So how do people feel about the homeless problem?

[wintersoulja]

Id sincerely like to take a survey of people's feelngs about the homeless, and any solutions they think appropriate. Jokes would be inappropriate on this one. No law against it, but some things really just arent funny.
Thanks, feel free to pitch in, I'll be back to check, Im not gonna get into any disputes here :)

[tekisui]

1. A Society can be judged by the treatment and prevalence of their poorest.

[SharonAnn]

13. And it's even cheaper to provide safe housing, nutrition and medical care

than it is to leave them homeless and deal with the consequences.

One Emergency Room visit with a need for X-rays, CAT scan or MRI and lab tests will cost far more than housing and feeding several people.

[wintersoulja]

18. dont get me started

try to imagine what non-profit health care would mean just for the homeless and low to no income populace, and savings to the taxpayers treasury...

[Zhade]

94. All that really needs to be said.

Indeed.

[babylonsister]

2. Stop the war and put most of those funds into building housing

and creating jobs for the homeless. I know there are so many homeless now, but stand by. When/if this occupation is ever over and so many more broken bodies and spirits return, coupled with the crumbling economic situation in this country, we may see a return to a whole new generation of Hoovervilles. :-(

[Stuart G]

11. No a new generation of Bushvilles.. (nt)

[TroglodyteScholar]

3. I'm looking around my livingroom right now, and i don't see any homeless people. What problem?

</o'loofah>

[Jed Dilligan]

4. Two major issues

One is more commonly discussed. From a peak-American perspective it is shameful that anyone is homeless in this country. At the peak of American economic power we had virtually everyone housed in this country--many of them in skid row hotels and nightmarish mental hospitals--but housed nonetheless, in a fashion that was seen as orderly if not fair. (Those were also the days of housing segregation, cohabitation laws, and other unjust forms of housing regulation.) The generation running the government right now grew up in that America and want some version of it back. They all agree that homelessness should be "eliminated," whatever that means.

For someone my age, homelessness has "always" been around and it makes no sense that we continue to criminalize it and use police and jails as the primary form of "treatment" for homelessness. We are fed up with five and ten year plans. We know the homeless are mostly good people and we think they are getting a lousy deal. The majority of homeless people live in urban neighborhoods with lots of abandoned buildings and vacant land. The fact that we are putting people in jail for being homeless instead of giving them the buildings and land and the tools to improve them is appalling.

[L.A.dweller]

28. Los Angeles Skid Row underwent gentrification

and the homeless were kicked out. The homeless (most of whom are sick from the cold weather)ride the subways and metro rail lines.
They ride the train for several hours and then wonder the streets.

Now it is safe to walk around skid row at night and go to a hipster rock club in an alley.

The price of progress thanks to the Mayor. The same mayor who imposes fee hikes on trash collection to put more cops
on the street and hence more arrests of the homeless.

From Salon - http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/08/08/skid_row/index1.html
L.A.'s downtown boom is a dizzying phenomenon. Seemingly every month or so brings more groundbreakings, new announcements of high-priced, high-income projects. In mid-June, the city unveiled plans for a $750 million, 1,000-room hotel complex, with a four-star Marriott and a five-star Ritz-Carlton, next to downtown's Convention Center. Meanwhile, a few blocks away, in "The Bottoms" -- the most infamous blocks of skid row -- members of LACAN were videotaping city cleanup crews sweeping up homeless people's blankets and clothes.

"The Bottoms," the area of skid row where the missions and the street dwellers are concentrated, is a stunning slice of third-world poverty, a village of souls lost to the bottle and the needle, a depressing testament to human frailties, physical and mental.

This part of skid row, the center of the district's crime and the obvious focus of news stories, is chockablock with men, but a startling number of women squat here too, including ones with gray buns and shawls. People lay themselves along the iron fences of the row's little parks, sit in heaps of clothes and other belongings, hobble around with crutches, walkers and canes. Hard to look at, the streets are harder to smell. The worst blocks have the choking stench of human waste.

[Joanne98]

35. That's a disgrace!

[GigiMommy]

40. Twenty years ago...

I was on a business trip in LA. During some down time, I found an old friend of mine and went to visit him and his family. At one point, he asked me what had I seen in LA. I told him, Hollywood, The Coastline, Beverly Hills, etc. etc. etc. He took me for a ride. He wanted me to see and realize that LA WASN'T all glitz and glamour. It was Skid Row. I had NEVER seen anything like that before. People lined up both sides of the streets. Block after block after block. Then he rolled down the window and the STRONG smell of urine and waste would hit you like a slap in the face.

I don't think enough people even know about that area in LA. I'll NEVER forget it. I'll leave you speechless.

[zanne]

46. But they call it "revitalization" or "urban renewal"....

It happens here, too.

[Jed Dilligan]

5. Kick

You will find that DU goes totally mum on this issue. It's something mainstream liberals can't wrap their minds around.

[elizfeelinggreat]

15. a question

Your post sounds as if because people are not responding in droves that they are unaware or uncaring or have shut it out. I don't believe that and I hope that you do not. I believe many people are disheartened and very upset by the troubles they see all around them. Spend one day reading what's going on around us on this board and a person can easily be overwhelmed.

From my point of view when a problem is this large a pat answer feels trite. We have so many social issues to deal with and they are often very interconnected. IMO a big step in the right direction is just getting a more progressive majority in our government to work on solving the problem/s. See, even that sounds like a trite answer to me but I feel that's much likelier to bring about success than saying something like the old - give 40 acres and a mule to every homeless person. Sure that would help a lot of people in the short term and I know they need help right away but it's not a long range answer and it's not at all likely to happen anyway. Massive education leading to empathy, which will lead to real solutions, is my long range answer but it's long range and sounds useless in the context of this thread and the very real problem we're facing right now.

[Jed Dilligan]

65. The perspective of someone who's never been homeless

and quite a common one. To me, one person jailed for sleeping in America is too many. I have no trust in the bureaucracy entrusted to deal with this issue. Their ten year plans and cooked-up surveys are a lot of smoke and mirrors, often designed to bolster white mayors in majority black/Latino cities. I guess what you're saying is that propping up liberal politicians is eventually going to solve the problem. That's what is being done right now at the local level, so I hope you're right. But guess you're wrong.

[elizfeelinggreat]

72. actually

Thanks for the answer. You're right that I've never been homeless. I didn't mean propping up politicians at all, I meant what I said, I meant educating people would bring about change.

[Jed Dilligan]

78. Sorry if I sound angry, but

this isn't an issue to be solved in 10-20 years. It's about egregious civil rights violations happening every day in every city in America.

To me, "progressive majority" means helping politicians win elections, and that is what the homelessness issue is being used for in many cities--usually to elect a white, male, pro-development, mainstream Democrat with eyes on the statehouse and beyond. So, what you said does dovetail with the strategy I've observed in operation.

[Snarkturian Clone]

71. You're right

I think it might be that there's just not a lot of DUers who deal with homelessness in any form.

In Philly, the number of homeless here is at a 10 year high-- residents see, hear, and smell homelessness every day.

It's one thing to watch TV and see homeless people and a whole other thing to have to step over sleeping homeless people every morning on your way to work.

From what I've observed most of the homeless people we have are mentally ill and need treatment in the extreme. I'm not talking about the beggars, but the true homeless living on the street (we have a lot of beggars here who live in subsidized apartments and day-rate hotels... mostly vets and drug addicts). Just in my neighborhood we have a guy that walks around screaming and drooling, a man who pisses on the clothes that he wears, a man who stands at a corner and barks like a dog at people... to name a few. These people obviously need some treatment-- and most of them have received it at some point in time only to lose it later. There have been reports of incidents in the area where mentally ill homeless people have attacked old ladies... didn't take money or anything from them, just punched them in the face... most were arrested.

So what can be done about them? You got me there. I have no idea. It's not like you can pick them off the streets and throw them in the back of a truck and reprogram their brains. Nationalized health care would definitely help assuming they are willing to volunteer for treatment.

Edited to add:

A few years ago I worked as a teller at a local bank branch. A number of the mentally ill homeless in the neighborhood had bank accounts. One of the most aggressive ones used to come in every other day to deposit his change. He would curse out everyone in the bank and yell racial epithets left and right. He looked to be about 65-75 years old and I was told that he used to be a professional gambler whose alcoholism took over his existence. He had over $20,000 in his checking account.

[wintersoulja]

74. from an email list about effective solutions

-The successful "Housing First" program pioneered in New York did exactly that--it provided permanent stable housing (apartments) for the homeless. Combined with support services, the New York program was found to be cheaper than shelters. The New York program is based on the strategy that mental health, addiction, and other life issues cannot be adequately addressed until the person has stable permanent housing. Thus, "Housing First."

[Jed Dilligan]

82. Housing First is only for the "chronically homeless"

which is usually taken to mean homeless more than 1 year or three times in the last four due to disability or addiction. We can't just "give" housing to the 4-5 million Americans who are homeless at some time each year. That would be socialism...

Unfortunately, the implementation of HF models often goes light on follow-up treatment, which means you are basically dumping a sick person in an apartment and letting them (and the housing unit) deteriorate.

[wintersoulja]

86. follow the results in NYC

just providing housing was far more effective in increasing mental health and health issues.
I dont know where you get the "cant"
And the "chronically" homeless need first served.

[Jed Dilligan]

90. I've read those articles, and I agree

Housing First is probably a better treatment model than the continuum of care. The implementation efforts I refer to are in SF. I'm not sure what's happening on the ground in NY, because the articles I've seen use bird's eye statistics rather than direct observation.

The numbers that have been coming in don't really support that this is the be-all and end-all of homeless programs. In every city I've looked at numbers for, they're reporting getting a few hundred people per year off the streets. Great! but how many people are timing INTO chronic homelessness each day? My belief is that the replacement rate significantly outpaces the treatment, and it remains to be seen whether expanding the treatment (doubling or tripling its funding) will increase its rate of success. We should absolutely keep pulling people off the streets through outreach and treatment into HF and other forms of program tailored to each individual, but we should stop selling to the public that this will "end homelessness," because eventually the public will notice that homelessness simply isn't ending.

My "can't" comes from politics. Until homeowners aren't the vast majority of "likely voters," government measures that will undercut the housing market are not going to fly. When you start giving away housing to everyone who can't afford it, housing prices will drop. Would I love to see this happen? Absolutely. Will I ever see it happen? Unlikely.

I'm not sure where the idea comes from that the "chronically" homeless must be our first priority. Sometimes I wonder if it is because they tend to be unsightly and malodorous, the most noticeable and problematic homeless people from the POV of urban economic redevelopment. My first priority would be to end the use of law enforcement to keep the homeless out of sight and under control through criminalization of their very existence. I think there need to be safe, clean, legal places for everyone to stay whether they are "chronic" cases or not. The existence of such places could be a springboard for outreach and treatment.

[wintersoulja]

95. I think apartment subsidies arent going to drop the price of houses

As in healthcare, we already spend enough to expect complete results. But that money finds its way into greedy pockets much faster than it could ever find its way into actually addressing the root problem, thereby curtailing the supply of said money. Theres a self sustaining feedback loop.
The quickest way towards solving/ending homelessness would probably be to take the money away from the people who depend on homelessness for their income/budgets as they pretend to be working towards solutions.

Im not the least bit interested in "transititional" solutions.

[Jed Dilligan]

97. Have you ever been homeless?

When you're homeless, a transitional solution beats a waiting list for a permanent solution.

I agree that there are people getting paid to work on homelessness and producing nothing, but their salaries won't go a very long way toward solving a multi-billion dollar problem.

[wintersoulja]

99. Gimme shelter

Sorry, not in the streets homeless, no.
Ive spent quite a lot of time with homeless friends here in Fresno.
Theyve been literally on the streets for years, and lived in this area
for decades. Theres only one transition that they can make, and thats into
a home. Im sure you are well aware of the situation here.
Maybe not all localities benefit from having the ACLU and other excellent lawyers
step into the fray combating the dark forces of a city that sees itself only as a real estate
agent. One that seems to greatly desire giving away huge plots of land to outfits like
The Gap, who maybe paid $1 for their huge property near an airport, multi-millions (7 I think) out of the taxpayers pocketbook because said transaction violated existing agreements for that area. All those discussions and resolutions hidden behind closed doors...
Donald Trump, B-Television has-been mayor "Alan" Bubba "Autry" nearly crushed his knee pads trying to give
the keys to some broken down development scheme called Running Horse to Trump at our expense.
The city has been assaulting the homeless and was destroying their property, items like irreplaceable wedding and family photos, prescription meds, prescriptions, birth certificates,
KITTENS and possibly even humans were scooped up by skip loaders and thrown directly in trash trucks and immediately crushed. One woman stood defiant of these bulldozing bastards, refusing to allow them to destroy a tent at a campsite. After an incredibly tense standoff cooled down, some
very lucky fellow woke up and crawled out of that tent, much to everyones utter shock. Thats what theyve been up to locally.

[Jed Dilligan]

101. It's similar everywhere

Cities will not make space for the homeless because they are drunk on redevelopment schemes. They vilify the homeless in order to make doing the right thing sound like the wrong thing.

My experience has been that a lot of people don't want to be indoors. It sounds bizarre but think about it: after 20 or 25 years in the can, would you want to move into a shitbox apt. building full of criminals and drug dealers? It's one thing in the freezing north and east, quite a different thing in California. Some people want to camp and some don't want to settle. There need to be temporary accommodations for all kinds of different wants and needs, and none of them should cost more than 10 bucks a night.

People should realize that ALL the homeless are part of the fabric of society, not just the families or the hard-luck cases desperate to get back indoors. The tramps, the folks who don't want "homes" or "jobs" under the mainstream definition, are pretty much the only ones helping the hard-luck cases survive until the economy (yeah right) or social services (puhleease) helps them get back inside.

[wintersoulja]

104. they certainly shouldnt want to be placed in shelters

where the drugs are everywhere, and violence and theft are unavoidable.
My preference is new construction multi-tenant facilities with on site superintendants
to direct on site services like laundry,showers, mail and message centers for off site walk ins
and to oversee health and safety concerns of tenants. Maybe 3-5 people in postitions of responsibility 24-7, hopefully at least half of them residents.
The sum cost of that sort of operation could be easily handled by currently available funding, and
with a certain amount of systemic or personal contribution per tenant, could pay for itself and more similar sites to be constructed depending on need/demand.
There are a whole raft of architectural solutions, truly ingenious, low cost high efficiency sturdy designs being proposed, if only some entity would take the lead in this sort of no profit development. We have lots of land and in-fill opportunities.

[Jed Dilligan]

80. The mentally ill are the homeless who get noticed most,

because they are noticeably erratic in their behavior. You pass homeless people on the street every day who are keeping up appearances. There are many, many more of these than the mentally ill. They shower at friends' houses or take "birdbaths" in public restrooms, get new clean clothes at churches, etc. (and sometimes use laundromats), and sleep way, way out of sight.

Solutions to mental illness and addiction are individual and take a long time and the work of many professionals. We should fully fund the "community-based care" that was supposed to replace the state hospitals when their capacity was massively reduced. Beyond that, there isn't much to be done.

The 60-70% of people without homes who ARE not mentally ill or severe substance abusers should be given space, not treatment. You live in a town where HUD is selling houses for a dollar. Where is the program to hook homeless people up with those buildings? On the west coast the majority of homeless people have worked construction. It's, excuse me, fucking surreal to see carpenters and plumbers and electricians crashed out on the sidewalk next to a boarded-up building.

[wintersoulja]

81. those are the points that need to be made

direct experiences and observations, rather than predictable general sentiments on the subject, or reflections on subsets who get first thought like veterans. I dont hear anyone mentioning the breakdown on race, predictably disproportionate.
Excellent.

[Jed Dilligan]

83. Well, you found the guy who wrote his thesis on it

and spent about ten years doing studies in the field for nonprofit and local government.

[wintersoulja]

87. thanks!

Glad it wasnt me.

[KamaAina]

89. At one point, I was exchanging emails with a woman

who turned out to be living in her car. With her three dogs. She was replying to me from a coffeehouse.

It just wouldn't have worked out. I'm in a no-pets building...

Then again, right in between the bus stop and the office is... the city's only women's and family shelter. It attracts lots of people who are neither women nor family (fewer since a recent "ice" bust). The twist on this is, they (well, a few of them) harass me!

Poignant end note: A feral calico cat has adopted the women who line the street in front of the shelter, though I didn't see her this week.

[Fire Walk With Me]

6. It's said that up to 1/4 of homeless are vets. See how they support the troops?

Homelessness is a horrific scar upon the nation, one for which we are all in debt.

[Deja Q]

14. Which is said to be bought about by mental illness

So we can leave them on the streets, or rehabilitate them.

Just because one has a mental illness does not mean they have no place in a society; especially if they got ill by trying to defend it.

IMHO, of course. YMMV.

[Danmel]

7. It is a very complex problem

There are many different types of homelessness.

There are families who are homeless because of an economic setback, I imagine lots of people involved in this whole sub prime mess are or will end up homeless. Greedy? Some of them. Trying to live beyond their means? Some of them. Unsophisticated? Some of them. just plain ripped off or swindled? That too.

Then there are the mentally ill homeless who often have addiction issues are well. Totally different type of problem that needs a totally different approach-

I think people are just freaked ut by homelessness because it scares them too much to imagine themselves in that situation and so they find a way to differentiate themselves from the homeless so they can pretend it could NEVER happen to them.

[Stuart G]

9. It can happen to anyone, and will..

The homeless like the poor are often invisible. Not seen and not heard. Living in trailers, cars, on the street, and in places unseen and unheard of. If this recession is as bad as it could be, then we will know the likes of what we will not believe could happen here in 2008.

[Triana]

62. there are also bankrupt, poor and homeless people who had serious health problems & no way to pay..

....wiped out their savings, sold what they had, ended up poor/homeless. This links right back to the healthcare (or lack thereof) in this country.

Someone else said it's such a huge problem any answer seems trite and trivial. That's why I often don't respond to posts like this. It's just so - HUGE of an issue and so many other issues contribute to it - lack of jobs - jobs being shipped overseas, lack of healthcare, criminalization of homelessness, etc. Homeless PEOPLE are generally NOT criminals. But homelessness is a crime (rhetorically speaking) in a country rich as ours.

What about all that money we've spent on Iraq? Could have been used for a lot of things.

One thing Katrina did was lift the skirt on poverty and homelessness down in LA. And people were - I think - shocked to see it. All those poor (mostly black) folks herded into the superdome - to die.

Poverty and homelessness isn't something our media or gov't like to spend much time on. It's not glamorous or "interesting" enough for them, so it's invisible until/unless something Katrina happens or someone takes you on a tour through the not-so-glitzy parts of LA. That's one HUGE problem about it.

Until and unless it is put out front - front and center - and until people have to LOOK at it on a regular basis rather than it being hidden from view - swept under the national rug - nothing will get done.

And, I really hate to make a political candidate pitch out of this - BUT (Yap, I'm gonna do it anyway) - JOHN EDWARDS is the only candidate who is or has EVER addressed this issue. I get the impression that it REALLY bothers him.

THAT is what we need for a President and THAT is the kind of awareness that needs to be encouraged before any solutions can be devised.

[Danmel]

64. You' re right

It doesn't take much of an illness or a setback to wipe people out. Lots of people who feel invulnerable aren't as far away from disaster as they'd like to think they are. That is one of the most fundamental problems in this country. That getting ill or having a child get ill can completely devastate you, not only physically and emotionally but financially.

People who need to concentrate on their care instead are overwhelmed by paperwork, debt and destitution. It is criminal.

There are many factors that contribute to homelessness. Assigning moral blame really doesn't address the problem and it certainly doesn't solve it. It just gives people the illusion that it could never happen to them and gives them an excuse to ignore it.

[stravu9]

8. In MY Job I See It EVERYDAY.

Many of the people are mentally ill in some way or another and have , because of that , lost support of family and friends. They get food stamps, most are not "deemed disabled" for any number of reasons. I have had them say they were afraid they would hurt someone if they didn't get help. I have seen them weeping and rocking themselves. One guy had an old pit bull, very tame and sweet , who he claimed proudly "eats before I do." In order to get into a Homeless shelter he found a guy in the parking lot who promised to look after the dog for a while. When he went a few days later to see his dog it turned out the guy was a dogfight enthusiast who had used the dog as bait to teach other dogs to fight. The dog was dead and the homeless man suffered a breakdown. He now gets about $639.00 per month in SSI benefits.
He calls me from time to time to thank me for helping him and to tell me if I ever need anything to just let him know.
I weep even to recall it!
And this is one of MANY!

[wintersoulja]

16. I wish Id never read this post

This really brings me down, and I was quite up.
Like falling into an elevator shaft.
Thanks for communicating the truth. We needed that.

[stravu9]

17. Sorry to be a downer...the truth LIVES,,,

and it makes a Tennesee Williams play look like "The Drowsy Chaparone."

[madeline_con]

24. What a sad story.

I hope some have happier endings.

:cry:

[Joanne98]

37. Please tell us the dogfight enthusiast went to jail for that.

[RuleOfNah]

10. It's by design.

People need to understand that homelessness isn't as random or unlucky as some say. It is by design. Slow, premeditated torture.

[Jed Dilligan]

12. Kick

[EFerrari]

19. No solutions, just wanted to kick the thread.

:kick:

[varelse]

20. Since you asked

How do I feel about the homeless problem? well... PISSED off to be honest. Angry and helpless and severely frustrated with a tiny splinter of guilt stabbing just where I can't reach it to pull it out... hey... you asked...

I work with homeless people - or maybe I should say homeless people work with me?

Several of my co-workers have been (or are now) homeless... some are working two jobs and supporting families,while living in tents in campgrounds or in their cars or on the couches of 'sorta' friends... and others (very few) simply don't want to be tied down and working for "the man"... Other homeless I've known have been relatives or close friends, or undocumented immigrants living and working one job in a poisonous sweatshop, and the second job for rent in someone's upholstery shop.

I feel like just maybe we, the people, could get our heads around the concept that one full time job should be enough to live on, and that includes housing, food, education, and health care... not saying the government should force the plutocrats to carry us from cradle to grave but, if they're needing an honest day's work done, a living wage should be paid. Also, it couldn't hurt us to carry those (proportionately) very few who can no longer stand on our own... remembering always that most of us are only one or two paychecks away from homelessness ourselves and that EVERYONE is only one catastrophic event away from helplessness...

ah... you had to ask...

[Mutineer]

21. Many homeless people have addiction or mental issues

or both. We need a better system for caring for those who have these issues and get them the treatment they need. But there are always going to be those hard-core cases that can't be "cured", no matter what you do.

[wintersoulja]

22. do you think housing would benefit the incurable?

it appears in NY theyve seen incredible success just by giving the homeless a place to live, without any requirements.

[Common Sense Party]

23. About the only government action necessary, IMHO, is to

re-liberalize the funding of mental health facilities. Reagan turned many mental patients out on the street when that funding was slashed.

A great number of the chronic homeless suffer from serious mental illnesses and need help.

[madeline_con]

25. Been there, said that, and got into an argument for it.

I hope you have better luck. Leaving these people who need help in the street is definitely not working.

[Common Sense Party]

26. I'm not much for arguing. I'm also not much for big government

programs. I think a lot of the homeless--especially those temporarily on hard times--can and will best be served by private charity. If they need a warm place to sleep or a hot meal, churches and community organizations do that better than anyone.

But those private groups are not equipped to handle the needs and challenges of someone with a serious mental illness.

[EFerrari]

31. Exactly. And the co-occuring stuff can be very dangerous.

The year that my ex was homeless, he had to rely on private charity.

The whole year he was a stroke candidate because no one bothered to check his sugar or his blood pressure.

[Political Heretic]

27. My answer to both parts of the question:

Homelessness is (I think) one of the most ignored or overlooked problems and one of the most stigmatized problems. I think that part of the reason the general public has a difficult time actively keeping the problem of homelessness at the front of their consciousness is that it serves as a constant reminder to those who would rather forget about the people who are being left behind the American Dream.

The stigmatization of the homeless is another problem. We all know the stereotypes ("don't give that man money he just wants to go buy beer instead of getting a job") but most people don't stop to realize that a significant (some studies estimate a majority) of the homeless suffer from mental illness and need help; they are not just down on their luck and they are not lazy. Many people do not know that one in four homeless are veterans. Our country cannot even take care of those who risked everything to serve.

Worse still, homelessness sheds a spotlight on ugly truths that many Americans would rather forget - that the United States is not the land of prosperity for all, that poverty is real and stark and that the disperity between richest and poorest American is stunning to the point that it defies description.

My plan to address it would start at the marco level first. To address homelessness you have to address the causes that bring someone to a place of homelessness. Two tiers of this would be to fund increased social welfare services across the board, with specific targeted programs addressing the needs of the current homeless population - to simplify access to treatment, counseling, and services and eliminate cost. The second tiers would be to tackle the disparities of wealth in this country - to reduce the taxes of the bottom 80% and insist that the top 20% pay not their "effective" tax rate of 16% but their listed actual tax rate of 35%. The revenue increase would be poured into education, job training and a redeveloped social welfare system in this country that is the only just solution to the need of citizens.

It would also support programs to subsidize small businesses and agriculture when the minimum wage is changed to a living wage average, adjusted for and indexed to inflation and relative to regional markets so that they can afford it. Finally, states would be federally required to maintain certain programs including shelters, public housing, counseling and job location assistance at certain base levels. States would be free to exercise their discretion to tailor the programs to fit the needs of their particular state, but only in accordance with new federal requirements.

And then, we would evaluate and observe. Not every plan or program works, even with the best of intention. So, like FDR, I would be open to scraping any program or initiative listed above and trying something new if necessary.

[wintersoulja]

29. Can I get a few recs before its too late?

Be nice if we could really expand the discussion on this.
Thanks!

[Annces]

30. It is too easy to be homeless

Our society is making things harder for people to survive.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

32. There's also the huge group of "almost homeless"

There's a whole lot of Americans who have permanent impermanent residences in inexpensive (relatively) motels. Some cities and towns have ordinances that prohibit a longer than 30 day stay, so they have to move out for a day and move back in - anything to make it harder for the poor!

If you haven't rented in a while, it behooves you to look at the rental price of a very modest house in your area. You probably will be shocked. There are also NIMBY problems with building affordable housing. Can we even imagine that as benign a word as "affordable" has become stigmatized?

Up until fairly recent history, people understood that it was necessary to provide shelter for people who were not able to afford houses or apartments, even as rentals. Remember YMCAs and YWCAs that had residence halls? How about Boarding houses? Resident hotels? Just because many of those options have been zoned or NIMBY'd out of existence, doesn't mean the need for options like this don't still exist.

I suggest everyone start watching movies from the twenties and thirties for a taste of things to come.

[wintersoulja]

33. Thanks very much!

It would be nice to hear as many people as possible tell of their local experiences
with homeless and measures being taken against the homeless, I suspect many towns are
guilty of serious travesties, and it would be nice to know which ones.
Fresno leads that list Im sure.

[Joanne98]

34. I think it's a disgrace! You know, before Reagan became president..

We didn't have that many homeless, but as soon as the "greed is good" Reagan trend got on, there was massive displacement of people. Mostly so banks and corporations could build their ugly skyscapers where people used to live in lost cost housing. Gentrification, it's called, but we didn't know that at the time. Millions of people, a lot of them elderly, were on the street, its a disgrace, but the Reagans, always the greedy ones,were proud of their work. They even through the mentally ill out of hospitals, Reagan's were proud of that too. I rememember when a homeless vet froze on a bench across the street from the WH, Reagan didn't care. Because of Reagan and his GREED policies that we are still living with, we have homeless. It's his legancy that no one talks about. I can't believe two of our candidates said anything good about Reagan. He was the lowest of human scum and if he's not ROTTING IN HELL, NOBODY IS!

If I was president, I would impose a radical program for the homeless, I would GIVE THEM HOUSES. I'd take them from HUD, and tell HUD to fuck off if they didn't like it.

I have to admit, that now that the housing bubble has burst, I get some satisfaction watching all the people who wanted to "flip" their houses eat shit. they have been stepping over the homeless in the streets for thirty years and they could have cared less. I hope they all have to declare bankrupty and sleep under bridges.

[smoogatz]

36. I lived in DC in the mid-'90s

and the homeless were everywhere. What's evident right away in those circumstances is that you're really dealing with multiple issues: mental illness, substance abuse/addiction, a host of other untreated health issues, an economy that no longer creates dignified jobs for unskilled workers (no job that pays minimum wage and requires the wearing of a paper hat can really be called dignified), and a total lack of genuinely affordable housing in major urban centers, of course. The worst part, though, is that since the Reagan era we've kind of decided as a society that a certain level of homelessness is acceptable, and that the homeless are on their own and, worse, mostly responsible for their fate. Part of that Reagan legacy Obama and Hillary are so stoked about, I guess.

[rosesaylavee]

38. Many contributing factors lead to homelessness

making it a very complex issue - I think that's why most of our candidates and well-meaning others don't address it often. When the Republicans starting closing down the mental hospitals in the 60s and 70s, that pored many out onto the streets. Those suffering from alcoholism or other addictions find their way there eventually too. The economic factors of trying to keep your debt down enough to stay in your housing is becoming tougher and tougher - one big medical bill lands many in the shelter or out on the street. We were there once due to medical issues which I don't wish to share right now. We were fortunate in that we had family to stay with for 6 months... otherwise it would have been a shelter for us. I wonder what the numbers are for people who have fallen out of the stream like we did and found families to support them for awhile? I think the homeless problem is much larger than the numbers indicate. And of course, what statistics can you trust from this administration anyway?

I like that John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich speak of the poverty problems in this country in their campaign. I would feel much better about Clinton and Obama if they would acknowledge it too. Gore, Dodd and Biden all spoke of these issues.

FDR rolled out great programs in the 30s to address the economic side of this issue. That would be a start. Putting people to work doing what needs to be done for the community and if it has an artistic element to it, poetry and art will feed their souls as well as those around them and it would all be good.

[Yuugal]

39. K&R

[noiretextatique]

41. many of the people i know on the streets

are either mentally ill or drug-addicted, or both. a part of the problem is the way it we view it. people aren't homeless, they are poor and/or they have illnesses that cannot get treated for until they are arrested, and sometimes not even then.
we need massive investment in affordable housing and healthcare for all who need it, especially mental healthcare.

[zanne]

42. More help for the homeless AND the mentally ill homeless.

Obviously, we need to help people who just can't afford housing. But I think that's the easy part. The harder part will be how to help the mentally ill homeless who shy away from people and therefore don't get the help they need. (And I'm including addicts in this category). If addiction makes one homeless, it's just too uncaring to say they "deserve it".

[EFerrari]

44. Not to mention that many addicts are self medicating a mental health

problem in the first place. :(

[zanne]

45. SO true. nt

[0007]

43. How does it feel to live in a town with Jim Robinson and all his

right wing crazies? (No joke)

[wintersoulja]

47. You wanna know the truth?

Theres only about 6 of them.
I could tell you some great stories, but this isnt the place.

[0007]

48. You'd have a large attentive audience. Love to hear the stories.

[wintersoulja]

49. Happy to oblige

If this thread grows on topic
I'll take the time somewhere else.
Kick me a rec here lets make this a
roundtable.

[lonestarnot]

50. The population grew with the faith based initiative due to "administrative" costs.

Cough cough gag spit.

[wintersoulja]

51. oh you are so right

thats one heavy sentence you laid on us.

[lonestarnot]

52. So what do we do about it, besides personally go the the homeless population and do something

yourself, personally I mean. Take food, clothing, water, tents, or if you have an extra room for someone to stay?

[wintersoulja]

53. Thats a good start if the government wont

When the local authorities are hostile to the homeless, direct action is imperative (if you care, if you dont, or dislike the bums, youre probably having your interest served well locally)

I think its been proven in various localities that the solution is housing.
Housing works better than prayer and ministry, which many outfits force these activities upon
their clients for hours before they will even offer them something to eat.
Local action by decent people is the only bulwark to an indifferent society.
The problem however, is there is TONS of money being funneled into programs that supposedly
are for the homeless. Sometimes that money gets misdirected into the POLICE department, but ususally
just ends up in some poverty pimps pocket. Bullshit programs need to come AFTER housing is provided, otherwise the homeless themselves are a source of income for people who depend on the
homeless population's SIZE.

[lonestarnot]

55. EEEEEEwwwweeee that makes me mad!

I'd like to pull some hair when I hear about activities forced upon these victims.

[wintersoulja]

57. take some comfort

Many of the people Ive talked to say they enjoy the ministering.
My personal problem is Ive heard the anti-gay remarks of their henchpeople.
Knuckledraggers for Jesus I guess.

[lonestarnot]

61. When given a choice I bet they would elect to eat and listen to some planning

for home placement.

[Jed Dilligan]

106. That's something liberals aren't doing enough of

as liberals, I mean, not as individuals. The Fundies are out in force meeting homeless people's basic needs in every city and town in America. The only progressive groups doing the same are Food Not Bombs and a few liberal churches in big cities.

Leaving the humanitarian work to St. Vincent de Paul and the Salvation Army means, among other things, no safe shelter for GLBT homeless.

As more and more Americans experience homelessness and cycle on and off the streets, it would be political suicide (in the long-term) not to be reaching out to this population.

[wintersoulja]

107. No kidding

You can be sure your local Food Not Bombs needs help, so if you have some time to spare when and where they are operating, give them a hand. Its a neat way to meet non-Republicans. That much you can be sure of!

[Orsino]

54. We need something like a Welfare system...

...such as we used to have until the Clinton/Gingrich era. We need media to stop hiding the problem and stigmatizing its victims.

[wintersoulja]

56. We'll need something like WPA if things keep sliding

And Kucinich has that in mind, a Works Green Program, building small scale wind and solar facilities for low income people, I believe. I cant imagine anything that could be a more WIN/WIN/WIN for the taxpayers, low income citizens and unemployed voters.

[Orsino]

58. Yep. Another way in which things suck...

...and in which Dennis rocks.

[TheFarseer]

59. I think many of them are beyond help

many homeless people have mental problems and no family willing or able to care for them. Frankly, I don't know what should be done for these situations.

As for people that are just down on their luck, I think the emphasis should be to help them get a job. I've seen programs where you can donate an old suit so someone else can wear it to a job interview. I think there are free government career councilors or whatever you want to call them, that can help. I believe in things like this that help people help themselves instead of simply setting up a 'refugee camp' in the YMCA to keep people alive.

[wintersoulja]

60. programs need to come AFTER housing is provided, otherwise the homeless themselves are a source of i

programs need to come AFTER housing is provided, otherwise the homeless themselves are a source of income for people who depend on the
homeless population's SIZE.

for emphasis, I think this is all I want to say about the problem in a nutshell.

[Blue Congress]

63. I think Bush could boost his approval ratings

If he took his stupid tax cut and sent it to the homeless instead. How about he at least take care of the homeless veterans he has created.

I feel so helpless and hopeless about this situation. I think the only way to help is to elect a compassionate president and congress, led by Kucinich who will provide real health care solutions, stop the money pit war in Iraq and phony war on terror, and create and provide jobs rebuilding infrastructure to truly change the direction of the country.


http://peacecandidates.com/

[Hatchling]

66. Heartbroken

I take public transportation and know a few of the regulars on my routes. Most of them are the sweetest people. I don't have much but I try to give spare change, buy a pack of cigarettes, a beer for them. The three amigos don't need food, they have managed to get signed up for food stamps. One of the guys could get back on his feet if he would go back east to his family. They want him. But he's obsessed. His wife died here and he takes the bus out to Point Loma where her ashes are scattered everyday, to be close to her. He can't leave her.

The one that truly broke my heart was Debbie. She was always by the bus stop by the grocery store in the bushes. She couldn't sit on the bench because cops would come and roust her out. I'd buy her food and cigarettes and give her spare change. She used a cane, but couldn't work the system to even get signed up for food stamps, much less get on SSI. I tried my best to tell her how to do it. It just seemed too overwhelming to her.

The last time I saw her she was bundled up in the rain coughing badly. I left her at the stop and by the time I got home I decided that I was going to go back and get her, even though it is unwise to bring a strange person in you home. I was pretty sure she had pneumonia. I could feed her and get her warm and maybe help her get into the system. By the time I got there she was gone and I never saw her again. My hope is that the cops took her to an ER and she finally got into the system. My fear is that they did not.

[coco77]

67. America the most wonderful properous country in the world..

:sarcasm: Wasn't bush and his religious right suppose to take care of people.

[Raejeanowl]

68. Thinking About Housing Authorities

Like the one we have in my county, with city versions in Annapolis and Baltimore, probably other locals. There is much room for re-vamping their programs more equitably. They all receive HUD money. Would be interesting if they could legislate a federal requirement to set aside a percentage of units specifically for emergency housing purposes, rather than do routine intake on the basis of long (2-3 year) waiting lists, or to concentrate more on needs-based placements. As it stands, it's more about meeting a basic qualifications set than how desperately you need subsidized shelter. And once you're in, the system doesn't force you out when your income rises above the poverty level; it just increases the rent and makes it more difficult for the higher earners to move on and vacate units for those in greater need.

So before we start building new units and dealing the the NIMBY problem (and it may still be necessary).....can we streamline the process to make better use of what we have?

[blues90]

69. It's one of the saddest things I see

I see homeless sleeping on the cement sidewalks and at many places here in southern calif . I have always felt an obligation but never had the means to do much other than offer what I could which in no way solves this .

I know it does not take much to end up on the streets and I don't feel it is anyones choice as if they are lazy or useless . They are people and many are better to talk to than many people I've worked with .

No one should have to live off the streets or packed into some shelter and these laws against handing them food are insane , it don't think anyone has the right to tell anyone what they can do for another human being .

Many years ago when I lived in Chicago there were what were called bums and few of them and perhaps they chose this life riding the rails as hobo's . Who can say why they were there , this was years ago and I was young . They were not young people .

Once Reagan came along this really became much more common place and has since gotten worse .

But no , this country chooses to spend the tax dollars on wars and killing and people go along with this thinking that to give these people a chance and a home will be a great amount out of their taxes same as healthcare for all , the attitude is I'm not paying for someone who does not want to work . If it happened to them then this tune would change .

In 2003 when I was a manager in the service dept at a car dealership a man came in asking for any work and he did his best to come in with a worn suit and I was willing to hire him but the upper management would not have it .

[eridani]

70. More reasonably priced housing = less homelessness.

This would require much more government regulation and investment, of course.

[wintersoulja]

73. if you got nothing

how do you make the stroke?

[wintersoulja]

75. What we will be getting is

more and more people who have had their homes foreclosed stuck back in apartments with rents higher than most house payments.
I think that little Moebius loop is going to require more than regulation or investment from the government we have. The government we have is putting these foreclosed homeowners into apartments with rents higher than most house payments. And I havent noticed any recent apartment construction around here, except for student housing.

[Beetwasher]

76. There Are No Easy Solutions To This Complex Issue

Helping the homeless happens to be my field. The reasons people are homeless are many and varied and therefore there are no simple linear solutions.

Were there any specific questions you had?

[sendero]

77. I feel it is a problem to be addressed..

... but unlike most problems I'm not sure what the right answer is.

Two things I do know

1) It is not a problem to be ignored

2) There are going to be a lot more homeless people in the coming years

[dorkulon]

79. Housing, and mental health and addiction treatment facilities.

Before Reagan, people sleeping in the street were so rare that, outside of skid rows, they were almost a curiosity. After eight years of Reaganomics - - and the slashes in low-income housing and social welfare programs that went along with it -- they were seemingly everywhere.

And America had a new household term: "The homeless."

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0610-03.htm

[Jed Dilligan]

84. "Programs," not "facilities"

A lot of the work needs to be done on the streets to get people to go into treatment voluntarily. And the data now is showing that private housing units, integrated with the general population, work better for people in treatment than group homes and hospitals.

I don't think anyone here wants to go back to massive involuntary commitment... there would be like three people left on DU if we did... ;)

[dorkulon]

85. Well, I didn't mean

people should be held against their will. But a lot of people would gladly enter a mental health facility if they would take them. As it is, you have to be a physical danger to others or yourself to get in.

[laylah]

88. I feel it is obscene

to have ANYONE homeless in what has been billed as the richest country on earth! I was raised to give a hand up to anyone in need, not to disparage, rebuke, ridicule, etc. There is absolutely no reason for this! If the powers that be would stop funding the freakin' Military Industrial Complex, corporate welfare, and lining their own already overflowing pockets, such a travesty would not exist! Of course, this is just my vho.

[ileus]

91. people with unused bedrooms in their house should be forced to house homeless.

The government has put into place a favorable home loan market and should demand people house those without homes.

[wintersoulja]

96. NOT a good idea!

Youre asking for people to take HUGE risks with people who more often than not have serious issues, requiring medication, and Ive seen some pretty bad results from people's kindness in that respect.
This is something that we need to demand of our society, but should not be shouldered by individuals. Theres a lot to consider and learn about when you get involved. Its important to protect the protectors from negative consequences.

[LWolf]

92. Our enlightenment is measured by the way we treat

those who have the least.

I don't think it should be possible to be homeless. I'd happily support guaranteed housing, along with universal, single-payer, not-for-profit health care and guaranteed employment.

Equal opportunity for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness begins at the bottom of Maslow's hierarchy.

[Tejas]

93. Homeless person had $3,400 in his pocket

going from memory here:

Was on the news last night, Houston Metro had warned a homeless person about his aggressive panhandling, they wound up searching him and found the money. Makes me just that much more apprehensive about giving spare change etc to anyone.

There's a woman that hangs out in front of a local store, probably not homeless but more of a panhandler, she was on her cellphone and smoking a cigarette and asked me for money. Kind of ruins it for when you might happen across someone that is really in need, are they indeed destitute or not?

[mdmc]

98. I think the DemocRATS will not lead on this issue

Only DK (well, maybe my man Edwards) feels for the working man.

[spinbaby]

100. A homeless woman died of exposure last night

She was camped under a bridge in Pittsburgh. There were reports that she had been sick. What kind of a society would leave a sick woman to camp under a bridge in freezing temperatures?

The blonde newsbimbo on a local station questioned why the woman didn't seek shelter. As if she wanted to camp in the cold.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08021/850974-100.stm

[leftofthedial]

102. I think the majority of the country is either already homeless

or potentially less than six months away from it

[dajoki]

103. In a country that has so much...

its a shame that this is even an issue, but it is. The problem is that the "so much" lays in the hands of the so few, just look at my sig. line, I believe that 100%. As for solutions, I wouldn't even know where to begin, it will take a total readjustmrnt of our government's priorities and policies, but the will on the part of Congress does not seem to be there.

I am in a fight of my own right now to keep my family from losing our home, and am having trouble finding a solution myself. I am not one of those people who Bush would say bought beyond our means. I find myself in this situation due to a series of unfortunate circumstances, that could happen to anyone. And I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.

[Jed Dilligan]

105. Kick for the longest-lived homelessness thread

I've ever seen on DU. Wonder if this hard winter is waking people up...

[DaveJ]

108. Homelessness is used as a threat to control the population.

It would be easy to provide nominal shelter for those without money, but enough people think that underachievers must be utterly humiliated in order to keep the U.S. working hard.

[w8liftinglady]

109. I've almost been homeless several times

while in nursing school,with a baby,during the Reagan years.One day from eviction.I never judge.