Berkley RV homeless

[winona]

Seems like folks are making assumptions about these folks without knowing their story.  On any given night in the US there is an estimated 550,000 people experiencing homelessness. The reasons vary from mental illness, bankruptcy, medical issues, etc. Some homeless work. They just do not make enough to afford housing. Some are drug abusers and yes, some homeless choose this lifestyle. I choose not to judge these folks until I know their situation. Simply saying ?get a job? is not the answer.

Catch 22 the whole way around.  Carmel, CA doesn?t have enough worker bees ? no affordable housing / rentals ? which is beginning to be the norm in many cities. 

I live in a small town with 2 section 8 housing complexes.  Problem?  No transportation and few jobs.  With no car, you?re walking to work which gives the choice of burger joint, a drug store, clerk at the gas station.  Minimum wage jobs. and not full time.

I also help at a soup kitchen in a larger city.  Most are men, and some are able to hold down occasional jobs.  Most have some disability for keeping a job.  One just prefers to live outside except in winter.  One family lives in their car.

Camping last weekend in northern Indiana ? family of 4 in a van and using a tent.  They didn?t appear to be ?enjoying the great outdoors.?

Sad the whole way around.  Solution?  Not a clue.

 

[butchiiii]

This is becoming a problem all over the country. Something needs to be done
to fix the issue. I wish I had answers.  :-[

 

[Alpena Jeff]

My mind automatically sumizes that 50% of these people are unable to find their way out due to mental and physical issues, and the other half CHOOSE not to. Unless someone can produce data to the contrary, I'm rolling with it.
Therefore, I have sincere compassion for half.

 

[gravesdiesel]

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.

Very well said!

 

[Back2PA]

I have sincere compassion for half.

Yup

Sad the whole way around.  Solution?  Not a clue.

Double yup

 

[aguablanco]

The unchristian attitudes in this thread are disheartening to say the least. Whatever happened to There but for the grace of God go I? To generalize and stereotype all of these people as druggies or worse seems to lack a certain empathy that I thought, hoped, was still alive in America. It seems that every man for himself and survival of the fittest would be better mottos than E Pluribus Unum.
RichH

 

[Oldgator73]

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.

As for the homeless, minimum wage may not be the problem. The problem may be obtaining and then keeping a job. It?s odd that when we have a mass shooting the go to cause is ?It?s a mental health problem?. But when we talk about the homelessness problem it?s ?They?re lazy. They just need to get off their ass and get a job.? We need to treat each homeless persons reasons for being homeless individually instead of grouping them all together. It is becoming an epidemic. We have a 3.8% unemployment rate but let?s not celebrate that low statistic too enthusiastically. The US has a working poor problem.

 

[Oldgator73]

The unchristian attitudes in this thread are disheartening to say the least. Whatever happened to There but for the grace of God go I? To generalize and stereotype all of these people as druggies or worse seems to lack a certain empathy that I thought, hoped, was still alive in America. It seems that every man for himself and survival of the fittest would be better mottos than E Pluribus Unum.
RichH

I?m an Atheist but feel more Christian like in my sympathies for the plight of the homeless.

 

[FenderP]

When one's talk differs from his walk, it is the walk that speaks the truth about him.

 

[Tom]

[quote author=aguablanco]The unchristian attitudes in this thread are disheartening[/quote]

What exactly is "unChristian" in this discussion? You may not recognize that many of us are Christian; That doesn't make us "unChristian".

 

[Gwbeech]

It's the same old story dog out chirstians because of their beliefs or you're a racist if you don't
Agree with them

 

[Dance Chick]

Our 37 yr. old son is a former Green Beret with severe PTSD & TBI. He is VA disabled. Thank God he has a wonderful wife who has stuck by him through all the anger and raging. We've talked with him many times about the fact that he has a family who is there for him. The ones in his situation who do not have a family that cares about them, or have given up on them, end up on the streets. So, not all of the homeless can just "get a job". Fact of the matter is, they can't hold down a job due to the PTSD and other issues it brings. The demons they carry are many and are always present...even when they appear to be doing well.

 

[FenderP]

It's the same old story dog out chirstians because of their beliefs or you're a racist if you don't
Agree with them

What exactly is "unChristian" in this discussion? You may not recognize that many of us are Christian; That doesn't make us "unChristian".

) )

I’m sure the truly compassionate, self identified by their posts, have opened their homes and provided a place for some of the homeless. Otherwise there is no way they could judge the rest of us so harshly.

 

[Tom]

So, what does "unChristian" mean?

 

[NY_Dutch]

I think this is the point where I mumble to myself, "Thank God I'm an atheist..." 

 

[Oldgator73]

So, what does "unChristian" mean?

I think in this conversation unChristian refers to the mindset that many here have demonstrated that all homeless folks are slackers that just need to get off their ass and get a job. The definition of my unChristianity is that I am an Atheist. Whether one is a Christian or not, morality and common decency dictates we should show empathy for these folks. We do not know their story and until we do we cannot say all homeless people are slackers that do not want to work.

) )

I?m sure the truly compassionate, self identified by their posts, have opened their homes and provided a place for some of the homeless. Otherwise there is no way they could judge the rest of us so harshly.

We can be compassionate and have empathy for the homeless without inviting them to live with us. Are you intimating we must feel the way you do, and please excuse me if I am portraying you in an unkind light, as a person that believes all homeless people are lazy and do not want to work if we do not have a certain number under our roof?  It would not bother me at all if my taxes were raised to help feed, clothe and shelter the homeless.

 

[Oscar Mike]

It would not bother me at all if my taxes were raised to help feed, clothe and shelter the homeless.

It would bother me if my taxes were raised.

 

[Oldgator73]

It would bother me if my taxes were raised.

Sorry to hear you feel that way. I guess i?ll Pick up your slack.

 

[ZinLuvR]

I was born and raised in the San Fran east bay area.  The bay area has had a problem with the homeless for many years.  I sold my house and left in 2005.  I have been back since chasing work/money until I retired.  I moved from Cali because I didn't want to work until I died.  EVERYTHING in Cali is expensive and just keeps getting worse.  Where I moved the property tax is 10% of what I would have been paying in Cali.  I have not been in the Berserkly area for many years.  The last time I was in that city there was an explosion of homeless camps under the freeway overcrossings.  Seems the city gave the homeless money to buy tents.  The tents were pitched wall to wall under the freeways.  In the east bay where I lived you could watch the "homeless" work the freeway on and off ramps with their cardboard signs.  Seems like they had a system where they took turns manning the corners.  I bought a homeless guy who was asking for money some lunch and asked him about his life.  He seemed to be happy, he had an Obama phone and a bike and slept undercover every night in a shopping center.  Seemed like a nice enough guy who probably would have done well working a regular job, but he was living free and seemed to like it that way.  I never will give money to a beggar, especially one who's sign says they need money for food.  I offer to buy them something to eat, which sometimes they will take and sometimes not.  Cali is nice, can't hardly beat the weather, but if ya can't afford it, move, I wouldn't mind still being in Cali, but I preferred to retire.  Seattle is having the same problem, a girl was found dead in her class C camper a while back.  Living on the street in her RV.  There is no simple fix, the problem has gotten too large at this point.  Should Berserkly given money for tents, no, it just encouraged more homelessness.  So now they have a tent problem and an RV problem.  Seattle's solution, they are going to open city hall to the homeless to spend the night in, but they have to be out in the morning.  Anyone want to take a guess at how that's going to end up?  And who is going to go in and clean up the mess after 100 plus homeless have spent the night there? 

 

[Back2PA]

I think we should all back away from attempting to portray one person or another as being "more Christian" or caring. I believe I can speak for everyone who has participated in this topic that no one wants someone who is truly in need, for whatever reason, to go wanting. I doubt a single person here would be less than compassionate towards those who  simply aren't going to be able to make it without a leg up from a fellow human being.

That said, like it or not (and I don't) we live in a different world. A percentage, dare I say even a significant percentage, of those begging on the corners are doing it because they can make more money doing that than taking a job at McDonald's, plus it's easier. Is it all? Is it most? No, and probably not. But it's definitely enough to have caught the attention even of television news crews who have followed the slackers after "work". The point is that, regretfully, there are those in need, but there are also those who are gaming the system. And it's hard or even impossible to tell the difference. Those, including myself, who have made what I will call more pragmatic statements which have been referred to as "unChristian" are addressing these realities. They (we) are not broad-brushing everyone. Anyone who characterizes another member as not compassionate, or says that this whole group (forum members) are unsympathetic, are ironically doing exactly the same thing they are accusing others of - broad-brushing groups of people without knowing the facts.

In my opinion it would be much more productive to redirect the focus of this topic towards ideas that might help what we all know is a difficult problem in America (worldwide actually) - homelessness, unemployment and poverty.