Homelessness in America

Sam · #11 (**permalink**) 12-29-2007, 02:16 AM

Most of the homeless where I live are veterans -our community has developed a program to try to assist the homeless helping them help themselves. for some it works others it does not-I think this is worthwhile. I rarely give out money to the homeless (except one local man who has had a severe head trauma and everyone takes care of him) but I do support this local organization with my time and money:

History

wvpeach · #12 (**permalink**) 12-29-2007, 02:24 AM

Good responses from almost all.

Its already been mentioned " there except for the grace of God go I"

Judging others is always a risky proposition if you believe the bible , and I do. Judging will get you judged by the same measure you judge others.

That said , I work with the city mission here from time to time. Not with the homeless but I do run into them there. Besides being addicts or mentally ill in my opinion there is a large percentage of them that seem to be of low IQ's . Bordering on retarded I would say.

Now granted drugs and alcohol could have fried a few of their brains . But not all of them . Some of them were born with less than average intelligence . I would imagine in todays job market that would make it hard to keep a job .

crowonapost · #13 (**permalink**) 12-29-2007, 02:46 AM

Being Homeless.

Being without a property.

Being without a job.

Being without a car.

In this country, money, property & an ability to socially communicate 'correcty' is what is considered the norm.

"fuck you get a job", from a car window while paying off a debt to that car & working your ass off to pay the debt on that 'property'.

All that is normal....& those outside...pariahs.

So much the center of America.

Something insightful was said....compassion is weakness.
Not because it was correct but because it in a simple way communicated a concise truth. In this nation, at this time, to be empathetic which is the CENTER of compassion is considered weak. Such (Historical Eastern understanding) of EGO is amazingly bereft today.

In the historical East (land of Sidartha -India ) Compassion is the center STRENGTH of ALL. Without empathy we are lost souls. We so easily get attached to our, job, our car, our property but all of those things are fleeting illusion & can so easily pass. We WORK SO HARD to posses these fleeting ghosts. The homeless man in America reminds us how fleeting it really is.......

We usually have one of 2 choices. Say fuck em, work harder or empathize with them & feel understanding.

Regardless of mental damage or bad choices.

We are in reality always one paycheck away from them.

SO next time you say F'm. Think about how far away you REALLY are from their shoes.

#14 (**permalink**) 12-29-2007, 07:07 PM

lisin here to crow and sam fuckin bleeding heart liberals. read their stuff here and u can see it.

CrankyYankee · #15 (**permalink**) 12-29-2007, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crowonapost

Being Homeless.

Being without a property.

Being without a job.

Being without a car.

In this country, money, property & an ability to socially communicate 'correcty' is what is considered the norm.

"fuck you get a job", from a car window while paying off a debt to that car & working your ass off to pay the debt on that 'property'.

All that is normal....& those outside...pariahs.

So much the center of America.

Something insightful was said....compassion is weakness.
Not because it was correct but because it in a simple way communicated a concise truth. In this nation, at this time, to be empathetic which is the CENTER of compassion is considered weak. Such (Historical Eastern understanding) of EGO is amazingly bereft today.

In the historical East (land of Sidartha -India ) Compassion is the center STRENGTH of ALL. Without empathy we are lost souls. We so easily get attached to our, job, our car, our property but all of those things are fleeting illusion & can so easily pass. We WORK SO HARD to posses these fleeting ghosts. The homeless man in America reminds us how fleeting it really is.......

We usually have one of 2 choices. Say fuck em, work harder or empathize with them & feel understanding.

Regardless of mental damage or bad choices.

We are in reality always one paycheck away from them.

SO next time you say F'm. Think about how far away you REALLY are from their shoes.

YouTube - EverLast

good post Crow....

crowonapost · #16 (**permalink**) 12-29-2007, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fuckin

lisin here to crow and sam fuckin bleeding heart liberals. read their stuff here and u can see it.

FUCK YA.

I'll take a bleeding heart over a cold soulless shell any day.

crowonapost · #17 (**permalink**) 12-29-2007, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrankyYankee

YouTube - EverLast

good post Crow....

Thanks Cranky.

wvpeach · #18 (**permalink**) 12-30-2007, 08:35 AM

Great post crow .

Consider this , if food is scarce all the gold in the world is not going to buy you a bag of beans .

Quote:

Originally Posted by crowonapost

Being Homeless.

Being without a property.

Being without a job.

Being without a car.

In this country, money, property & an ability to socially communicate 'correcty' is what is considered the norm.

"fuck you get a job", from a car window while paying off a debt to that car & working your ass off to pay the debt on that 'property'.

All that is normal....& those outside...pariahs.

So much the center of America.

Something insightful was said....compassion is weakness.
Not because it was correct but because it in a simple way communicated a concise truth. In this nation, at this time, to be empathetic which is the CENTER of compassion is considered weak. Such (Historical Eastern understanding) of EGO is amazingly bereft today.

In the historical East (land of Sidartha -India ) Compassion is the center STRENGTH of ALL. Without empathy we are lost souls. We so easily get attached to our, job, our car, our property but all of those things are fleeting illusion & can so easily pass. We WORK SO HARD to posses these fleeting ghosts. The homeless man in America reminds us how fleeting it really is.......

We usually have one of 2 choices. Say fuck em, work harder or empathize with them & feel understanding.

Regardless of mental damage or bad choices.

We are in reality always one paycheck away from them.

SO next time you say F'm. Think about how far away you REALLY are from their shoes.

Cookie Parker · #19 (**permalink**) 12-30-2007, 12:18 PM

Understanding poverty and homelessness in America | csmonitor.com

Quote:

The 2006 Street Count - an annual census of homeless people in the United States - has resulted in accolades and high- fives for the Bush administration's Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH). Rates have dropped in major metropolitan areas such as Miami and Dallas by as much as 30 percent. Some places, such as Denver, report more modest decreases. Overall though, the climate at the national summit held in Denver recently for those involved in developing 10-year plans to end homelessness was pretty ecstatic.

But for the tens of millions of people who live in rural America, and for families everywhere with children, the news is pretty bad - they just simply didn't get counted.

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The problem is, there are so many definitions of homelessness for so many different programs, no one is quite sure anymore exactly what "homeless" means. Families with children who cannot access shelters simply can't consider the streets an option. So they are often found doubled - and tripled-up with friends and relatives, and frequently move between multiple locations. While they may be considered homeless by the local school district, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) doesn't think so. These people might be able to access healthcare services if there is a homeless clinic in the neighborhood, but they won't be able to get food stamps as an individual or a family. And they will probably put the family that was willing to take them in at risk of losing their housing. None of these folks got counted in the 2006 Street Count.

According to the United States Conference of Mayors, requests for shelter by families with children went unmet 32 percent of the time in 2004 - and families with children make up the fastest-growing segment among the homeless. Fifty-six percent of the reporting cities say that homeless families have to break up in order to find shelter. At least 3.5 million persons are likely to experience homelessness during a year in the United States and 40 percent of them will be children. None of these children got counted this year, either.

Families without stable housing face transportation barriers that make job retention and children's school continuity difficult. But because we can't get HUD to agree with the Department of Education or with the Department of Health and Human Services on a single definition of homelessness, these families are often stuck in a downward spiral, unable even to begin the process of trying to be self-sufficient.

There is no town, city, or state anywhere in America where an individual or family working full-time and earning the minimum wage can afford a one- or two- bedroom apartment at the fair market rental rate established by HUD. Just this week, the National Association of Realtors put the median price for a modest home in the US at more than $200,000.

The US Conference of Mayors has requested by resolution that the ICH and the president call for all federal departments and funding sources to adopt a common definition of homelessness. Perhaps they should listen more to the mayors who are actually seeing what goes on in their cities and towns every day, instead of depending on numbers gathered by four hours of schlepping through the streets of our biggest cities one night a year.

This kind of effort and cooperation would go a long way in helping all communities provide a consistent level of help and support for children and their parents. It might even give us a valid count. But instead, ICH met in Denver to celebrate numbers that don't seem to have much real meaning to people across America struggling to find shelter and keep their families intact.

Affordable housing, access to healthcare, and meaningful work for decent wages will solve the problem of homelessness in America. We just have to believe that everybody counts.

I'm glad your job hasn't been shipped off to another FTA agreement Bush has made....if it ever gets shipped, down-sized, or the wages fall and the insurance gets gone, I'm sure you'll find other ways to survive on your own....

Cookie Parker · #20 (**permalink**) 12-30-2007, 12:20 PM

Borgen Project- Homeless in America

Quote:

The Cause
Two trends are largely responsible
for the rise in homelessness in
recent years: a growing shortage
of affordable rental housing and a
simultaneous increase in poverty.
Who's the Leader?
In 1970, the world's nations
agreed to provide 0.7
percent of their gross
national income for
development assistance. The
only countries who have met
this pledge?

Denmark, Luxembourg,
the Netherlands, Norway
and Sweden.

Countries that have
committed to reaching the
target by 2015 - Belgium,
Finland, France, Ireland,
Spain and Britain.
In most states a minimum-wage
worker would have to work 89
hours each week to afford a
two-bedroom apartment at 30% of
his or her income, which is the
federal definition of affordable
housing (National Low Income
Housing Coalition).