of people will be the ones the rest of us are protecting ourselves against. Not everyone who is homeless has the desire to achieve the status quo. Many are indoctrinated in another way of life, survival of the fittest.

After reading your account getreadyalready, I understand a little more about the kind of person you are and respect you for it.

It is a fine line to walk between compassion and self-preservation.

hi all
i had an accident at work aged 20 which left me partially paralysed.girlfriend hit the bottle and withdrew all money from joint bank account and took girlfriends on holiday. in a nutshell i lost my job and the house,dumped my tools etc at friends house and backpacked with a small amount of money. lived in desert,forest,hole in the ground,up a tree,on a mountain winter and summer and wandered for a number of years. i sometimes worked for food although since then (20 years ago) i continue to have one meal per day. life was and still is bitter/sweet and i would not trade the experience for anything. i met genuine people as well as some of the most evil minded assholes i had the displeasure of setting my eyes upon.
i feel i learned more when i was homeless than at the education/social positioning centre in my teens. the lure of establishing oneself with the trappings of society is extremely strong and it is to this (car,house,luxuries and basically keeping up with the jones's) where the danger lies. to have what others have or more without the money to cover such things and by relying on usuary or credit is a dangerous gamble in my opinion. i personally do not go for credit. if i cannot afford a thing i simply will either save up or forget about it. the lessons learned since i lost my home are many.
i do not take anything for granted. never bought a new car (always restored old used to their former glory or as close as dammit). i am currently running a thirty year old classic that i have been restoring for the past seven years.just passed mot this week whooppee!
to all those out there with the threat of homelessness hanging over them, i wish you a safe passage.
focusing on the basics in life gives you the advantage of ridding your brain of all the useless crap you do not really need to carry anyway. happiness can be found in the embers of a dying fire on a frosty morning.
respect to those who deserve
cdi.

When I was a sophomore in high school, me, my sister, and my mother became homeless. We had been homeless once before but we all stayed with my grandparents until my mother could save enough money to get us a place. My sophomore year we were living in a place with my mother's boyfriend. Me nor my sister liked him, he just seemed strange to us. His brother stayed with us too and we told my mother several times that he gave me and my sister this pedophile feel (he always "looked" at us strange) me and my sister even contemplated moving out. My mother's boyfriend had gotten her drunk one night and let his brother take advantage of her and when me and my sister came home the next day practically everything was gone. My mom had just lost her job because she wouldn't sleep with the owner. After receiving an eviction notice because the place we were renting actually wasn't owned by who we were told. The real owners didn't know we were even living there . Me and my sister lived with my boyfriend and his mom, while my mother lived with her friend and husband. We didn't see each other for several months but at least we had a place to sleep and food. I know that this isn't the only scenario of homelessness in my life but it is the one that stands out to me the most. Not everyone that is homeless can help it.
Someone has already said this is a previous post but it deserves to be said again "S*#! happens" it doesn't matter who you are or where you are from, it can happen anytime. Each experience that we go through in our lives is there to teach us each a lesson and they will only make us stronger.

To everyone that has shared their stories I look up to each and everyone of you. You have lived some hard times, and I'm sure that what you have lived through has turned you into a much better person for it. I'm honored to have gotten to share my experience with you and to have heard yours.

To the people that think we brought it on ourselves....you will learn this lesson on your own it may not be in this life but you too will one day know how it feels to be homeless, and I hope according to your thinking that you haven't done anyone wrong in your life.

Blessed Be

If any man wishes to follow me let him give his belongings and take up his cross....

I wish to and am attempting to take up my cross on January 1st 2010......

All my family has died and Im all alone with no friends... just aquaintances and stuff. Anyone that I share history with is gone... I am only 27 I am tired of alone. So I get excited when I think of just selling everything and wherever the wind blows from there.

I might be crazy too LOL I don't really know! All I know is that I have lost all desire to accumulate anything material wise. I get O satisfaction from it.


I wonder if anyone will join me in my sacrifice?

Recently, I watched on a cable TV channel, (can't remember which one) a quite lengthy documentary that followed some homeless young people in (I think it was) Sanfransisco. These people --preferred-- to be homeless so that they could congregate in the woods and get snockered. Some of them tried to get out of their situations, but 'effed' it all up, just when they were --almost-- successful, so that they could return to the lice, ("the bugs!") and the substances, because, as one of the females said, "It's so fun to get drunk!" This was a horribly depressing documentary.
I had described my own homeless odyssy awhile back, here. I also stated, that, the whole entire time I was in that situation, I NEVER touched drugs, and never was alchoholic, and --never-- partook of those addictions in my whole life before----homelessness, either. I also---never got in trouble with the law or anyone else, I merely laser focused on trying and trying and trying, to hold on to a job, which I could not do, to some, well, mental anomalies of mine, which I was in ---extreme--- DENIAL about.
A poster here, re-emphasised that "s*** happens" to people who DON'T WANT to be homeless, which is true. I did ---NOT--- want to be homeless. It was a fate worse than death, as-they-say.
AFTER THAT DOCUMENTARY, I AM SERIOUSLY WONDERING HOW RARE-----ME AND THAT PREVIOUS POSTER ARE, VERSUS THE 'BUMS'. I'M CURIOUS----AS TO THE PERCENTAGE.

reply to post by OuttaHere


Im sorry but that's not exactly homeless.

Recently, since I started this thread, a friend of mine lost her job, her house, her scumbag husband, her health insurance etc. This is a moral, educated, hardworking woman that was overwhelmed by circumstances beyond her control and found herself homeless in less than a month.

I have welcomed her to live with me until her situation improves.

Now is the time to open our hearts to others in these dire times and show some compassion rather than blame and cynicism.

[edit on 20-8-2009 by whaaa]

technically, yes i have been homeless. not homeless as in living on the streets, but homeless as in not having a place or money and having to stay with friends or family. ive done a lot of couchsurfing too since i like to travel around a bit.

people tend to forget homeless people arent just the ones you see drunk livin on the street

there were many times when i was living in a city by myself, away from anyone i knew, and id lose my job and have no money and by some miracle i never had to actually live on the streets. im still not quite sure how to this day because ive been in the situation more than once and its a very real and scary situation to be in.

so dont count having a place to stay as not being homeless. it still is. you dont have food, your posessions, and you feel worthless because you are staying at someones home and they prob just think you are a lazy scum

[edit on 20-8-2009 by calihan_12]

reply to post by calihan_12


reply to post by whaaa


This goes to show the point I was making earlier. The vast majority of people that face tough times and unfortunate circumstances have friends that can help them! They have made good decisions in their lives, they have loved and helped other people when they could, and when adversity strikes, people are willing to return the love!

The majority of people that wind up on the streets were not good people to begin with, and they did not have that network of good deeds to fall back on! There was a lot of criticism of my opinion, but many of the stories here support it!

I know there are exceptions, and mental illness, and runaways, and utter tragedies, but those pale in comparison to the losers that abused their loved ones, stole and harmed their friends and family, drank and drugged their way into the streets.

Like I have said over and over, everyone deserves a second or even third chance, and I am more than willing to help those that will help themselves, but the rest are probably still getting more than they deserve!

yeah, you ARE right.

im sorry but its the truth. most homeless people are runaways, druggies whos families will not let them come back home, veterans who prob got addicted to heroine overseas, and sometimes just unlucky people who get stuck in an unfortunate situation... such as if they just moved to a place and they didnt find a job as quickly as they thought they would and run out of money, and dont know a single soul because they just moved there... sometimes those people can be homeless also. happened to my dad when he moved to los angeles and stayed at the los angeles mission for a little while because he couldnt find a job fast enough.


some do it just to see what its like and have that freedom of living on the road. some are actually kids with trust funds who want to rebel against their parents (this was the case when i lived in portland. city did a study on the homeless people and it turned out many of them were actually quite wealthy)

there are many different reasons for it, but nonetheless, every situation is an unfortunate one. theres nothing worse than not having a place to come home to.

reply to post by whaaa


Sometimes the compassionate people are those who have already

faced or been through these circumstances, more so then those

who havent. IMO

Originally posted by greenfruit
Reading your stories really makes me realise how lucky I am living in New Zealand.
Our welfare system helps everyone no matter who you are.

You get pregnant - you get the DPB (Domestic Purposes benefit) The kicker is if you have more kids you get more money.

Teenager on your own - Youth Allowance and Study allowances.

Lost job - Unemployment Benefit (No time limit)

Have a accident - ACC (Accident Compensation Corporation) all medical paid for.

Need a house - (Housing NZ - low rent charged.)

Have to ask doesn't America have a welfare system. If so how does it work. Federal, State, Local levels.

The welfare system in this country only helps selected few categories of people. And they have limits on how much help you can receive.

And if you lose your job and were not working full time for at least a year, around here you are ineligible for unemployment.

I was homeless for a while after I left my husband. He was very violent. I was pregnant.

No one would even let me sleep on their couch. The local battered women's shelter wouldn't help me because he volunteered there. He was a very respected government employee.

I stole food and basics for survival. No one would help me. And I would have accepted help too. I was pretty scared and desperate.

Finally got into government housing months after my baby was born. Long waiting lists. Tried looking for a job. Everyone wanted you to be able to work nights and weekends. Day cares were only open 6am to 6pm and closed on the weekend. I had no one to watch my daughter to go to work. Leaving baby home alone to work several hours a day/night is unsafe and illegal. I didn't get my first job until my daughter was old enough to stay home alone. No one would help me for all those years. I had to become a career student and live off financial aid to get by during those years.

Now I am unemployed again and living off the small amount of child support and alimony I get each month. I have been job hunting for months now. Even though I receive only $573/month total, I was turned down for medical assistance and food stamps. The reason being you aren't allowed any income at all, even a dollar, to get medical assistance. And I got turned down for food stamps because even though I turned in the paperwork TWICE, they claimed I did not turn in the paperwork. So, I left a message with the legal aid number given on my second denial letter and am still waiting to at least get help with food.

Not everyone out there has someone willing to help him/her.

reply to post by Jessicamsa



Jess, these are hard times. My suggestion would be to contact a faith based charity such as the Salvation Army. They are a wonderful organization staffed by wonderful people.

Originally posted by whaaa
reply to post by Jessicamsa

 

Jess, these are hard times. My suggestion would be to contact a faith based charity such as the Salvation Army. They are a wonderful organization staffed by wonderful people.

Yes, it'd be nice if we had one around here. This is a small town with just a food stamp/welfare office for help. I'm looking to move and have an appt to look at a place out of town on Monday. I don't want to be homeless again and my rent is going up. I'll not be able to afford to live here without a job, and I've been looking for months now. I still feel really nervous about it though, but it's a matter of survival.