Reply #277: Nothing personal. [View All]

[Hannah Bell]

But the fact is, the phenomenon of "homelessness" began when Reagan cut housing subsidies, & they've been cutting them ever since. It's not rocket science, it's not like we don't know what works. Particularly for older & disabled people, what we're doing is a crime, & in that light, frigging voicemail is a joke.

I see no reason to pat "helpers" on the back for their efforts. They get paid. There's about 3 million dollars from a variety of sources that goes into homelessness in this town, & most of it goes to salaries for helpers. Unfortunately, little of it goes to stable, safe, subsidized housing.

I volunteered at a shelter for several years. One quarter, at least, of those people worked, another quarter got some kind of state check, one quarter had drug problems, and another quarter would never be able to work under any circumstances & had fallen between various cracks in the system.

The common factor was - they didn't have enough reliable income to get & keep housing. Subsidize housing. End of story.

Sorry you take it personally.