Berkley RV homeless

blw2 said:

another twist on homeless in general to add to your comments.... I often think about the non-government solutions that exist to help these folks.  Churches and all sorts of other charities are out there ready to help....I guess a lot of these folks just don't want to go that route because they would be made to get off drugs, etc...

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Yes any church will go to great lengths to help anyone in their church that has any type of problem. And every single one of these homeless is carrying a sign that says 'God bless you'. Yeah right, they are really religious people.

Just a tidbit, but by living full time in a motor home, the Veteran's Administration considers you homeless. I am certain so that they don't have to pay housing benefits to veterans who opt for full timing.

Neighboring Oakland, CA has proposed spending $185 million over two years on the city's homeless.  A charity in San Francisco just announced they are donating $14 million towards that city's street dwellers.

I'm not sure if I left California just in time, or a little too soon. 

Homeless and Houseless are two different things, though not all laws and regulations recognize that.  Well, the regs may handle the difference ok, but the clerks who administer them may not.

Wow, lot's of energy on this subject.  It's a growing problem folks.  To do nothing has consequences.  And you all know about the consequences.  Unless you've figured out a way to compost 100% of your waste.  Anyone have any suggestions other than to get a job.  I agree, it's a lifestyle for some, but don't judge everyone based on your one-off experience.  Unless of course you've been there and done that.  Here are some of the reasons they don't get a job. 

Education.  Ever heard of Dyslexia and other learning disabilities.  They exist.  Many struggle with education.  My nieces old boyfriend for example.  He can't read or write.  He's in his mid-30's and can probably fix anything that's broken.  So he's pretty smart, but how does he fill out an application for a job.  Growing up with a handicap like that can take it's toll on a mans spirit.  Don't mention Einstein who supposedly had Dyslexia.  It's a myth. 

Mental health.  I'm sure many of you have family or friends with mental health issues.  Do you give them a pass. 

What about our Vets that get barebones minimum for their service and struggle with PTSD.  I'll be there are one or two Vet's in Berkley. 

Laid off with health issues.  I have close family relations so I speak from first hand knowledge. 

Intellectually handicapped.  Another personal relation.  A niece in her 50's, marginally employable.  None of her brothers want the responsibility.  Mother past several years ago.  Father pushing 80 and likely won't live to 100.  At some point, I expect her to join the ranks. 

 

Homeless are, by definition, houseless. Countless houseless folks in the Bay area are homeless, even though they may be working.

Some years ago, one of the engineering grads I hired came from outside the Bay area. We paid him reasonably well, gave him a hotel room for a couple of weeks (or was that month), and suggested he start looking for a place to rent. I'd ask him almost daily how his search was going, and he'd always say that he couldn't find anything he could afford, nor could he find a roommate to share the cost. Well past the hotel time, it occurred to me to ask where he was living in the meantime. "In my car, parked at different shopping malls" was the answer.
I was horrified, and had several employees and my wife looking for somewhere for him to live. IIRC one employee put her hand up and said "I have a spare room". During this search, my admin told me about folks in San Jose renting out areas on the floor of their family room. An area just big enough for a sleeping bag cost $300, no use of cooking facilities or bathroom, and they had to get out first thing in the morning. That was 20 years ago, and I can't imagine what it would be today.

When we lived in Salt Lake City area, we saw an awful lot of homeless. Our church worked with them a lot, and a very well know advocate for the homeless was a member. She would give examples of people who were barely making it, then just one unexpected bill drove them to homelessness. Car broke and can?t get to your job anymore? Eviction then homelessness. Get sick or injured, can?t work, get bills you can?t pay? Homeless. It absolutely is not just drug users! Mental health issues are huge, and even something as ?simple? as depression can lead to homelessness. There were teenagers from across the state who end up in SLC who were kicked out of homes by their parents when they found out they were gay. Most people in SLC were homeless for less than a year. Yes, there were the drug users, alcoholics, and slackers, but there were also families who just need a hand to get back on their feet. Not everyone has family to turn to when things get hard.

On a recent trip from Texas to Minnesota J and I were amazed at the Now Hiring signs everywhere we went. Cities or small towns made no difference. No idea about the wages as at 77 I'm no longer in the job market. I have no ideas about how to solve the problem.

Tom said:

I don't know anything about the people referred to in the article, but it's a fact that sky high home prices preclude many people in the Bay area from being able to qualify or pay for a house. Many can't afford to rent a place. We lived and worked in the (silicon) valley for over 20 years, and saw first hand some of the challenges.

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My daughters boyfriend, a highly paid senior software engineer, bought his home in Redwood City, Ca, the heart of Silicon valley 25 years ago.  Paid about $300,000 for a modest 3 BR 2 Bath home.  And believe me, it's modest.  Today the home is worth $1,900,000.  For those of you who never heard of Redwood City, Ca, it's across the bay, maybe 45 minutes from Berkley.  It's difficult to find a home in the Bay for under $1,000,000.  So for the children of the many thousands of families who moved to the Bay area before the Silicon Valley Boom, because they couldn't afford to live in San Francisco, now they can't afford to live in the area where they grew up in.  And not many will get a job in the Tech industry if they only have a high school diploma. 

I think we need more places like "Slab City". The homeless and drop outs from society have figured out how to live there for years. They are not in the way of those of us that make our own way. There would be little cost to open up some BLM land or other unused property. Don't impose all of society's rules on them, just let them live.

garyb1st said:

And not many will get a job in the Tech industry if they only have a high school diploma.

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And even if they managed to get a job in tech, they'd quickly find out that they don't make anywhere near enough to buy a house, and just barely enough to maybe rent an apartment in Livermore and commute.

Minimum wage in most small towns is a livable wage.  If you work hard, have integrity, and treat others as more important than yourself, you will grow as a person and your career and wages will grow with you, but even if the higher wages do not come, it?s still a satisfying life to earn an honest living and not be a burden to others because of laziness, lack of integrity, or fear of moving away from where you grew up.

I don't think that most of these "homeless RV'ers" are necessarily falling into those sorts of 'homeless' categories. As I understand it, there are those with halfway decent jobs that just can't find or afford housing, and there are those "van-life" people where it definitely is a lifestyle choice.  Many of these have decent jobs that allow them to work while on the road, computer stuff or whatever... and they choose to live in a simple way and explore.  modern gypsy's.

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Or maybe they're just doing what they need to do.  We've been an an RV park in the Silicon Valley for the past two months.  The only one we could get into that wasn't 50 miles from my daughters home.  She has health issues and needs our help.  The daily rate for this concrete and asphalt parking lot in an industrial area, $95.00 a day.  We needed to move three times the first month because it's so full.  They gave us the monthly rate after the first 12 days.  The monthly $1,800.  Very few of the RVers here are vacationing.  They are here for work or health reasons.  As mentioned I'm here only to help my daughter.  Fortunately we can afford these crazy rents.  The guy on our left is from Indiana.  He's a Pipe Fitter and drove here for work.  Can't imagine driving more than 2,000 miles to find work.  He's a family man with 3 kids.  He has two friends also from the Midwest with similar backgrounds and here for the work. 

I can see the homeless get very little sympathy here. Sure hope no members here find themselves in this situation. The rest of your forum friends can assume you are drug abusers or alcoholic?s that just don?t want to work.

Our son would be homeless if it weren?t for us. He?s an Iraq War Vet with PTSD. He cannot keep a job. We bought him an older TT and he has it at a year round park costing $500 month. He gets about $1500 a month from the VA. A one bedroom here is more than his lot rent.

Try not to judge folks too harshly until you have walked in their shoes.

Gary1st. My father in law could not read or write but it didn't stop him from getting a good job.
He worked 3 jobs every week for his whole life. That didn't stop him from making a good life
for his family. He was a great man. Excuses are like b___holes everyone has one.

Oldgator73 said:

I can see the homeless get very little sympathy here. Sure hope no members here find themselves in this situation. The rest of your forum friends can assume you are drug abusers or alcoholic?s that just don?t want to work.

Our son would be homeless if it weren?t for us. He?s an Iraq War Vet with PTSD. He cannot keep a job. We bought him an older TT and he has it at a year round park costing $500 month. He gets about $1500 a month from the VA. A one bedroom here is more than his lot rent.

Try not to judge folks too harshly until you have walked in their shoes.

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Finally - compassion!  Thanks

Corky

It's not just the Bay Area that has high housing prices.  I spent 5 years in an RV Park in LA's San Fernando valley while I was working there and over that time my monthly rent went from $700 to $1200 a month and now new arrivals start at $1400 monthly if they qualify.  If not, it's $65 a night, no weekly rates over the summer.

The only reason that park is there is because it was established as temporary housing for the adjacent Van Nuys Army Airfield during WWII.  After the war it became a gradually deteriorating mobile home park until the present owner bought it 14 years ago.  He started removing the decrepit mobilehomes as tenants moved out and rented the vacant spaces to RVers. Now it's a very nice upscale RV Park even given the space constraints of its layout.

Most of the long term tenants are craftspeople for the nearby movie studios who work according to the filming schedules, leaving the park at the conclusion of one project and returning at the start of their next project.

$1400 a month is hard to meet if you're working 30 hours a week (the new minimum wage "fulltime" so your employer doesn't have to provide health care) at $11 an hour.  Fortunately, I was making several times more than that, but even so I told my employer the only way I could afford to live in the area was if I could find a place where I could live in my RV.  Otherwise I'd just be working for food and rent on an apartment.  My prospective boss didn't understand as he was living in a house he purchased from his grandparents 30 years ago.  He stopped laughing when I announced I was going to retire and they tried to find my replacement.

Meanwhile, the neighboring city is battling problems of tent cities springing up along the river and along hiking paths, and derelect RVs are being parked on city streets for living quarters faster than they can be towed off.

BTW, it's spelled Berkeley, not Berkley. 

George, I never said he didn't work.  He had a great job fixing appliances before the company he worked for shut their doors.  Finding work is just a bit harder today.  Your father-in-law lived in a different time.  I can tell you from personal experience, times have changed.   

Corky said:

Finally - compassion!  Thanks

Corky

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) ) )

Compassion is hard to come by on here it seems. Years ago minimum wage was a enough for a person to afford a basic lifestyle - small apartment, used vehicle, food. Now 40 hours a week at minimum wage doesn?t allow someone to do that. Add in that cost of medical costs, the inevitable car repair cost, etc, and most minimum wage people end up working a couple of different jobs just to be able to share an apartment let alone have a family. And the vast majority of those are just one big bill away from eviction and bankruptcy. It is so sad. So many with mental illnesses that can?t work even 40 hours a week, including so many veterans like OldGator?s son with PTSD from his service. Compassion and empathy folks. Is it so hard?