On Homeless Living 2

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WilT

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The County I live in has a disliking for the homeless. It can be seen throughout the cities. Many new public benches now have a divider so the homeless won’t be able to rest there. No available bathroom stalls or porto potties for them. On one occasion, the city I live in had a market place event. Porto potties were placed at the site of the event and pad locked shut until the very moment of the event. The downtown area of my city is and was hit hard with the Economy crash and it is attempting to reinvigorate the downtown area. I was told by a homeless activist that the whole county is wanting to ship all the homeless on over to a much larger, federally funded county. I must agree because I spoke to a charity facility encouraging the homeless to go over to the neighboring county for assistance. Also, a homeless man told me of a story of a councilwoman walking along the downtown calling the police on those encamped there.
 
I remember when we used to give the homeless a break, so long as they did not take over parks and public squares and harass the ordinary people who were there.

If you are going to put the homeless in one central county, then you have to send people out to find them. And they go anywhere they want to. We have a wonderful homeless shelter in Albany, NY on South Pearl Street. They try to send everyone there, but on cold nights it gets full. In abutting Saratoga County, they did not have one single homeless place last year. A lady wound up freezing to death.

It’s really hard to find people who slip between the cracks when things are highly centralized. in local areas, people tend to know their homeless and can watch out for them. This lady who froze had 200 people at her funeral, and I’m sure many of them actually knew her.😦
 
The County I live in has a disliking for the homeless.
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Not to be flippant, but your county sounds like Sodom and Gomorrah, which had a penchant for hating outsiders and had enormous wealth.

I live near one of the poorest cities in the country (if not the poorest), and we do as much as we can to help the poor with support of soup kitchens, giving food and clothing, etc. In fact, we don’t do enough to help and need to do more.

We, too, hear stories of the poor that are locked out of shelters, or don’t have the right clothing for winter. It’s very sad.
 
Weejee said:
…They try to send everyone there, but on cold nights it gets full. In abutting Saratoga County, they did not have one single homeless place last year. A lady wound up freezing to death.

It’s really hard to find people who slip between the cracks when things are highly centralized. in local areas, people tend to know their homeless and can watch out for them. This lady who froze had 200 people at her funeral, and I’m sure many of them actually knew her.😦
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Thanks for sharing the story of the women freezing. I’ll be keeping her in my prayers. Go to know there are affective ministries where you live at. 🙂
 
StGerardMajella said:
Not to be flippant, but your county sounds like Sodom and Gomorrah, which had a penchant for hating outsiders and had enormous wealth.

I live near one of the poorest cities in the country (if not the poorest), and we do as much as we can to help the poor with support of soup kitchens, giving food and clothing, etc. In fact, we don’t do enough to help and need to do more.

We, too, hear stories of the poor that are locked out of shelters, or don’t have the right clothing for winter. It’s very sad.
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It can be like Sodom and Gomorrah but we have strong Christian Churches that take care of our homeless. The county and city members need the change of heart.
 
StGerardMajella said:
Not to be flippant, but your county sounds like Sodom and Gomorrah, which had a penchant for hating outsiders and had enormous wealth.

I live near one of the poorest cities in the country (if not the poorest), and we do as much as we can to help the poor with support of soup kitchens, giving food and clothing, etc. In fact, we don’t do enough to help and need to do more.

We, too, hear stories of the poor that are locked out of shelters, or don’t have the right clothing for winter. It’s very sad.
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I think you’re right.
 
It just amazes me the amount of love that many homeless have for God through Christ Jesus. They, many of times send out blessings of God to one another and at times to those who they may meet on the streets. Embraces of Christian love can be found on the streets. Some homeless even bless others while in a drunken state. More blessing can be heard on the streets than in our parish courtyards. We can learn from them.
 
Despite not having money in their pockets, when some of them come across monies they quickly pay back to those they had borrowed from earlier or/and they treat others to hot meals on the street. They have very little $$ yet have big hearts. This sort of reminded me of the old women who gave two coins of her total wealth to the Church or Temple. She didn’t give of her surplus but gave out of her love for the Faith and love for her church/temple.
 
If you at all feel that Christ is missing in your life. I would suggest, only if your a strong Catholic, to spend as much time as you can with the homeless. Christ is blessing these little ones and most of them don’t even know it. As a Catholic who has always been attentive to things Catholic, I regularly feel the presence of Christ among them. Prayers are being heard left and right and a fluid sense of love fills ones lives. Many prayers of necessities are being answered time and time again many just within 2 minutes of it’s request. I have found this to be the case over and over again. Out there one has to trust fully in Christ to provide and he is doing exactly that. Blessings are seen and felt and acts of charity fill the streets. So if you believe that Christ is no longer around spend time with the poor and you’ll see and begin to feel God’s presence.:gopray2::extrahappy:
 
I heard good news for a change. A homeless man shared with me that he was housed by a generous small business owner. He’s happy being off the streets right now and is out there looking for a job. The job market in our area is horrible and I wish him all the best in his search. The store is a small mom and pop store which sells arts and craft stuff. He has a small bed in there. Blessings to the folks that opened up there business to him. There was a ‘room at the Inn’ for him:). Merry Christmas to all.
 
In my area bathrooms are urgently needed during the post 9pm hours. There are few available public places that they can use and remains a struggle for many. For those companies that welcome them into their facilities. Thank you for your God given services
 
There are a few larger homeless ‘camps’ around our area, most of the homeless people I see do have proper winter clothing, so that is one good thing, but Im sure there are some that do not, plus around here, it is not uncommon for temps to reach single digits…sometimes for days on end!!!

I often wonder if it does any good to pray for warmer weather in this regard…I mean, weather is an easy thing for God, and Id think he would at least try to comfort those most in need by little things like this…just a little warmer weather would make these peoples day, I dont think thats too much to ask for from God either.

When you look at the homeless living in cities that frequently get soooo cold it literally hurts to even be outside, and then look at homeless living in areas like southern CA, or florida, where at least they have a mild climate to live in, Ive always thought that strange that God doesnt seem to take the weather into consideration relating to the homeless, or at least it doesnt seem like he does, especially when certain areas of the country get absolutely crazy cold, for days, weeks at a time, yet other areas, they are ‘treated’ to 70s and 80s year round…???

It makes me very sad to hear of anyone literally freezing to death out in the cold, from being homeless and having nowhere else to go, does God not see their suffering or…?? Weather is something we cannot change, BUT he COULD…I wonder why he doesnt do things like this and/or rather watch one of his children freeze to death?? Im sorry, but this makes me extremely mad and sad at the same time.
 
mikekle said:
There are a few larger homeless ‘camps’ around our area, most of the homeless people I see do have proper winter clothing, so that is one good thing, but Im sure there are some that do not, plus around here, it is not uncommon for temps to reach single digits…sometimes for days on end!!!

I often wonder if it does any good to pray for warmer weather in this regard…I mean, weather is an easy thing for God, and Id think he would at least try to comfort those most in need by little things like this…just a little warmer weather would make these peoples day, I dont think thats too much to ask for from God either.

When you look at the homeless living in cities that frequently get soooo cold it literally hurts to even be outside, and then look at homeless living in areas like southern CA, or florida, where at least they have a mild climate to live in, Ive always thought that strange that God doesnt seem to take the weather into consideration relating to the homeless, or at least it doesnt seem like he does, especially when certain areas of the country get absolutely crazy cold, for days, weeks at a time, yet other areas, they are ‘treated’ to 70s and 80s year round…???

It makes me very sad to hear of anyone literally freezing to death out in the cold, from being homeless and having nowhere else to go, does God not see their suffering or…?? Weather is something we cannot change, BUT he COULD…I wonder why he doesnt do things like this and/or rather watch one of his children freeze to death?? Im sorry, but this makes me extremely mad and sad at the same time.
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It’s understandable Mikekle. I have also thought of how difficult it must be for the homeless to live in cities like Buffalo NY, or in the State of Minnesota. My heart also goes out to them as well. Lord Jesus watch over them and keep them warm.:winter::winter::snowing::yukonjoe:
 
One of the worst enemies of those who are homeless is Neighborhood watch. I know many will come back and say what a great thing Neighborhood watch is. In one way it is but for the many homeless out their it is antagonistic. Many well meaning homeowners will call on for police assistance if they see a unknown person in the area. Many homeless individuals such as in my city, mostly men, are turned in by them with regular frequency. The homeless will quietly attempt to set up a space for themselves to spend the night. The nights here have recently dropped just a little over freezing. No other places take in these men so they need a safe place to rest for the night. Once turned in, the police or someone in the immediate area will kick them out and make their already stressful existence worse. Before some of you go all negative with this post, think about how warm **your place is and safe **before answering negatively. For those more compassionate to their plight, if you see them hiding in an area it’s most likely their attempting to find a place to sleep.
 
mikekle said:
There are a few larger homeless ‘camps’ around our area, most of the homeless people I see do have proper winter clothing, so that is one good thing, but Im sure there are some that do not, plus around here, it is not uncommon for temps to reach single digits…sometimes for days on end!!!

I often wonder if it does any good to pray for warmer weather in this regard…I mean, weather is an easy thing for God, and Id think he would at least try to comfort those most in need by little things like this…just a little warmer weather would make these peoples day, I dont think thats too much to ask for from God either.

When you look at the homeless living in cities that frequently get soooo cold it literally hurts to even be outside, and then look at homeless living in areas like southern CA, or florida, where at least they have a mild climate to live in, Ive always thought that strange that God doesnt seem to take the weather into consideration relating to the homeless, or at least it doesnt seem like he does, especially when certain areas of the country get absolutely crazy cold, for days, weeks at a time, yet other areas, they are ‘treated’ to 70s and 80s year round…???

It makes me very sad to hear of anyone literally freezing to death out in the cold, from being homeless and having nowhere else to go, does God not see their suffering or…?? Weather is something we cannot change, BUT he COULD…I wonder why he doesnt do things like this and/or rather watch one of his children freeze to death?? Im sorry, but this makes me extremely mad and sad at the same time.
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The weather is a complex thing. Changing it dramatically (and moving from 10 degrees to 70 is dramatic) is going to have wide ranging consequences. It may help the homeless in one area but it will cause enormous harm to countless others.

Better that we use the opportunity to show our Christian love and take care of these people. Feed them, cloth them and give them shelter as our Lord commands.
 
CatholicSheila said:
The weather is a complex thing. Changing it dramatically (and moving from 10 degrees to 70 is dramatic) is going to have wide ranging consequences. It may help the homeless in one area but it will cause enormous harm to countless others.

Better that we use the opportunity to show our Christian love and take care of these people. Feed them, cloth them and give them shelter as our Lord commands.
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:amen:
 
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