http://www.wichitahomeless.com/

The single Dad in that movie was the hardest working dude I’ve ever seen–he was not a drunk or a pimp or on drug or mentally ill, and he was homeless.

Maybe 50 duplexes. Maybe 100. I haven’t counted.

They change hands every couple years. Another greedy, irresponsible landlord comes in.

And the living units continue to deteriorate.

I say GIVE those units to the homeless on the condition they improve them.

It worked for the pioneer era of this country. Let’s try it again.

She is a good person.

Her Father was a great guy.

Facing the problem is NOT being “heartless” — facing the problems of substance abuse and mental illness are the only way to deal with this problem, if you truly want results.

Moreover, there ARE innocent victims of drug and alcohol addiction and there are children out there that depend on the mentally ill or the addicted.

Even if that child has no problems, other than the parents the child was born to, — getting the parents into treatment is the way to go.

It is heartless to try and make a political issue out of mental illness and drug addiction.

These ARE the root causes of the vast majority of homeless cases.

Even in the opening of this thread, Randy used these words:

“the idea being to get the homeless off the street and get them the help they need (such as mental health and alcohol treatment) to become self-sufficient again.

It appears to be working.”

The econonmy has slowed, however homelessness has declined.

During this same period of time, we have concentrated on mental illness, alcholism and addiction.

Gee, maybe the facts are on MY side?

“Homelessness is NOT an economic problem”

And hunger is not a food problem.

Disease is not a health problem.

Pollution is not an environmental problem.

Corruption is not an ethics problem.

Welcome to “Franklin’s” world.
(Please check your brain at the door.)

WRONG! In 1998, 40% of the clients served in homeless shelters in our community were children. Eighty-two percent of those children were under the age of 10.

2) All of the homeless are lazy and refuse to work

During the past year, 24% of the clients entering local homeless shelters were employed when they requested service. Unfortunately, most were employed at minimum wage jobs with no benefits. Families often become homeless when one family member experiences a medical crisis and becomes unable to work or pay for medical treatment.

3) All of the homeless want to be on welfare

The public perception of welfare is that it is easy to obtain, easy to live on, and provides an excellent standard of living. In reality, applying for welfare can be (and often is) a dehumanizing experience.

The welfare system in and of itself is not designed for the benefit of the client nor is it designed to empower them to achieve a better life.

Programs designed to get individuals off the welfare rolls (such as Kanwork, Voc-Rehab), are often unavailable without a long waiting period.

If a mother is able to secure employment, she often does not make enough to pay for child care, mecical costs, transportattion, etc., ano thererore it may not be cost effective for her to work. The monthly amount a single mother with two children receives is $403 with approximately $304 in food stamps. Out of these monies, she must pay her rent, utilities, transportation, etc. Items such as toiletpaper, paper products, cleaning supplies, diapers, etc. are not covered by food stamps. For example, if her monthly rent is $325, that will leave her with $78 to purchase the above listed items. As you can see, that will not ensure her a high standard of living.

All of the homeless are uneducated

People from a variety of backgrounds, educational levels, ethnic groups become homeless. It is estimated that every American is two paychecks away from becoming homeless. During the past year, 74% of the adults entering local homeless shelters had a high school diploma or a G.E.D. and 17% had some college credits. Education, in and of itself is no guarantee that an individual will not become homeless.

All of the homeless are addicted to drugs and alcohol

Statistically, it is estimated that approximately 30% of the homeless population in the United States has a substance abuse problem. Most‘stereotype their behavior and personal characteristics, It becomes easy to “blame” them for their misfortune and see them as deserving their fate. In reality, many of the factors that impact these families and individuals are beyond their control (poverty, lack of affordable housing, mental illness and/or mental retardation, inability to find full time permanent employment which would allow them to support their family, physical disabilities, inability to support family on public assistance, etc.)

Prepared by Lynn Tatlock, Director of Salvation Army Homeless Services

Homelessness is a mental health and addiction problem.

Period!

It is rare for someone to be kicked out of their home and wind up on the street.

http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/homeless/library/countinghomeless/countingguide.pdf

How can foreclosures be at an all-time high since the Depression and homelessness be down?

If that’s really true, my guess is that so many have died at the uncaring hands of our present government that the total numbers have fallen.

Here’s an insightful piece that has nothing to do with the thread; I just didn’t want to keep spamming the open thread:

Garrison Keilor from salon.com:

And it’s an amazing country where an Arizona multimillionaire can attack a Chicago South Sider as an elitist and hope to make it stick. The Chicagoan was brought up by a single mom who had big ambitions for him, and he got scholarshipped into Harvard Law and was made president of the law review, all of it on his own hook, whereas the Arizonan is the son of an admiral and was ushered into Annapolis though an indifferent student, much like the Current Occupant, both of them men who are very lucky that their fathers were born before they were. The Chicagoan, who grew up without a father, wrote a book on his own, using a computer. The Arizonan hired people to write his for him. But because the Chicagoan can say what he thinks and make sense and the Arizonan cannot do that for more than 30 seconds at a time, the old guy is hoping to portray the skinny guy as arrogant.

Good luck with that, sir.

Meanwhile, the casual revelation last month that Mr. McCain has never figured out how to use a computer and has never sent e-mail or Googled is rather startling. It’s like admitting that you’ve never clipped your own toenails or that you didn’t know that toothpaste comes out of a tube because your valet always did that for you. It’s like being amazed at the sight of a supermarket scanner. What world does Mr. McCain live in? Where does he keep his sense of curiosity? My 94-year-old mother has sent e-mail. Does somebody plan to show him how it’s done and will they explain to him what “LOL” means?