on homeless living

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WilT

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The other day I came across 2 military vets and sat with them. One of them sat and joked while the other seemed serious about many matters. The day was a scorcher, close to 105 degrees:coolinoff: I went over to a nearby store and gave one of them a come of ice which he filled with water. This cold cup of water then was given to Sombrita, the pet chiwawa (?) Sombrita slurped it down and enjoyed it. Later the cup was given to one of the guys and he enjoyed the ice cold drink. I tried to stop him but I’ve seen him share drinks with others before. Why rattle the boat I thought.:tanning:
 
The other day at Starbucks:compcoff: I spoke to a military vet. who seemed to be a daily client. We sat and spoke about a guy who had just been handcuffed by the police and taken away. Helicopters were out in force that day:takeoff: and the tattood Hispanic male was paranoid that they were coming for him. As I spoke to this vet. he pulled out a 5" semi-switch blade and said he felt pretty confident if anything was to happen to him. He swung it about not caring if anyone saw him with the blade. He was an older, skinny and frail looking man but he appeared just a little bit bigger with the blade. Possibly why he carried it around. I had to leave shortly thereafter.
 
At another Starbucks, as I sat at the outside patio tables a gentleman came around and appeared to be looking for recyclables. He stayed at this one trash can for quite a few minutes so I looked back to see what exactly he was doing. He apparently was emptying many cups of differ leftover drinks into his one cup. After it was just about full he drank it. He wiped his face with his sleeve and drove away in his old 70’s Gmc truck.
 
It’s tough to be homeless. People do what they can to survive.
I think one thing we can do for the homeless is treat them with courtesy, since many say they feel ignored or treated as less than deserving of respect.
 
Today, I looked for the 2 Military Vet. friends of mine. As I sat to talk to one of them he was shaking like a leaf and his eyes red and wide eyed. He said he may be dehydrated (the weather is hitting over 100 degrees for the last week). It could also be that he has himself a few beers throughout the day too. Anyways, he said he was hungry so I went to a nearby market and picked him up what he needed. Loaf of bread, mayo, bologna, and cheese. I came back and made him his sandwich and left him the bag of groceries. As I was about to leave I noticed hundreds of fine needles scattered thoughout a busy driveway. It took me about 40 minutes to pick up those 300 or so needles. I figured I may have saved someone a trip to the nearest tire store. The weather is warming up.
Stay cool all of you who are in the heat.
 
I once assisted a very good church group that supports the homeless with hot meals. I went into a room with all sorts of survival gear for the homeless to have. The room seemed protected and it was kept locked up. I asked why it was being kept locked up. Many on the streets wouldn’t know to ask if they don’t know they have the stuff. The lead person just looked away asked me what I had seen and confirmed it. I didn’t quite get that response. If anything it only confirmed my suspicions that their overly protective of their supplies. The room was loaded to the roof with supplies. Let’s pray that those with the means to help not be afraid to run out of their stock. God will provide.:yukonjoe:
 
WilT said:
so true. they even get kicked out of parish rectories.:confused:
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A homeless man came to our rectory, when I happened to be there. Someone from the parish provided him with dry clothes ( he had been soaked by rain overnight) while someone else washed and dried his wet clothes for him.
Like any other group, the church has both helpful and not-so-helpful types. And people learn from their mistakes – a mean person may one day become a kind one.
It’s good that you are able to help some of those you see,
 
Viki63 said:
A homeless man came to our rectory, when I happened to be there. Someone from the parish provided him with dry clothes ( he had been soaked by rain overnight) while someone else washed and dried his wet clothes for him.
Like any other group, the church has both helpful and not-so-helpful types. And people learn from their mistakes – a mean person may one day become a kind one.
It’s good that you are able to help some of those you see,
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great to hear of this work of charity from your parish:yyeess:👍
 
WilT said:
I once assisted a very good church group that supports the homeless with hot meals. I went into a room with all sorts of survival gear for the homeless to have. The room seemed protected and it was kept locked up. I asked why it was being kept locked up. Many on the streets wouldn’t know to ask if they don’t know they have the stuff. The lead person just looked away asked me what I had seen and confirmed it. I didn’t quite get that response. If anything it only confirmed my suspicions that their overly protective of their supplies. The room was loaded to the roof with supplies. Let’s pray that those with the means to help not be afraid to run out of their stock. God will provide.:yukonjoe:
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Was it you,Wilt, who posted a group of people who had organized street stores for the homeless to choose their clothes? It was awesome. If it wasn’t you,it may have been a priest I know who posted it on facebook. Just let me know so I look for it if it wasn’t you.🙂
 
Our city has the Lord’s Diner that feeds hundreds of people a day. We have 2 diners on both sides of town and a truck. We volunteer there sometimes.

We also do 'Warming Souls" in the winter. For 3 day our parish feeds the homeless men breakfast and dinner then give then a sack lunch for the day. It’s in an old church building near downtown and they sleep on the floor on mattresses. They can’t stay there during the day so I am not sure what they do. I think some have day jobs or hang around the library where it is warm.

They can come in there at 6, wash up and eat their meal. They watch TV while they eat. Other churches take turns feeding them year round but some won’t go there when the weather is nice, they would rather sleep outside somewhere. They are busier in cold months.

Some are on drugs or alcohol but they can’t come in if they are high or drunk. 2 men stay overnight to supervise them. Sometimes there are fights, like when a man soils on the floor instead of getting the key to the bathroom downstairs. Most have had a very rough life.
 
graciew said:
Was it you,Wilt, who posted a group of people who had organized street stores for the homeless to choose their clothes? It was awesome. If it wasn’t you,it may have been a priest I know who posted it on facebook. Just let me know so I look for it if it wasn’t you.🙂
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Hi graciew, thanks for the consideration but it wasn’t me. I’m just a simple Catholic street evangelizer who sees for the needs of the homeless in my part of the city. I like your video though. Thanks for posting it.
 
oneofmany said:
Some are on drugs or alcohol but they can’t come in if they are high or drunk. 2 men stay overnight to supervise them. Sometimes there are fights, like when a man soils on the floor instead of getting the key to the bathroom downstairs. Most have had a very rough life.
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Yes, some will soil in front of individuals. Obviously they can lack social graces.
 
WilT said:
Yes, some will soil in front of individuals. Obviously they can lack social graces.
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Well when it is right next to your bed you can get mad about it. I think the men who supervise overnight are really great. They have to break up fights, etc.
 
On another occasion one of the guys mentioned that a excellent community program is about to close after serving the poor and homeless. The program helped not only the poor but also those with drug addiction. Many on drugs found this program to be very good and helpful in their lives. He further stated to me that enrollment went down and also the 3 year lease was over. I have seen this program and I remember the front desk to be very nice, professional, and courteous. I asked him what he ment about the enrollment being down. He said that the homeless were no longer going there because they didn’t find it homeless friendly anymore. They were more interested in numbers plus further added that they kept adding rules for this and for that making it no longer a place for the homeless to visit.
 
I haven’t run into my buddies Vets since one of them lost there dog Sombrita. They ran out of their $$ assistance and wonder where they may be. I also came across another homeless gentleman lying in the doorway of a building towards the late evening hours. He definitely was homeless because of his dirty garments and beard. I don’t know if he can talk though I do see him from time to time. Since he speaks very little I;m having a little trouble on approaching him. I just don’t have confidence with this man nor in myself. I’m afraid he may lash out but I can be wrong. It’s getting colder in the evenings and he may be needing some covers and blankets for the cold nights.
 
:yukonjoe::hey_bud::choocho::hug3:It seems that our city is attempting to remove the homeless from the downtown area. It seems like there are sweeps being made throughout the area by police and those caught up in the sweep are threatened with jail time if they don’t leave their refuge. A city councilmember may be behind all this. Let’s keep them in our prayers.
 
One of my Marine Vet friends is wonderful in praising the Lord at all times. Every time someone passes by he takes the time to acknowledge them and says to them “God Bless You” and many other religious statements. No one gets by him without receiving some sort of blessing from him. Although he may be drunk at times he still finds the time to acknowledge them and gives them a big smile. He’s well cared for in the homeless community and by God.:tiphat:
 
One of my newest friend, another former Marine came in to our mini camp frustrated about having his wheel on his bike stole. for the next ten minutes he raged and bragged on how he stole someone else’s wheels to replace the one stolen. He further opened up and freely told us how he made lot’s of money stealing things in the past. After he cooled down I suggested to him if stealing from others was the right thing to do. He thought about it and said probably not. For him, he works a few hours a day and replacing his tire means spending his all his earned wages on replacing it.
 
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