Poverty and homelessness: Not glamerous

[WilT]

I’ve been wondering why in the last 2 years there hasn’t been an explosion of homeless or poverty support. I’m beginning to think it is because there is no fame or $$ to be made of it? Blessed are the poor for theirs is the Kingdom of God

 

[Exiled_Child]

I’ve been wondering why in the last 2 years there hasn’t been an explosion of homeless or poverty support. I’m beginning to think it is because there is no fame or $$ to be made of it? Blessed are the poor for theirs is the Kingdom of God

Hey WiLT,

I’m curious what you mean. Are you talking about, like, celebrities making homelessness their pet cause, or something like that? Because where I live, homelessness and hungry people on the street is the number one issue. My city has food banks and soup kitchens all over the place, and I would guess that 90% of them are Roman Catholic churches or Roman Catholic derived charity organizations. What’s cool is, at least here, a large number of the volunteers at these places aren’t even Catholic, they’re just decent people from every conceivable background who enjoy doing volunteer work. A lot of it goes on kind of under the radar, but I bet if you looked around in your area you’d find that it’s similar there. If you do, I’m sure you’ll meet a lot of nice people.

By the way, is your handle a Tom Sharpe reference?

 

[WilT]

Hey WiLT,

I’m curious what you mean. Are you talking about, like, celebrities making homelessness their pet cause, or something like that? Because where I live, homelessness and hungry people on the street is the number one issue. My city has food banks and soup kitchens all over the place, and I would guess that 90% of them are Roman Catholic churches or Roman Catholic derived charity organizations. What’s cool is, at least here, a large number of the volunteers at these places aren’t even Catholic, they’re just decent people from every conceivable background who enjoy doing volunteer work. A lot of it goes on kind of under the radar, but I bet if you looked around in your area you’d find that it’s similar there. If you do, I’m sure you’ll meet a lot of nice people.

By the way, is your handle a Tom Sharpe reference?

Wow, good for you. In my area there is very little for them. They tell me its worst now because there is no funding from either the Government or donors. What state are you from?

 

[Exiled_Child]

Wow, good for you. In my area there is very little for them. They tell me its worst now because there is no funding from either the Government or donors. What state are you from?

Oh, I live in Seattle. This is like “The Land of the Homeless.” Of course Welfare plays a role here, too, but it seems like the Church and private charity organizations carry most of the weight and give the most help. I can’t even imagine what it would be like here without the churches. People would be starving in the streets! Hey, can I ask what part of California you’re in?

 

[WilT]

Oh, I live in Seattle. This is like “The Land of the Homeless.” Of course Welfare plays a role here, too, but it seems like the Church and private charity organizations carry most of the weight and give the most help. I can’t even imagine what it would be like here without the churches. People would be starving in the streets! Hey, can I ask what part of California you’re in?

socal

 

[mikekle]

I saw a piece on the news recently talking about local homeless people, and how their numbers are growing, many are ex-middle class people, who lost all they had, and now live on the streets. They were talking about many homeless have mental problems, addiction issues, etc. but due to lack of funding and proper care, they are beginning to just ‘warehouse’ them in county and city jails. There are now quite a few laws that target the homeless, so Im assuming this was done on purpose, to give police what they need to be able to arrest them.

But this doesnt make sense to me…why would police even be involved when it comes to homeless people? They have nothing to do with law enforcement and police have nothing to do with mental health care or support, I mean, why would they even send police when someone calls about a homeless person? Seems like sending an ambulance would be a better choice, or a responder from a local homeless shelter, at least in my opinion. If funding is low, seems like the last place they would want to put them is in a city or county jail, that costs MUCH more than any alternative! Plus most jails are overcrowded due to drug users clogging up the system, so if they arrest a homeless person for some goofy law, they would have to release someone else…doesnt make sense to me (shrugs)

 

[WilT]

I saw a piece on the news recently talking about local homeless people, and how their numbers are growing, many are ex-middle class people, who lost all they had, and now live on the streets There are now quite a few laws that target the homeless, so Im assuming this was done on purpose, to give police what they need to be able to arrest them.

But this doesnt make sense to me…why would police even be involved when it comes to homeless people? They have nothing to do with law enforcement and police have nothing to do with mental health care or support, I mean, why would they even send police when someone calls about a homeless person?

You have encountered an injustice that occurs quite frequently against the poor. It is bad enough many go through the embarrassment of homelessness, job loss, and home loss. Now, they have to contend with the local police and other county or state agencies that share in making their embarrassments greater.