Homelessness, Part III - Homeless Shelters

Hey America, Tis I...well, you know whom.  To prevent blog stagnation, I've decided to write about what I've endured, during my soon to be brief homeless period; being, currently, a man of no State to call my home...yet.  I'm currently working on that, as we speak...sort of.  Good news, I won't be this way for much longer; I'm where I think I want to be for good, start a job tomorrow, and by the following morrow, will have a home to call me own...also sort of.

You'll note that this is Part III of the subject of homelessness, mainly because there were two previous parts, naturally.  These are phenomenal articles, done back in those days waaaaaaaay back when I started this blog, and can be found here:

http://themightyswordamericasdeadlysins.blogspot.com/2014/06/homelessness.html

and here:

http://themightyswordamericasdeadlysins.blogspot.com/2014/08/homelessness-part-ii.html

If you'd like, you can start there, and come back...or just forget the whole thing, and read this one.  Matters to me not, as long as you read ANYTHING I've written, and I'll be as happy as I can be.

As we know, the demographic of the homeless is e'er changing, because, well, the Government and those of the financial world are currently in the process of recalling those things, places and properties that never really belonged to us in the first place...those thingies we call "Homes".  I don't care if you paid off your property; your ownership of these places is not at all real, and can be repossessed or sold off at anytime, if you don't pay your straw man's taxes.  Just wait til the day you can't pay your $2,000 property tax some year, and they sell your home, for just that amount.  Funny, how you can pay $200,000 to own your home...and they can take it all away for just a measly amount of taxes that you couldn't afford to pay, is it not?

Anyhow, my point is, that more and more middle-classers, especially those who couldn't, even for a single moment, imagine that they COULD have been homeless, are now joining the lower class in their homelessness, much to their dismay.  When you arrive there, please, by all means, prepare to stare the worst directly in the face, in the form of today's homeless shelters.

One thing you'll notice is that there now only appears to be two kinds of missions remaining...Gospel Missions and Salvation Army missions.  Oh sure, you could further categorize and say "wet" shelters and "dry" shelters, but those categories still fall into the main ones.

The Salvation Army missions have been around almost as long as the homeless problem itself.  The others, Gospel Missions, are primarily only Gospel Missions for one reason...because this is the only lucrative type of mission to have today.  This type of mission is the one that gets the majority of federal funding.  If your mission is any other type, and you can pretty much bet that you're going to have to fund it yourself.  To get federal funding, you must now prove that your mission is, in some fashion, religiously or "program" based.  You don't really have to act it to the fullest...but that helps, I'm sure.  So whether or not your mission of choice is REALLY religiously-based is questionable...but they have to say it is, or not much fed funding will be made available to you.

That means that you, as a "client", are going to have to attend a flurry of things that you didn't used to have to back in the pre-present days, such as mandatory chapels (usually held prior to meals...you don't attend, you don't eat.  You don't eat, you don't stay).  Another thing you'll probably notice, is that once you apply to stay in one of these missions (applications in places like this require an awful lot of personal information that you wouldn't normally be comfortable giving your employer, i.e., SSN's and the like), you will be required to stay EVERY day, for as long as they need you there...or you will lose your privilege of having a temporary home.  That's because, if you don't stay there EVERY day...they don't get paid.

Is this what being homeless, as well as helping the homeless stop being homeless has come to?  Evidently so.  I'm sorry, but some of the homeless are going to take longer to get out of being homeless than others, thank you very much...and religion, as I understood it, was a personal choice.  Now, the majority of these missions stuff it down your throat.

Another thing you'll notice is that all of them are now "Program Based"...and in accordance with this, the living conditions for those that choose NOT to be on some "program" are very shabby indeed, comparatively.  Funny thing too, all of the program guys and girls are evidently encouraged to encourage YOU to be on "The Program", so that you can enjoy the special privileges that they enjoy...as they do it almost continuously, during your stay on the "dark" side (The non-program side).  That, I'm sure, is because certain "programs" also receive some type of federal funding.

I've noticed that some shelters are quite AA and NA program-based as well.  These AA and NA based shelters often make it so you almost HAVE to attend these kinds of meetings in order to be inside.  Very non-useful for those with no alcohol or drug type issues.  Again, living conditions on the non-program side of these shelters is no picnic; it often involves such bad conditions that living on the street or outside is often better.

I don't know what happened to this country, America, but everything seems to revolve around federal funding anymore, even non-profit agencies..as I've previously written about in the history of this blog.  Nothing is the real deal, and phony is the new in; if you can't feel it, pretend to be it is the motto.  Whatever it takes to get the money...right?  This, in and of itself, is socialism at its finest.  If nothing is done out of the goodness of your heart, but only for money, then how is a non-profit organization going to be allowed to really be a true non-profit organization?

Homelessness, by the way, in my current city, has dropped 22 percent since 2014.  After being in the shelter that I've been in for nigh a week now, I can most certainly understand why.  Homelessness these days is hardly a personal choice, so let's not make the homeless's lives more miserable than they already are.  Most of us don't ask or choose to be this way.  :D

Homelessness Part II

http://www.exposingtruth.com/utahs-plan-eradicate-homelessness-actually-working/

Hey Kids....sorry I blew ya off, been a b-b-b-b-bizzay boy yannow.

So let's get ourselves back to the subject of homelessness.  By the way, should you notice another tweet of this day for another such named post in my new Des Moines, Iowa blog, found here:

http://desmoinesandiowathevenusflytrap.blogspot.com/

just blow it off.  I decided this would be good for both blogs, and is pretty much the same, maybe with a tweak er two.

Now, it was said...more than likely in the first post on this subject, the fact that there is five times as many empty places as there are homeless people.  For those of you reading that fact for the first time, I'll give you a minute to let that sink in...

(Time has ticked away)....So how did you like that one, huh?  Nice?  Well, here's some things I believe that are even nicer.

Every day, more and more apartments are going up in the downtown area of my hometown.  Lofts, mostly.  Meant to be attractive to white collar young folks just looking at Des Moines for the first time.  Now, if you go back and forth between the Des Moines blog and this one, you'll note that the focus of this town, which is pretending to be massively bigger than it really is, is to attract people to the city itself, as well as rejuvenate the downtown area.  The problem is, as they do this, there are things that they're doing at the same time that absolutely make me ill.  I'm pretty much certain that they're doing this in every metro area over 100,000 folks, or my name isn't...uh...isn't....oh, never mind.

The only really efficient homeless shelter in this city is right smack downtown...has been for ages.  CISS (Central Iowa Shelter and Services) started out here in the old Trailways bus station.  I remember driving by it in the 80's wondering why it was that 50 or so people were asleep on mats on the floor.  They then relocated a little bit south and west of downtown, to a much bigger building.  Later on, that one would be deserted due to bedbugs, and the obviously growing homeless problem, forcing them to build up a new shelter, one that wouldn't take any more females, but would house 2x the male population.  It didn't do a lot of good.  Why, is obvious.

1.  There are 3x as many people that are homeless in this country than there was 10 years ago.  I'm afraid you're gonna have to get a much bigger shelter.

2.  The people that were homeless to begin with...are still homeless.  I used to work at this shelter back in the day...and because I've been homeless a few times since then, I've had to utilize this place's services for myself a few various short periods in my life.  The thing I loved about is was, the same damn people that had been there 10 years prior to that, while I was working there, were still coming there to stay!!!  The same men, women and vets were still utilizing the system.  That's really helping.

3.  In an attempt to attract more professionals to the city, you're just going to attract the attention of the more undesirable types as well.  The homeless, allowed to reside indefinitely at CISS, call their homeless friends and homeless relatives.  "Come on down you guys!!  This city'll take care of you!"  Then when the days they're allowed to stay (90 days, but longer with special circumstances) run out, well, guess where they're gonna camp?  As close to downtown as they can, til they're allowed back in, 90 days later.  Downtown, of course, where all the free meals are served too.

Worse yet, they bring all of these events downtown to get in the way of everyone going everywhere in the city, and they put them up around the same area as the shelter...as well as build the majority of the lofts in the same area; and build a whopping block-long sculpture park just 3 or so blocks away from it...then call the police, hire security, and physically patrol all areas around it in an attempt to chase them away from it all; all the while wondering why it is they have people passed out drunk in the sculpture park, hiding out in the parking garages close by, and camping under the bridge of MLK Pkway (East/West) and caught stealing things at the events.  Geeeeee........I wunder why??? errrrrrrrr........

What you don't seem to get, America, is that the problem is growing, and will continue to grow.  Not because you're not chasing them off well enough, but because MORE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE HOMELESS EVERY YEAR.  The problem isn't solely how we help these people out, which by the way is a problem too, but because of a lot of different things that we didn't have before.

1.  A much bigger population.

2.  The highest unemployment rate...well, EVER!!

3.  Affordable housing...

I really don't think I have to rehash every single reason again, do I???  Just See "Homelessness" in this blog, if you're really and truly lost.

One problem I did mention just a couple of paragraphs ago, and wanted to but didn''t cover in the first blog post, is not only our attitudes towards the homeless, but the most obvious problem of social disconnection we have today.  Gone forever, I'm sure, are the days when we helped each other in times of trouble.  You people are, quite simply, ASSHOLES when it comes to people who need your help.

Think I'm joking? Try a little experiment in your spare time.  Call all of your best friends.  Tell them you just lost your job, and it looks as though you might not make your next house payment.  Oh, you'll get all the sympathy you could ever want...but call them a week later, and tell them you lost your home, and you have no place for you, your wife/husband and two kids to stay...and watch how quickly they scatter.  You'll be amazed how little help you're offered or actually receive.

Selfish, immature, close-minded, and closed-doored.  As long as everything is going swimmingly, you're my best friend, but when times are hard, and I really need your help?  You couldn't run far enough.  I'm lucky to get you on the phone, at least not until until enough time has passed in order for my troubles to possibly be fixed again.  I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't need friends like that in my life.  That's probably why I don't have but one or two anymore.  :D

P.S. - By the way, Utah has a plan to eradicate homelessness entirely....that's WORKING.  You guys might wanna check it out, HUH???

http://www.exposingtruth.com/utahs-plan-eradicate-homelessness-actually-working/

Homelessness

Photo: Rachel Monroe/Monroe's Dragonfly

Oh my Lord America.  I gotta say this, this is the most sickening thing about this, our beautiful country.  If I could just put my finger on something, press hard, push your face into it, anything...ANYTHING to make you ill, this is it.  There is no....excuse....for this...in this country.  NONE.

Oh, we have reasons.  We have excuses a-plenty.  We know about this, yet we shut our eyes, turn our heads and some of us, with their very souls at risk, ignore it completely, like it doesn't even exist.  Don't think I haven't seen that one America, and a lot of it.

I remember walking through the streets of Chicago one morning, and there on the corner was, not only a homeless man, but his dog as well, complete with ribs you could play your favorite tune on.  A group of say 3-4 business men, all in their 30's or so, hurried along Monroe Street, talking shop.  A quick glance to the side as they came closer, and wow.  All of a sudden, it was like death in the group.  A couple yanked out their phones, checking for non-existent messages...one started to point the opposite direction, like there was anything to look at save more tall buildings.  Makes you want to run up to at least one, punch them in the face, grab them by the scruff of their necks and crane their heads back in the direction they should be looking.

You want to know why you look away America?  You can't look, and you know why.  That guy and his dog, they remind you of someone.  Funny, he almost looks like your father, doesn't he?  Wait no, your brother.  Your KID brother.  He had a dog just like him, didn't he?  Wait...oh yeah....your best friend.  Your Uncle.  Oh my God, your SON!!

That's right.  Your brothers, people.  Your American brothers are homeless...jobless...on the street.  You know who takes care of these people?  Us poorer people do.  We, the lower class are forever shoving dollars in their cups, knowing we can barely take care of ourselves...but a majority of us know what being homeless is all about.  Either we've been there, or we've known people who have.

Yeah, that's one reason.  Here's another.  You put those people on that corner.  You, right along with corporate America put Joe Smith on that corner, and you know it.  You're the VP at the corporate giant who put Mr. Small Business....out of business.  You're the Manager of Operations at the plant that dumped waste into that lake that, every summer, drew a slew of vacationers to it.  Jane Doe, the local owner of a bait and boat shop rental had to close her doors this year because of it.  The bank reclaimed her home, and now Jane and her family are out on that corner today.  Oh, it might not be EXACTLY who you see...but it could be, just as well.  In your eyes, America, every homeless person you see looks JUST like that person you wronged, inadvertently, or not.  Guilt.  Thank God SOME of us still have consciences.  Not that we pay attention or do anything about it, mind you...but we can still have one.

Here's my favorite though.  You really, truly, are completely naive about it.  You just don't know.  I can understand this, no one wants to talk about it, and that means that there are really and truly people out there who have no clue whatsoever what the numbers really are.

This is where I come in.  You'll have those numbers America.  If it kills me, you'll have them, as big as I can make them too.  Maybe if we lived in the Congo.  Quite possibly, had we been born in Venezuala.

But, as we are the 6th most prosperous country in the world, and leading the world in power, we have run out of excuses.

Did you know that we have five times as many empty houses as we have homeless people?  The reason we have homeless people again???

The number one reason for homelessness?  Lack of AFFORDABLE housing.  Do you think maybe this means we should possibly...LOWER THE COST?  PAY PEOPLE MORE?  Gee, I dunno.  MAAAAAAAAYBE.

More reasons?  Mental Illness/Substance Abuse, and the lack of services available to both.  Low paying jobs.  Yeah, DUH!!  Damaged foster children, when released at 18.  Job training for vets after Vietnam (we dropped the ball on this one, kids.  No Sense in trying to fix that one NOW).  The mentally challenged, currently or at some time in their past drug addicts, the current and past imprisoned population, and most assuredly FORMER criminals, who, because of technology, can't be employed; at some companies, FOREVER - because of computer background checks.  Natural Disasters:  a rather alarming and growing number of people are homeless due to this.   People who are evading law enforcement.  Adults and children who evade domestic violence.  Children who are thrown out of homes (or who run away from them because of) over the disapproval of their gender identity (LGBTQ), Overly complex building codes, foreclosures, evictions, lack of support network (friends, family), lack of resources in a community before homelessness becomes a problem, and Gutter Punks (people who choose to be homeless for political reasons or who are homeless to fight the system).

And, to round off the list, we, as a nation, have diverted 42%....that number again, forty-two percent of our focus, away from our own poverty and homeless population, and are helping other countries out with their problems (as of 2005 anyway...that number is probably a lot bigger by now).

Please, PLEASE don't get me wrong.  Philanthropy is my LIFE!!  I myself have nothing to very little, mostly thanks to my nature of helping others regardless of their reasons for being this way, believe that. Someday?  I might relate some of those stories.  Today, I'm more worried about what all of these numbers add up to.

The total?  That we know of anyway?  Well, the numbers are all over the board; and yet, no matter how high it is in actuality, there's STILL...NO....REASON for it that you can convince me of.  The reasons that are obvious are these:  Greed (See America's "26" original deadly sins, Day #7), Capitalism (Day #3)...oh hell, just see 'em all, ok?  Approximately though?  If we go with currently documented numbers, we're looking at somewhere around...

635, 682 at any one time.  Between 2.5 to 3.5 million will experience at least a few days of homelessness during the course of any given year.

Now, to give the government some credit, these numbers, as well as others related to utter homelessness, have been on the decline of late.  But I'll say it again, America, THESE NUMBERS ARE WAAAAAY TOO BIG...for us.

What to do, what to do.  Give to charity?  This one's pretty tricky.  With the advent of the WWW, the possibilities of giving to someone who isn't going to use it for its intended purpose is pretty grand.  Even the ones you KNOW are good, aren't...as much.  A lot of the biggies use a lot of what you give to paying employees, and expenses for having a base of operations, as well as having offices in just about every major city.

Make donations to local charities?  Same issues.  Give to food banks?  Use one sometime.  Make it a city/county/state driven one.  If you get more than 7 items per person, and are able to eat more than one meal, let me know will you?  I'd like to know where those places are.  Throw money into your church?  You never know where a lot of that goes, even worse, a lot of churches are very much of the "Looking out for US" philosophy.

Oh wait!!  HERE'S a thought.  Nooooooooo..........might be too intense, too radical, too stupid!!  Never mind...

OKOK, you talked me into it....the secret ingredient IS:

Give.  No, don't donate, don't support, don't fall for the BS...just plain ol' give.  Not stupidly, mind you.  Oh, there are players a plenty, usually occupying the same areas as the ones who really need you.  No, I'm talking about this:  Look across the street.  Look to your left and right.  If you see a problem, and you have extra?  GIVE.  Clean out your pantry, give an extra sack of that food you never wanted to buy in the first place to the neighbors with 6 kids, whose parents you've never met, because they work 25/8 of their time. Instead of throwing out the baby clothes, deliver them over to the mother that asked if you had a dollar she could borrow 'til Friday.  Instead of throwing out that tube TV, because you finally bought that 42" LG flat panel, stick a sign on it that says FREE and put it out, or call around to your friends and relatives and see if they know of anyone that could be interested in one.  Take a few extra minutes out of your crazy day and dedicate them to trying to find someone to help out.

And no, I don't mean you blue collar underpaid types.  Uh-uh.  No, I'm pointing at all you others.  White collars.  Business entrepreneurs.  You, the one who made a million last year from that new budding website. Bill Gates....YEAH YOU!!  It ISN'T the lower class's responsibility to take care of its own, it's YOURS!! You have more than you could feasibly spend in two lifetimes, GIVE BACK TO AMERICA.  America made you, and America can break you just as easily.  Give it up, and there might be something there for us to consider when we think of using a different operating system, buy another product you manufactured, or walk through your franchise's doors.  Give to your community, and for God's sake, if you see a homeless guy on the street, give him a gift card, or, better yet, ask him what he wants and go get it for him!!

Last but not least, here's one for all the real estate owners and companies in our greedy nation:  Come off of your sky-high horses.  Take care of our homeless, or suffer the inevitable consequences:  Squatters.  Home invaders.  Campers.  If you don't know what those words mean?  LOOK 'EM UP.  Look....there, on your cell-phone...Google it!!  Lower your rent prices, and for cryin' out loud, speak out against being in, supporting, or creating a rental group.  These groups, that exist for no other reason than get an occasional eviction or late rental payment, tend to make rental rules that shut out those of perceived "lesser value".

I hate to tell you people this, but pretty soon, there won't be a middle class.  There's only going to be those who have and those who don't.  And if you insist on inventing stupid rules like "Show me you make a minimum of 3x the money you need to pay the rent, in income", you're going to shut out, eventually, the very people that made you what you are today.  Next thing you know, your neighborhood will be empty, and all your properties will be for rent, and you'll wonder what the heck happened to your dreams of being a rental property mogul.  After that, your only option will be to give it all back up to the bank, or sell it at a massive loss to that extended stay hotel chain, who wouldn't mind putting up a building here...on your property.  In your neighborhood.  Right over the park and playground that used to be there, that at one time was filled to the brim with middle-classed kids.

If you have it, often-times more than you could possibly spend in your life-time, you had best look to your neighbors if you want to see them survive paying colossal interest rates on their home-loans, or pretty soon you'll see lights where there shouldn't be any, from fires homeless people tend to set to light up the empty house they invaded because it's been empty for a year, when it didn't look to be rented or bought anytime soon.  Pretty soon, these people tend to notice that you have more than you can handle, then decide that they'd like to relieve you of some of it.  :D