In my former white collar world, the only contact I have with the homeless was seeing them standing on the corner holding a sign. My conservative friend tells me that most of them are cheats who make over $70K a year, tax-free by standing on street corners for a couple of hours a day and that 80% of homeless are drug addicts or mentally incompetent. So his solution is incarceration either in jail or a mental institution.
Assuming he’s right (and I don’t), he could not address that our jails are overcrowded already and we don’t even have enough mental health care for those who can afford to pay for it.
Then my wife got assigned to our “little church” and it used to hold Tuesday night community dinners. I got to meet people who needed a free meal to make it to the next paycheck. Only two of them were homeless and one of them had a job – minimum wage doesn’t pay the rent. Neither were mentally ill nor a drug addict
I also got to meet a high school drop out. The main reason he dropped out was he was sick and tired of getting beat up because he wouldn’t join a gang.
And I got to meet a pair of drug addicts (who are now “clean”) who advise active drug addicts how to survive until they decide to seek care. There is a point in most drug users lives when they want to ditch the habit. Get them then, and success is almost assured. Force them into therapy when they are not ready for it, and failure is almost assured. In many cases the window is small. We lose a lot because facilities are not available.
So I am thankful for my association with these neighbors. They have become real people. They have faces, names and a life history. They also have children. Homeless come in all kinds, they are not just all “bag ladies.”
Pickled Pete almost 3 years ago
Show me the money!
ACK! Premium Member almost 3 years ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_of_Sant’Egidio
Out of the Past almost 3 years ago
Doesn’t look like a moneymaker. But St. Giles and Sant Egidio made for interesting reading.
rhpii almost 3 years ago
I don’t need to travel to Rome to see what I can see right here at home.
FreyjaRN Premium Member almost 3 years ago
Think globally, act locally.
dflak almost 3 years ago
In my former white collar world, the only contact I have with the homeless was seeing them standing on the corner holding a sign. My conservative friend tells me that most of them are cheats who make over $70K a year, tax-free by standing on street corners for a couple of hours a day and that 80% of homeless are drug addicts or mentally incompetent. So his solution is incarceration either in jail or a mental institution.
Assuming he’s right (and I don’t), he could not address that our jails are overcrowded already and we don’t even have enough mental health care for those who can afford to pay for it.
Then my wife got assigned to our “little church” and it used to hold Tuesday night community dinners. I got to meet people who needed a free meal to make it to the next paycheck. Only two of them were homeless and one of them had a job – minimum wage doesn’t pay the rent. Neither were mentally ill nor a drug addict
I also got to meet a high school drop out. The main reason he dropped out was he was sick and tired of getting beat up because he wouldn’t join a gang.
And I got to meet a pair of drug addicts (who are now “clean”) who advise active drug addicts how to survive until they decide to seek care. There is a point in most drug users lives when they want to ditch the habit. Get them then, and success is almost assured. Force them into therapy when they are not ready for it, and failure is almost assured. In many cases the window is small. We lose a lot because facilities are not available.
So I am thankful for my association with these neighbors. They have become real people. They have faces, names and a life history. They also have children. Homeless come in all kinds, they are not just all “bag ladies.”
buflogal! almost 3 years ago
Thank you. Bless you.