Fri Jan 11, 2019, 06:06 AM

Homeless people will earn $10 an hour to beautify the city of Omaha

Inaugural participants in a new day-work program for homeless people will earn $10 an hour working in the city’s greenhouse, prepping flowers and plantings for city parks.

On Thursday, Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert and Maj. Greg Thompson, commander of the Salvation Army’s Western Division, talked about the new A Way to Work program.

“My ultimate goal would be to end homelessness in the city of Omaha,” Stothert said. But that’s a complicated issue, she said, and the jobs program is one way to help that population.

Under the program, which will start next month, the city will pay homeless people and panhandlers $10 an hour for two days a week for doing jobs that beautify the city. (The minimum wage in Nebraska is $9 an hour.)

Read more: https://www.omaha.com/news/metro/homeless-people-will-earn-an-hour-to-beautify-the-city/article_55edd198-53b8-55f5-b858-a4e1c9c9b1d4.html

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9 replies	Author	Time	Post
Homeless people will earn $10 an hour to beautify the city of Omaha (Original post)	TexasTowelie	Jan 2019	OP
It's a start	liberal N proud	Jan 2019	#1
Other cities have provided free apartments for the homeless.	CottonBear	Jan 2019	#2
More cities should do this. There are lots of empty buildings in homeless areas. Liability used to	iluvtennis	Jan 2019	#4
A baby steps...but many baby steps will get to the end goal as well.	iluvtennis	Jan 2019	#5
Omg really	samplegirl	Jan 2019	#3
I liked Omahans when I was there in October.	ananda	Jan 2019	#6
What a scam	whopis01	Jan 2019	#7
The moment I saw "Salvation Army" I knew there would be a catch. That's grotesque. nt	DRoseDARs	Jan 2019	#8
My guess is the $60k job goes to an SA guy	whopis01	Jan 2019	#9

Response to TexasTowelie (Original post)

Fri Jan 11, 2019, 06:09 AM

liberal N proud (58,801 posts)

1. It's a start

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Response to liberal N proud (Reply #1)

Fri Jan 11, 2019, 06:27 AM

CottonBear (20,429 posts)

2. Other cities have provided free apartments for the homeless.

Having a home and a job ends homelessness. Then, the individuals can get help to work on their issues of addiction, mental illness, health care, education and literacy.

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Response to CottonBear (Reply #2)

Fri Jan 11, 2019, 07:37 AM

iluvtennis (15,012 posts)

4. More cities should do this. There are lots of empty buildings in homeless areas. Liability used to

prevent cities from providing the rooms/apartments, but looks like that hurdle has been eliminated.

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Response to liberal N proud (Reply #1)

Fri Jan 11, 2019, 07:38 AM

iluvtennis (15,012 posts)

5. A baby steps...but many baby steps will get to the end goal as well.

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Response to TexasTowelie (Original post)

Fri Jan 11, 2019, 07:20 AM

samplegirl (8,038 posts)

3. Omg really

they think 2 days a week at $10.00 an hour will stop homelessness! Sounds like cheap labor that nobody wants at 2 days a week!

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Response to TexasTowelie (Original post)

Fri Jan 11, 2019, 07:40 AM

ananda (23,810 posts)

6. I liked Omahans when I was there in October.

Nice city!!!

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Response to TexasTowelie (Original post)

Fri Jan 11, 2019, 08:08 AM

whopis01 (2,931 posts)

7. What a scam

From the article:

They are getting $100k (half from Salvation Army and half from the city). Here is how they are spending it.

$60k for a program manager
$20k for administrative expenses

The remainder will be spent to employee 6 homeless people at a time for 90 days. Well, 2 days a week for 90 days at a time.

And the whole thing only runs from Feb - Sep.

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Response to whopis01 (Reply #7)

Fri Jan 11, 2019, 08:49 AM

DRoseDARs (6,810 posts)

8. The moment I saw "Salvation Army" I knew there would be a catch. That's grotesque. nt

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Response to DRoseDARs (Reply #8)

Fri Jan 11, 2019, 01:47 PM

whopis01 (2,931 posts)

9. My guess is the $60k job goes to an SA guy

Which means that the SA isn’t giving anything.

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