Union official brings good cheer to homeless men at Cranston shelter

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.providencejournal.com/news/content/20141224-union-official-brings-hope-and-good-cheer-to-homeless-men-at-cranston-shelter.ece

Published: December 24, 2014 10:44 PM

BY PAUL DAVIS
Journal Staff Writer [e-mail]

CRANSTON — At the state’s largest homeless shelter for men, union leader Lynn Loveday delivers Christmas gifts: warm socks and a bit of hope.

“Next year is going to be a good one,” promises Loveday, state vice president of Council 94, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the state’s largest employee union.

porting a Christmas hat and a red sweater that says “grandma,” she doles out wrapped socks to the 70 men standing inside Harrington Hall, a gym-like building where the homeless sleep in metal bunk beds or on the floor or at tables.

The men — including one in a wheelchair and another on crutches — could use some good news.

FULL story and photos at link. Damn thugs!!!

[Kalidurga]

1. It is a solvable problem

and it's been going on for way too long. It's been a very publically known problem since at least the 80's. Probably longer than that, but that is when I first learned about it, I was a young adult in college. I never thought of people that were homeless deserved it. I think that is the root of the problem too many people think that other people have done something to deserve being homeless. If they didn't really believe that I am sure the problem would be solved, because it would break anyone's heart to know innocent people, people that need shelter are dying because they don't get their basic needs met.

[NewDeal_Dem]

2. Homelessness was a deliberate creation of the Reagan administration.

Throughout the week, Ronald Reagan has been praised almost non-stop on television, in newspapers and in magazines. Politicians and pundits from both establishment political parties have been practically falling over each other to heap praise on Reagan. And as he is glorified for what are termed his accomplishments and legacy, there is one term that was rose to prominence during Reagan’s time in power that is seldom mentioned. That is "homelessness."

In fact many homeless rights activists say the single most devastating thing Reagan did to create homelessness was when he cut the budget for the Department of Housing and Urban Development by three-quarters, from $32 billion in 1981 to $7.5 billion by 1988. The department was the main governmental supporter of subsidized housing for the poor. Add this to Reagan’s overhaul of tax codes to reduce incentives for private developers to create low-income homes and you had a major crisis for low-income families and individuals. Under Reagan, the number of people living beneath the federal poverty line rose from 24.5 million in 1978 to 32.5 million in 1988.

And the number of homeless people went from something so little it wasn’t even written about widely in the late 1970s to more than 2 million when Reagan left office. But as Reagan proudly declared that the number of homeless shelters had increased significantly during his presidency, the homeless epidemic did not go ignored by everyone, especially not in Reagan’s back yard in Washington DC. Homeless rights activist Mitch Snyder and a dedicated group of homeless people and activists waged a many year campaign to win rights for people forced to live on the streets. Ultimately, they formed a movement based at what came to be known as the Community for Creative Non-Violence or CCNV.

http://www.democracynow.org/2004/6/11/reagan_and_the_homeless_epidemic_in


he cut subsidized housing and increased funding for homeless shelters. fucker. one of the reasons subsidized housing became dangerous was lack of funding for repairs, security, etc.

Reagan was a murderer and his is the downward slide of this country.

[Kalidurga]

3. Well that explains why I didn't hear about it before college

It wasn't a national crisis so much. And it was a problem that was being addressed by the federal and local governments. It is time to address the issue again and solve it again. Only now I am afraid that because this has gone on for so many decades that people who would have otherwise been able to bounce back mentally are lost as far as being able to live without a menu of services, they might not ever be able to be self sufficient. I don't have a problem with these needs being provided with government dollars. I am just sad that people who would have been able to get back on their feet won't be able to because they have been beaten down for too long and it's injured them to their core.

And I still think this happened because enough people believe there is a class of the deserving homeless. The reason I believe this is because if someone's house burns to the ground they are given shelter, firefighters direct them to temporary shelter or if it's an apartment building the landlord often steps in to get them into a different apartment. If there is a flood or any other natural disaster people affected are given shelter. But, if someone is mentally ill, poor, and/or fleeing a violent domestic situation then it is not a given that they will find shelter when these kinds of tragedies occur. I think it's a national shame.

[NewDeal_Dem]

4. It IS a national shame and a big waste of resources. Think of all the multiple organizations

and money devoted to putting the homeless into shelters, warming shelters, motels, moving them around, giving them backpacks full of toiletries and Christmas gifts and free meals.

but not housing. and not a way to get back on their feet and support themselves on the whole. the problem just gets bigger and bigger.