My house is only 100 yards or so from a large city park.?ÿ In the last five or so years a constant population of homeless folks has established itself there.?ÿ The park is also adjacent to a shelter that also provides meals.?ÿ I look upon them as some sort of extraneous social color.?ÿ Except for an occasional public drunk incident the homeless folks keep a pretty tight presence.
They move predictably.?ÿ They migrate away from the park in the AM and toward the park at dark where a good number of them sleep.?ÿ One thing I have noticed is they mostly seem young and healthy.?ÿ In my mind I picture the old shabby hobos that lived near the tracks when I was a kid.?ÿ Things have changed.
I was out walking the dogs this evening and three or four destitute souls were making their way to the park.?ÿ I was surprised to see at least two of their faces illuminated by the screen of some sort of phone.?ÿ I guess this bugs me because in my mind homeless folks are "broke" and without means.?ÿ I guess that's changed also.
I mean I would be happy to see them wagging a bag from McDonald's or sporting a good winter coat.?ÿ I just can't figure out why it bugs me if they have phones.?ÿ
Oh well, just as long as they stay off my lawn, right?
You are just not informed about the right government program:
Since 1985, the Lifeline program has provided a discount on phone service for qualifying low-income consumers to ensure that all Americans have the opportunities and security that phone service brings,
It wasn??t until the 1990s that everyone had a phone in their pocket.
I guess something we didn??t grow up with doesn??t seem like a necessity.
Maybe we should amend the Declaration of Independence to read, "Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and a solid data service plan.."?ÿ ?ÿ😉
Do any of them look like FL/GA in his purple pimp get-up with the big sign announcing he is homeless and whoreless?
Homeless doesn't mean poor. This may be the only mean they have for contact since they have no home. Maybe you could offer up an old winter coat for them?ÿ to "sport" .
??It ain??t me babe?, I can??t qualify as I don??t possess an iPhone 13 pro like the majority. ?????ÿ
Do any of them look like FL/GA in his purple pimp get-up with the big sign announcing he is homeless and whoreless?
Hey now, where else can you clear $200/hr. just by holding a sign??ÿ
Homeless doesn't mean poor..
I think that's what intrigues me.?ÿ In my mind it begs a question:?ÿ Is it OK to depend on social services or charity for food, shelter or clothing even if a person has the means to provide for themselves?
We have done a good job in this country to separate laws and morals.?ÿ What one considers a 'moral responsibility' may not be seen in the same light by others or in the eyes of the law.?ÿ I have my own opinions but I'm trying to remain objective.
I was a member of a board of elders at our church.?ÿ The church made an honest effort to help folks that were having trouble providing for themselves.?ÿ We had food and clothing that was available just for the asking.?ÿ The elders became involved when the church helped folks with monetary needs.
There was a member of the congregation that barely scraped by each month.?ÿ She was a single girl with a houseful of kids.?ÿ It became apparent the church was "keeping her lights on" by paying her electric bill almost every month.?ÿ A few of the elders voiced the opinion that we needed to "cut her off" because she became dependent on the church as income.
This sparked a discussion about whether or not we were providing a "conditional" Christian charity.?ÿ Is it the moral thing to do to offer help to only some, but not all??ÿ Just something I mull over in my mind.?ÿ
BTW, my wife has made a habit of providing second-hand winter wear to the 'park people'.?ÿ ?ÿI chuckle a bit to myself when I walk the dogs and see one or two of my old Carhartt hoodies or jean jackets.?ÿ
Homeless doesn't mean poor.?ÿ
I think homeless usually means unable to manage their life and interactions with others such as family and employers. Often that results in being poor.
I've wondered if there is a hierarchy in homelessness. Are some practitioners more skilled at homelessness than others? Are they better off materially than the others? If you're really good at homelessness, do you have a pretty good life?
And what if you fail at homelessness? What do you do then?
My wife is on the Board of Directors of three organizations that serve the homeless community.?ÿ She has definitely noticed a skew in the local homeless population over the last 3-4 years: younger and more people with addiction problems as opposed to the mentally ill which used to make up a large portion of the community.?ÿ There also seems to be (at least where we live) a greater number of, for the lack of a better term, the voluntarily homeless.?ÿ ?ÿPeople who readily admit they'd rather live on the street and keep using than work a 9-5 job (while local factories and distribution centers have to put up billboards looking for employees with no experience starting at $20/hour).?ÿ
Being on the eastern edge of Appalachia; it seems that a lot of it is tied to the availability of cheap and plentiful opiates and the despair that comes with them.?ÿ The local cold weather shelter opens back up November 1 and all the staff have to be trained on using Naloxone (Narcan).?ÿ It was wasn't a problem five years ago, but now there is an OD every few days. It's a weird time when I go to pick up an empty soda bottle on the sidewalk in front of my house and my wife stops me because she's concerned there might be traces of Fentanyl on it.?ÿ?ÿ
there might be traces of Fentanyl on it.?ÿ?ÿ
I'm surprised.?ÿ Is it so strong a trace would be dangerous? Does it soak though the skin?
I think homeless usually means unable to manage their life and interactions with others such as family and employers. Often that results in being poor.
I talk with a number of the "homeless" people I run into at the park.?ÿ I usually have to see them as a "regular" before I try to chat.?ÿ It seems to me there are three basic "groups":?ÿ the mentally challenged, the criminal and the destitute.?ÿ I avoid the nuts and the desperados.
Most of the destitute seem to suffer from the same malady, hopelessness.?ÿ They've been beat up by and lost to the game to life in general.?ÿ Most of these have stories of failure that to me seem to center on their own personal irresponsibility.?ÿ I couldn't tell you if that is a symptom or a cause.?ÿ A good number of them seem to have gotten there by spending their money on their substance of choice instead of rent or their own upkeep.?ÿ
The criminals seem to feel they can remain anonymous and avoid the long arm of the law.?ÿ The nuts need help.?ÿ And I'm not talking about just kooks.?ÿ I'm talking about people that hear voices with paranoid delusions.?ÿ It's a shame, but society seems to have developed a "lost & found".?ÿ
@bill93 I think it's up in the air...lots of reports that it's rare, but lots of anecdotal evidence as well
Nothing wrong with being homeless, it's just weird when you do it outside of the Caribbean or somewhere similar. ????
I was surveying a vacant site last Saturday with an abundance of homeless tents on and near, plus a large box culvert they like for shelter. One man, who sort of looked like Santa Claus, chatted with me. Seemed nice enough. He asked me how long I had been doing this (58 years) and I told him I was 81. That astounded him, and he said, "You must not smoke or drink." (He was surrounded by that morning's beer cans.) I'd say life had just beaten him down. But note that he was a quarter mile from the large Gospel Rescue Mission and I know they would have welcomed him with open arms. Sad all the way around. Last I saw he was sitting quietly under a tree watching the traffic go by.
I now remember surveying a site just south of this one ten years ago, again homeless tents, and the woman in one tent (I never saw her) had the loveliest voice.
@bill93 I think it's up in the air...lots of reports that it's rare, but lots of anecdotal evidence as well
This article says the medical profession isn't worried about accidental contact, but some people have been led to be so fearful of it, and in very stressful situations, that perhaps they had a psychological reaction.
Concerns about fentanyl exposure continue to spread despite a clear consensus from medical experts that overdose from incidental skin contact is a medical impossibility
https://harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12954-020-00402-2
I was surveying a vacant site last Saturday with an abundance of homeless tents on and near, plus a large concrete box culvert they like for shelter. One man, who sort of looked like Santa Claus, chatted with me. Seemed nice enough. He asked me how long I had been doing this (58 years). That astounded him, and he said, "You must not smoke or drink." (He was surrounded by that morning's beer cans.) I'd say life had just beaten him down. But note that he was a quarter mile from the large Gospel Rescue Mission and I know they would have welcomed him with open arms. Sad all the way around. Last I saw he was sitting quietly under a tree watching the traffic go by.
I now remember surveying a site just south of this one ten years ago, again homeless tents, and the woman in one tent (I never saw her) had the loveliest voice.
