See other Activism Articles
Title: A Homeless Solution: IF people care!
Source:
Keeper of the Flame
URL Source: http://jimsorrell.proboards33.com
Published: Sep 5, 2006
Author: James Sorrell
Post Date: 2006-09-05 18:50:38 by CaptainChurch
Keywords: homeless, home, hope
Views: 522
Comments: 26
To ALL : --->Having experienced homelessness (by losing an investment), I see that current "shelters" are warehouses, the pinnacle of Tokenism, the visible tip of the iceberg. Everyone needs a home, to maintain a steady balance to succeed.....homeless people are on shifting sand! "Shelters" should be "clearing houses" ...(only a short stay & then re-located into the community)... a clearing house with a built in "buddy-system" ["matching" process begins the first day with someone who, like themselves, needs someone to look after their interests!] that prevents "drowning"; for even the oldest book says that it is "not good for man to be alone"...he just gets into trouble. A "clearing house" staff would get to know the person quickly and intensely (A predator wouldn't like to be known, so he flees the community.....which is your Best form of protection!). People would work in the "clearing houses" that know the community and its' people, like matchmakers, matching up folks with a compatable job, and living with someone in their home. The same book says "Open your homes to strangers", and with proper human concern for the homeless first..... [instead of social "companies" who use the homeless for their funding & grants, jobs and their own homes & lives.....and are themselves the other problem, besides obscene community apathy nationwide.] .....with proper concern for the people themselves who need a home, and who could fit quickly into a community's job and housing structure, and complement it..... instead of herding the homeless out of sight into a warehouse.....or, in one case, a basement "sewer" [As single men in Madison, WI are treated, with very unsanitary conditions] Everyone needs a home....to grow into a mature, contributing community member & good neighbor, with a real life! A model of such a new system should be set up, and then used everywhere for man's humanity to man! --->>>(Old folks who face having to leave their homes, because they can't take care of themselves adequately, and terrified of "old folks home/managed care facilities", could be properly matched up with a compatible homeless person, and both would benefit!) Best regards, James Sorrell jamessorrell2003@yahoo.com A while ago, homelessness was seen as a problem that other countries had. Poorer countries. But, during the Reagan years, the idea took hold that homeless people deserved their predicament and/or wanted it. Limbaugh's "homeless update" was symptomatic of the cold hearted, greed headed, stupid rationalization of suffering that gets de-oderized and pawned off as conservative ideology. Now we have a whole generation of Americans who are none the wiser. (More recently, the same transformation of thought is being directed at democracy and the Bill of Rights. But that's for another discussion board.) Almost any plan to aid the homeless is an improvement over the current state of affairs. Kelcy Ruiz, a homeless man who was stabbed to death Monday, May 9, 2005. Homeless Man Dies Saving Woman * Defended Restaurateur From Intruder May 12, 2005 3:56 pm US/Pacific MIAMI (AP) ---A homeless man who did odd jobs for a local restaurateur was stabbed to death as he defended her against a knife-wielding intruder, authorities said. Kelcy Ruiz, 32, was mourned as a hero for coming to the aid of Melida Murillo during an attack Monday at her Colombian restaurant, Mama Leonor. Ruiz, described by relatives as a crack cocaine addict who lived mainly on Miami's downtown streets, did occasional work for Murillo in exchange for food. "Even though he was a forgotten member of society, he acted better than most people who are not homeless," said Detective Delrish Moss, spokesman for the Miami Police Department.
General - A Homeless Solution: IF people care! From: fuzzwald
A Post Script story........
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 7.
#6. To: CaptainChurch, Indrid Cold (#0)
--------------------- We may as well drag Jimmy Carter into this. Prior to his administration, crazy people were warehoused in mental institutions. Some do-gooders came along and said, "Hey, these people aren't being treated, they're just sitting there. They might as well be in prison for all the good this is doing them." So somebody passed a law, and crazy people were let out of the asylums, completely unprepared, with a bottle of antipsychotics that they promised to take. Of course, the pills ran out (or got thrown away), and a HUGE percentage of those de-institutionalized ended up homeless. Surprisingly, they had no job skills, and their relatives didn't want to live with crazy people, which is why they were in the asylum in the first place. Like so much else under Carter's watch, the heart was in the right place, but implementation was a disaster. I started to research small homes that could be built inexpensively for the homeless [all those US military bases being ordered closed by Gorbachev could be used, IF government had a heart, which it doesn't], and got sidetracked by a disturbing report. please see: "....With increased dependence on the Social Security Number (SSN), the government has been able to engage in pervasive tracking of aid recipients. Now, with the requirement that states implement Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) by October 2002, aid recipients are being issued benefits cards that facilitate government tracking of all purchases. Gilliom argues that this combined with personal interviews delving into matters such as romantic relationships, results in a comprehensive tracking system that subjects the poor "to forms and degrees of scrutiny matched only by the likes of patients, prisoners, and soldiers." Strip away the bureaucratic language of fraud control, regulatory enforcement, consent forms, and the like, and we see a simple pattern in which a government agency is using broadly targeted and online surveillance in an effort to force a dependent population to live at an intolerable level of poverty. Gilliom's book provides firsthand accounts of the humiliation brought to bear by individuals watched by the state. Gilliom argues that traditional notions of privacy do not adequately describe the total surveillance in which the poor exist. He argues that a new language is needed to describe surveillance systems: a language that explicitly recognizes it as a tool of social control....." Poverty and Privacy Vermont Shelter Protests Homeless Tracking System........ http://www.epic.org/privacy/poverty/ They want us ALL homeless. See.... What's Next... Concentration Camps http://freedom4um.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=34267&Disp=14#C14
Let us know when you get back to the affordable housing possibilities - I'd be interested in your findings. Thanks.
#9. To: lodwick (#7)
How about these? Vinyl sheds. Make one about 4x to 6x the size of one of these, it's all modular, so expansion is easy. Could be insulated, put on a concrete slab, wired, plumbed, and I bet you could build the whole thing for less than $10k, with a kitchenette and bathroom, a living room and bedroom. Of course, current zoning laws and building codes would never allow these to be built, even tho I've put these up myself, and seen them last over ten years without any visible wear. Never needs painting, never wears out, lasts for years and years if not decades, can be put up by any semi-competent builder with nothing more than a screw gun, a level and a rubber mallet. Sure, they're not a McMansion, but they would sure beat living on the streets...
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestA while ago, homelessness was seen as a problem that other countries had. Poorer countries. But, during the Reagan years, the idea took hold that homeless people deserved their predicament and/or wanted it.
#7. To: AllTheKings'HorsesWontDoIt (#6)
Replies to Comment # 7. Let us know when you get back to the affordable housing possibilities - I'd be interested in your findings.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 7.