Are you seeing more homeless people ..`

[butterfly77]

in your area or State?

[sabbat hunter]

1. yes i am

last week there were at least 6 in one subway car alone.

[benburch]

2. The local homeless shelter is turning away people.

No room.

[City of Mills]

68. Same here

Shelter is full every night, a tent 'village' which has been springing up annually by the banks of the local river seems to get larger by the year. :(

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Yes

for the first time since I moved to Arkansas (been here 14 years) I saw a man with a cardboard sign "Work For Food". Usually folks around here look after one another-homeless people 'house sit' for others, etc. etc. I think the folks I saw were from LA or MS, for many came to the area.

[Pam-Moby]

4. I just heard a few hours ago on the radio

that there we more of a need for help in our area due to increase of poor family and homeless. Our shelters have been full for sometime now. I live in MI.

[stepnw1f]

5. yes (nt)

[azmouse]

6. I'm don't see any homeless but...

the Phoenix area is so spread out that the homeless here are almost invisible. They seem to stay in the downtown area where shelters and food kitchens are located and that area is about 25 mi from where I live.

[Loonman]

7. Can't tell this time of year

When the weather gets cold, most go to the shelters that they usually avoid when the weather is nice. It ain't ever a pretty picture in the shelters, so I can understand why people sometimes avoid them.

[TheDebbieDee]

8. I have noticed over the last several months........

that some people are living in their still-functioning cars. I've pulled up at stop lights and notice that the car next to mine is full up to the bottom of the windows with their belongings.

I've noticed at least 4 of these cars in the last several months. BTW, I live in Kansas City.

[Warpy]

9. There's a foreclosure sign on nearly every block

of my area, so yes, I'm seeing more people with junk-filled cars, obviously living in them.

It is horrible.

[SteppingRazor]

10. Yes, but...

I live in South Florida, and it's winter. The homeless population explodes down here in the winters, as homeless people grab a bus, hitch a ride, ride the rails or do anything else they can to get down here and out of the cold winter.

So, I wouldn't necessarily correlate my seeing more homeless people with an overall increase in homelessness.

[tammywammy]

11. No

I hardly ever see any homeless people and I haven't seen an increase in any either.

[seabeyond]

12. cleaning out basement getting rid of stuff, toys, old bikes

freezing, about 10 degrees not including windfactor. my husband went to a charity place just up the street. a older man saw husband carrying bike, i wanted to know if he could buy it for his grandson. no....says husband, you cna have it. the man so happy. not a mintue later a car with a couple little kids. saw the little bike and aske dif she could buy. he gave it to her. and had something to give the boy in the car. forgot about the huge box of box cars and car sets.

husband was happy and felt good he could do it, both of us felt totally unsettled that there is such a want. two cars back to back. yes, i am sure there are more people without. how could facts point anywhere else but. wage is the same as when i was single two decades ago. telephone gas electric adn rent all much lower than today. and groceries and gas much lower back then. that alone tells us how much people are hurting. same wage, everything more expensive, significantly

[MrPrax]

13. Yup...

in fact one death from hypothermia and counting...

But Hey! no one the wiser...so let's get back to real politics, like why Nativity Scenes are inappropriate in public places.

[Jamison]

14. Not really this time of year.

Like one poster above said, they tend to migrate to warmer climates any way they can. It would be suicide for a homeless person to stay around here in the winter when it gets down to -20 and -30*F at night. They'll be back and visible again when May comes.

[EFerrari]

15. I know most of my homeless neighbors and am NOT seeing them.

It's cold and has been raining off and on and I wonder where they've gone.

:(

If you are truly interested, this is a good place to visit:

http://www.nationalhomeless.org/

These people do good work.

[EFerrari]

16. Would you guys be willing to rate this thread up?

Most of us have so much. The least we can do is give these people our nomination.

:)

[porphyrian]

17. Yes, and it's proof that the economy is booming.

The more homeless, the fewer people with land telephone lines to participate in surveys about employment and the economy.

[Jed Dilligan]

18. Less in Oakland, always more and more in SF

The "crunk park" is less populous than when I left for 2 weeks in Europe mid-November, during a warm spell. I think homelessness is just less visible when it's cold.

Everywhere in SF except downtown, where the miracle of St. Gavin can be witnessed to this day! there is more and worse homelessness. The Castro's been hit, the Sunset, the Mission. People are bleeding in the streets and using hard drugs openly. It's worse than I've ever seen it there since the early 90s.

[EFerrari]

20. I'm in the Sunset , the 'way outter Sunset.

Maybe I'm not getting out enough. Mostly I worry about the guys I know who sleep on the beach.

Gavin sure galloped away from homelessness to gay marriage. While I'm grateful to him for the latter, I knew he would bobble the homeless situation.

[Jed Dilligan]

71. I meant the Inner Sunset, 9th Ave area

A lot of the best restaurants and bookstores etc. in the city crammed in there, a lot of resistance to big chains too. Since Gavin came in the sidewalks have been almost overrun with homeless every time I've been out there.

I've seen two people in the last month, both of them BLEEDING from head and body wounds, using hard drugs (one smoking crack, one shooting up) in the Mission and the Castro. Totally out of hand, but at least he's cleaning up around his office! :sarcasm:

[EFerrari]

72. Yes. Can't let homeless people litter up

around city hall. Someone might have to do something. :sarcasm:

That's why I worked for Matt, although at this point, I'm not at all sure he would have done better.

[Jed Dilligan]

73. Yeah, who knows?

They all seem to lose their compassion glands as soon as they waft above "aide" level. It's weird to see close friends of mine fighting the political demon. I wish more "non-faith-based" private citizens would think about how to help the homeless--it's the only way we'll ever get services that work.

[EFerrari]

19. kick

[LunaC]

21. "Face of homelessness changes"

"It used to be that most of the homeless people we serve were free-range campers – people with drug or alcohol problems. But the people we mostly will see don't have drug or alcohol problems. They're just poor."

"..nearly a third of the people who check into the shelter Wednesday morning will be displaced seniors who cannot afford the city's rents on their fixed incomes. Another segment will be people with disabilities."

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20051205-9999-1m5shelter.html

[EFerrari]

33. And now, just poor single moms.

:kick:

[The Whiskey Priest]

22. Back during the GREAT YEARS of Reagan and the Conservative Revolution

There is this state park not far from me…it was filled with families living in cars, tents, under sheets of plastic…it was bad. This time, I’m not sure we have hit that point, at least here. Many years ago the city underwent a major urban renewal, what that really meant was the elimination of all the SROs. Many cities did the same and the results was to condemn the less fortunate to living under the bridges, over the grates and in doorways. The poor became invisible during the 80s and only became visible as they were drowning and starving in New Orleans.

We are still living during the times of “Rachel’s Childern.”

[raccoon]

28. SROs? What's that? nt

[The Whiskey Priest]

30. Single Room Occupancy

It was low cost...usually in a bad area, but it was something that could be afforded....it kept many people out of the cold.

[EFerrari]

52. And on a monthly basis, they cost more than simple rent.

But they do not require a deposit or a resume.

:(

[Rue]

53. When I was a little girl during the Regan years . . .

I am a Tennessee native born in 1981. One of my earliest memories is of seeing folks standing on street corners and highway entrances with those "Will Work For Food" signs. It was rather poignant--I guess that's why I can remember it.

I didn't see these folks for years; during the Clinton Administration, I don't think I saw a single one. That changed after 2000. By 2002, they were making a comeback. Now I think I see those signs at least once a week.

Needless to say, this does not please me :( Anybody know any good, reputable charities I can donate to so that I can alleviate it this time?

[shrike]

61. Off-topic, but like your handle

I still remember Greene's "Power and the Glory" fondly. Although for sure entertainment value, "The Comedians" is still no. 1.

[graywarrior]

23. Yes.

They are filling up the library and the Whole Foods cafe area.

[Protagoras]

24. I've seen a steady increase for 15 years...but

now I'm not just seeing more at a time...I'm seeing them year round...during all kinds of weather when I didn't used to see them standing on street corners with signs etc.

[The Whiskey Priest]

25. Kick

This is a very good post...something we need to think about.

[The Whiskey Priest]

26. Kick

This is a very good post...something we need to think about.

[The Whiskey Priest]

27. Kick

This is a very good post...something we need to think about.

[greatauntoftriplets]

31. Kicked and nominated.

Terrific thread.

[capitalistdemocrat]

29. No

I live in Virginia and things are booming around here. Unemployment is (I think) somewhere around 3.3%.

We have a Democratic governor and a Republican legislature. Unlike the politicians in Washington, they work together.

[stanwyck]

38. What is the percentage

of people living in Virginia with healthcare? Are your fuel costs NOT increasing this winter? Has the cost of gasoline not hurt the average Virginian's household budget? Are people employed...or under-employed?
How exactly are "things booming"? Is this borne out by your state's statistics? Please provide the links, from reputable sources, verifying your glowing reports.
Thanks.

[capitalistdemocrat]

57. Gas prices are $1.79, but

I don’t have links to everything (nor do I have time to research them) but the unemployment rate is actually 3.2% as opposed to the 3.3% that I posted.

http://www.vec.virginia.gov/pdf/newpres1.pdf

As far as proof of my “glowing report” goes, all one needs to do is open their eyes and observe the hustle and bustle. There are not too many gloom and doomers here in Virginia. There is just too much too appreciate and enjoy.

Merry Christmas! :party:

[stanwyck]

59. 'I don't have links"

because nothing substantiates your claims.
As for the falling unemployment...gee, do you think it has anything to do with....Christmas?
Happens every year. It's called seasonal employment. Unemployment always goes down. Every year. Funny you didn't know this.
That's your "hustle and bustle".
But don't feel bad. Bush made the same boast.
We laughed at him, too.
You're at DU, now.
Ramp up.

[capitalistdemocrat]

76. Cheer Up!

Well, you can try to tell us that we are doing horribly and that life is unbearable, but it just ain’t so.

No matter, it is clear that you exist in a dreadful funk. Still, there is hope for you. You can always move to Virginia! Trust me, you will be much happier than you are now.

:party:

[stanwyck]

79. Move to Virginia?

No thanks.
Keep up your Pollyanna views.
The rest of us will deal with the challenges facing our country.
You just look at the rainbows and spout your Hallmark greetings.
The world needs all kinds of people.
(sorry that asking you to back up your statements with facts proved too difficult.)

[2Design]

70. virginia is a large military area - they have many contractors

all government or working for contractors for the government

[stanwyck]

74. good point.

It pays, literally, to be part of the military industrial complex during this administration.
Do you think any of our current conservatives are even aware of Eisenhower's famous speech warning of...exactly where we are now? Having to manufacture wars in order to sustain the beast.
No. I don't think our current crop of conservatives are as wise as General Eisenhower. These days, Ike would probably be "swiftboated" by the GOP.

[2Design]

75. I am appalled at what is happening

I have noticed in looking for teaching in fla. at community colleges. Military get first priority.
Our schools, school boards are being taken over by this mentality - I see it as a problem

As much as they hate liberals and people who like to help others - it is not a good thing

the countries I have travelled in that were the safest had paid health care
people did not lose their homes because of health care
People had security and were productive
They were paid living wages

this country is so unstable because we do not have living wage jobs for the majority
except those who are in congress and making way more than others

[EFerrari]

32. We need one more vote here, guys. n/t

[EFerrari]

34. Thank you!

:kick:

[mvd]

35. I'm in a well-off area, but urban centers

have shown an increase during the Bush years (no surprise at all)

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=40687

[jasmeel]

36. D.C. is the worst I've ever seen.

Ironically I saw a homeless woman sleeping right to the side of the White House and a homeless man sleeping in front of a church. Don't churches help homeless people anymore? It seems some of them are too busy waging culture wars. <sigh>

[Greyhound]

43. In Denver in the early 80's when raygun foisted this travesty on us

many turned to the churches and they locked them out. I don't see that anything has changed.

[u4ic]

37. Yes

and does our government care? :grr: :grr: :grr:

from a couple of years back: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/dec2001/can-d22.shtml

Ralph Klein, the premier of Alberta and darling of Canada’s right, made a disgusting display of his contempt for the poor in a drunken, midnight visit to a homeless shelter in Edmonton last week.

At around 1am December 12, a visibly intoxicated Klein had his chauffeur drive him to the Herb Jamieson Centre, a government-supported shelter for homeless men. Witnesses say that soon after entering the 249-bed Centre, Klein began shouting and swearing at a number of the homeless. Slurring his words, the Tory premier yelled repeatedly at them to get jobs, then threw money on the lobby floor and stormed out.

Tammy Tuttle, a woman who happened to be at the shelter at the time with her boyfriend reported that Klein “put them down like they’re worthless. They do what they can to help themselves and maybe if he’d help them a little instead of cutting back on everything, they wouldn’t be here.”

[raccoon]

58. Thanks for posting that. It reminds us that there are

cold-hearted, insensitive, asshole politicians in every country.

Not that that's much comfort.

[kskiska]

39. The soup kitchen here is running out food

and is asking for donations. They're overwhelmed.

But one problem is that not all the people eating there are needy. Others, like construction workers, are eating their lunch there.

[shrike]

63. Just because they're working doesn't mean they're not needy

The biggest problem we have in my area isn't the homeless; it's the working poor. Soup kitchens are overwhelmed, township offices are overwhelmed, St. Vincent De Paul Society is very low on everything.

[kskiska]

69. That's quite possible.

There are an awful lot of people who, even if they're working, don't have much left once the bills are paid.

[Lerkfish]

40. much larger groups at shelters and kitchens, meanwhile those

shelters and kitchens have less to distribute.

guess the whole "faith initiative" thing is a bust.

[Greyhound]

44. It was before The New Deal too. Faith based charity has never been

adequate. After all there is no profit in actually helping the poor.

[ClayZ]

41. I saw a tent under I-5 downtown Seattle

Not a nice place to camp! :cry:

[butterfly77]

42. Why does bush and the repubs think that when we hear...

that the Iraqis have schools open and other facilities( which are not open to the length he says) that we are suppose to be happy. The iraqis would not be homeless either, if it wasn't for him. This -------- wants to tell us the economy is so good, he struts his ass across the stage bragging and telling damn lies,he's destroying this country. All of the numbers are lies. Someone posted yesterday would this country have a public disturbance or revolution, most said in 20 years at this rate it will be sooner. Supposedly the richest and most godly country in the world, tell me where is the love?

[EFerrari]

45. We need 1 more vote to hit 10. And thank you, butterfly

for this thread.

:thumbsup:

[Lerkfish]

47. no problem. recommended.

[EFerrari]

50. Thank you, Lerkfish.

:loveya:

[butterfly77]

49. your welcome...

We also need to e-mail our congress to let them know this is a priority. The government always tends to respond once something gets out of hand and is at a crisis stage. From what I have seen it already is at that stage.

[EFerrari]

51. I wonder if our efforts wouldn't do better at a local level.

Gavin Newsom ran on this. And since, he has slowly walked away from it. As far as I know and I may not be up to speed here, in SF.

[Greyhound]

48. Can I deposit the love? I didn't think so. Are there no prisons?

Have the workhouses closed? Why should I have to pay for some lazy bum to lounge around all day.
Bah! Humbug!
:sarcasm:

[ClayZ]

55. the cost of christmas parties at the white house

would feed thousands ..... ARGH!


http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Lifestyle/Garden/03AccentHOME03120105.htm

snip>

For the sake of honest journalistic inquiry, reporters were sampling the White House fare that President Bush and first lady Laura Bush will serve some 9,500 guests at 26 Christmas parties in the coming 21 days.

Perhaps another Maryland crab cake should be examined. Or further investigation might be needed of the sweet-potato biscuits stuffed with Virginia ham. Or would accurate reporting require an additional lap around the dessert table, with just a spoonful each of raspberries in whipped cream, hot cherry cake, apple cobbler, chocolate souffle and pumpkin custard?

"This is always a very, very happy time here at the White House," said Mrs. Bush.

snip>

[EFerrari]

46. kick and please read

:kick:

[butterfly77]

54. I have been hearing of more and more people becoming...

unemployed and out of work for 2yrs or finding work and being laid off or fired again, this and katrina and other factors are leading to homelessness. I want to know what are these people who support bush are seeing, does anyone know someone who has lost their job and are still in love with bush?

[EFerrari]

56. Kick

:kick:

[noonwitch]

60. They have lots of abandoned houses to hide in here in Detroit

You don't really see the homeless here like you do in NYC. Detroit is filled with abandoned buildings-even though progress has been made in tearing them down, there are still a lot left. The homeless hide in them because many still have intact walls and roofs. The shelters are always full here, year round, because it's a poor city that is growing poorer.

[shrike]

62. I'm from the Detroit area originally

It's funny, I lived in the city as an adult for a while, and there were always these cool, hidden-away places to go. I had more fun there than I did in a lot of cities. It always hurts when I hear about Detroit's continued bad times.
And you know, for all its "racial problems," I never had so much of a curse word said to me while I lived downtown. (Someone tried to sell me mescaline once, but that's a different story.) No one so much as touched my car, bothered my place. (I'm white. And when I lived on the east coast, I was burglarized, flashed and attacked on the street, had my car broken into and vandalized, numerous times. And I lived in a white area.) I had to ride the bus a few times, and some crazy old dude started muttering about white people. The young kids around him started giving it back to him, telling him what an old fool he was.

Sad to hear about the hard times.

[noonwitch]

78. I lived in Detroit from 1989-2001 and never was a crime victim

And I still work here every day. I'm also white, and lived in a neighborhood where I was in the definite minority. I also was not stupid. My best friend, who is black, got mugged around the corner from my house. I lived near Woodward and McNichols, on the Detroit side. There was a fabulous restaurant right around the corner-it was called Salute, and is now La Dolce Vita. It's a really nice place, with an outdoor courtyard eating area in the summer and excellent food. It's customer base is gay, so only homophobes are uncomfortable there. The Dakota Inn/Rathskeller is also still there on John R. So there are still hidden cool placed to go.

I did have a couple of incidents over 12 years-some neighbors who didn't like me (I don't think their dislike was based on race alone) and a hate letter that I think was intended for my neighbor, because it insinuated I was having a relationship with a black man, at a time I was seeing no one at all. My neighbor, on the other hand, and a friend/coworker, was and is still dating a black guy.

My neighborhood went down really fast in the later 90s. The restaurant on Woodward is safe, has good security and is on a better block than my house was.

[ultraist]

64. Another million people fell into poverty last year

The poverty rate has been steadily increasing under Bush. Over 37 million Americans live in poverty.

It's no wonder people are seeing more homeless.

It's only going to get worse over the next year. Many social programs have been cut, thanks to Bush and his "Christian" klan. People are going to get more desperate. Scary. and. Sad.

[butterfly77]

67. NOW THAT THE SUPREME COURT ..

SAYS THAT PEOPLE WHO RECIEVE SOCIAL SECURITY OR DISABILITY WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR THEIR STUDENT LOANS OUT OF IT, I KNOW THIS IS GOING TO PUT A STRAIN ON PEOPLE WHO CAN'T WORK OR FIND JOBS.

[Swamp Rat]

65. Yes, about a 1/4 million more in the last 3 months from New Orleans alone.

n/t

[rman]

66. kick for justice

[lonestarnot]

77. kick

[bridgit]

80. oh yes...

:kick: