what is the homeless situation like where you live?

[broderic_randal]

I am just curious as to what the homeless situation is like where you live?

there are a lot of homeless people in the city that I live in. a A lot of the homeless people that are in my city are mentally ill, drug addicts or alcoholics.

many of the homeless people in my city are infected with aids.

if you go down to the business district in my city you will encounter homeless people begging for spare change on so many of the street corners.

if you go to the more residential areas of town, you will see many homeless rummaging for bottles in garbage cans

anyone have any thought, comments or experiences with/about homelessness?

 

[Torre82]

Moved to the snobby side of town December 2005 and never looked back. No homeless, noone asking for anything other than an application to fill out around here. A'course car thievery is on the rise since there's a fuckload of BMW's, escalades and such on this side of town. I say serves 'em right. They dont come up here to take soccer mom cars or break into homes.. they steal from the rich and give to.. themselves. Fine with me, I've got nothing worth taking. I'm just avoiding muggings and break-ins on this side of town. Enjoying the kindly white folk and Indians who speak perfect english. (Not so many blacks, chinese or mexicans here..) Actually have a ton of U.K. folk coming thru here. Funny people. Laidback.

Anyway, downtown Indianapolis had some homeless when I went thru there a year ago. Probably crawling with 'em now. That's about.. 45 minutes away on a clear highway. Chicago is maybe 4 hours away. Not a bum to be seen. But you can see the number of unemployment credit cards on the rise.

 

[mongo18]

No problems where I live, guess they all freeze to death in winter. I know if I was homeless I'd be taking the first boxcar to Florida. Sometimes in January I think I'd rather be homeless in Florida.

 

[broderic_randal]

No problems where I live, guess they all freeze to death in winter. I know if I was homeless I'd be taking the first boxcar to Florida. Sometimes in January I think I'd rather be homeless in Florida.

being homeless in a cold city is just as bad as being homeless in a hot city

i guess that is why there is a lot of homeless in the city that i live in, because it never gets to cold in the winter and in the summer it never gets to hot

 

[BlueBalls]

"I dont have any CHANGE!!!!!!"

 

[ChefChiTown]

Chicago has the third highest popuation in the United States, so we're bound to have a lot of homeless people. In fact, from the last I heard on the news, there are around 75,000 homeless people in the city of Chicago. The funny thing is, you don't really see all that many. I always wondered why, but then I realized that Chicago has a very good system put in place to help assist homeless people. Homeless shelters, work programs, the YMCA (etc); they all help keep homeless people off of the street, so to speak.

"I dont have any CHANGE!!!!!!"

Hello? Do you have any change? CHAAAANGE!!!

*EDIT

Link is blocked for some reason. GO HERE, 2nd link from the top.

 

[BlueBalls]

Hello? Do you have any change? CHAAAANGE!!!

*EDIT

Link is blocked for some reason. GO HERE, 2nd link from the top.

:thumbsup::1orglaugh Such a fantastic episode.

 

[efeezy]

Homeless population here in the San Diego area is pretty high. At any given freeway offramp your bound to find a guy or gal with a sign asking for money or for work etc.

I feel bad for most of these people, and I have to be honest saying that I'll give them a few bucks now and then. If I have a few dollars in change sitting in the ashtray, it might do them more good than me, even if they are going to buy booze or whatever. Hell, I'd want to escape reality too if I was living on the streets trying to survive...so I can't say I blame them.

So many of us are just a paycheck away from being right there with them, especially if you don't have much or any family/friends who could help you out in difficult times.

I don't like the attitude many people take towards the homeless saying "why don't they just clean up and get a job" and the like. Drug, alcohol & metal problems keep these people in a cycle that is nearly impossible to break. Unless they get direct help from a service or shelter that can get them back on track, most are destined to live and die that way. Pretty sad.

 

[jim beam & coke]

Most of the homeless in the downtown area, on the west side. A few church groups have opened over flow shelters to help. Some of these groups raised money buy bus tickets to the south, because here in the Midwest it can get to be well below zero on some nights.

It is less likely you will freeze to death on a cold night when it's above freezing. Still, I agree life is still tough.

 

[Galactic]

It's not too bad where I live, but if you drive into Boulder or Denver, it is pretty bad. Especially lately. And the ones I have encountered in Denver are definitely mentally ill.

But I have a question for you all as well. Have you guys encountered any of the "angry" bums, the ones that demand, rather than ask for spare change? Freaks me out every time.

 

[PlasmaTwa2]

Homeless in Saskatchewan is not all that bad, mostly because they all die out every winter.

In summer you may see a few walking around downtown. They all seem to hang around a McDonalds, for whatever reason.

 

[maildude]

I live in a college town in Michigan. In America, it doesn't get much worse than that.

 

[thanksimout]

Cleveland, Ohio... Our Homeless population is healthy and growing.
And yes... I do have change lots of it and NO you can not have any. Unless of course they tell me they need it for drugs or alcohol and then I'll always give them a buck for honesty.

 

[Wainkerr99]

Quite a large homeless pop here in Portland Ore Gone. The local municipality and church organisations have bent over backwards to help. They always hand out food and clothes. Some are mentally ill, but they are taken care of too.
I give a bit of change where I can, but it is annoying to find youths ask. And the whole "my friend and I are trying to get back to (wherever) to visit my sick aunt" makes me want to kick their ass. Then there is the "Do you like art?" angle from some tall long faced wuss.

"Just get a job" might have worked a year ago, but if happy, bright, smiling, positive, round open faced, black haired/ultra short hair to bald/ 'professional' looking people battle to find employment, what the hell chance do they have? They have to find a place to shower, find some clothes to wear for an interview, get a place where they can print resumes, draw up resumes, and of course the cover letter, carry thank you cards, smile, , happy happy, weeeeeee, get bus fare, arrive on time looking like a million bucks, and do this over and over from 6 months up to a year. They also need to know how to handle a professional interview.

No one gives a damn about such people. They are the church's problem. Oh, that's right, we hate God don't we. Anyway, they have to look like they really care about and love others if they want to work in retail, or 'be part of a team.' The same people that would kick their heads in while they sleep on the street.

 

[Wainkerr99]

^^ sorry just venting and whining again.

 

[Violator79]

There's some homeless people here, but I'm sure there's more.

 

[broderic_randal]

thanks for the posts, good to see that my town is not the only town with homeless

so, my next question is this:

if any of you were to become homeless, do you think you would be able to survive? how would you survive?

 

[capricorn]

There aren't many homeless people here where I live (but I'm not in the US). If you walk through the downtown, you occasionaly meet someone at the corner begging. Or sometimes they stand on road crossings and when you stop for red light, the come to your car and beg. Many people dig through the dumpsters trying to find something that could be useful to them (i see they often take some garments). But I think only a few of them are actually homeless, they simply don't have any source of income but live in the houses or apartments they inherited.

Personally, I never give to the ones who ask for money. But if they are unobtrusive, or try to earn money by playing an instrument or doing something, I sometimes give them some change.

Can't really imagine myself in such situation, firstly, I own some real estate so no one can really throw me out on the street, and secondly, I think I'd rather do any kind of a job then walk around the streets and beg.

 

[GabberMan]

In England the stats for homeless folks' reasons for being homeless are:

* 36% - Parents, relative or friends no longer willing or able to accommodate
* 19% - Breakdown of relationship with partner
* 20% - Loss of private dwelling, including tied accommodation
* 18% - Other
* 4% - Mortgage arrears
* 2% - Rent arrears


But come on, half are pissed up and/or on drugs.

 

[ChefChiTown]

thanks for the posts, good to see that my town is not the only town with homeless

so, my next question is this:

if any of you were to become homeless, do you think you would be able to survive? how would you survive?

Hopefully, most people could rely on friends and family members for help. At least, for a little while. Then, once it became too much of a burden for them, there are always plenty of shelters around to look into.