Homelessness in my Small Town of 15,000

[Mike 03]

Recently our local paper ran a story verifying that we have a homeless population of 300, and these are mostly college-age students who are sleeping in the woods, bathing in our local streams, and living God knows where.

This statistic does not include the impoverished veterans or unemployed families who are existing off of food stamps in combination with the generosity of the community.

I am posting this not because I don't know we have poor people in my community, but because of the average age of the homeless here, why they are here (to get an education), and my shock overall about their condition, the number of them and the lack of help extended to them.

In general, Veterans and the Elderly get good assistance here, but there is this entire group of young college students literally living and bathing in the forest while trying to get an education, and this fact really surprised me. These young people are freezing, they are hungry, they are thirsty, and they have nowhere to go. It is so upsetting, and to be frank, I had no clue.

I can assure anyone who reads this post that I never in a million years could have survived attending community college under such harsh conditions--no shelter, no food, no water. This is horrific to me.

Do any of you have this phenomena where you live? I would be very fascinated to understand if this is more widespread than I knew.

(ON EDIT:) I just need to add, this town is at an elevation of 5,000 feet, and we have three weeks of snow and rain, with an average low temperature of 23 degrees, and highs in the 40s. I know that is not cold for somebody living in Canada or in the east, but it is biting cold for somebody living with no clothes, food, water, in some kind of tent or car.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post and please let me know if this is a phenomena where you reside.

[peace13]

1. This is heartbreaking. n/t

[leftstreet]

2. America, Fuck Yeah!

K&R

[The Northerner]

3. Just out of curiosity, could you name the town?

I'm very surprised that college-aged students are resorting such measures.

[Bobbieo]

7. I'll make a guess it is Flagstaff. AZ. They have an ASU there.

Flag is great in the summer but too cold in the winter. How sad, I feel for those poor guys.

On edit again. Yuma is a haven for the homeless in the winter months. Over the years I have taken in several homeless people who have been down on their luck and only found one bad apple.

[likesmountains 52]

19. Flagstaff has a lot more than 15,000 people.

[DBoon]

8. I remember this starting in the early 1980's

real estate inflation priced students out of housing, so some started living in their cars

That was in California

[virgogal]

4. Wouldn't dropping out of school for a while and getting a job make

the most sense?

A delayed education is not necessarily a bad thing.

Lots have done it---work,save,and then go to school.

A very strange situation with these students IMHO.

[peace13]

5. Jobs for people in this age group are very hard to find.

Even young people with degrees can't find work. Not enough experience, too much education, can't afford to work for the pay and still make payments on school loans. Face it times, are hard all over but the young people are being hit very hard. Many who work for minimum wage are forced to get more than one job when they can find it. Go figure. And they are paying the Medicare and Social Security taxes for those who get checks all the while knowing that their chances of ever collecting are nil. I will have to check but I believe the unemployment numbers for people in their mid twenties is somewhere around 50%.

[DBoon]

9. minimum wage jobs won't pay rent anywhere

even small apartments, in poor areas, with roomates

[peace13]

15. For sure.

That means more than one job and a roomate. Times are hard.

[Hissyspit]

10. Half, maybe more, of students who enter college do not finish the degree.

Taking a break can be just that, or can it can be the end of your social mobility.

We are in a terrible job situation. I think I read in Time that more teenagers now do NOT have employment than the total of all Americans who were unemployed during the Depression.

Social mobility in the U.S., according to a just-released study by OECD, is significantly worse than in Canada and many European countries (not France or U.K.). The reasons for this are varied, but in the U.S. the chief problem is with the education system.

[virgogal]

11. Social mobility means a bettering or worsening of your social status.

It works both ways.

Sad !

[wellstone dem]

12. There are no jobs for people this age

My daughter has been looking for months. She and a bunch of friends have all come together to live in one apartment. I pay her share of the rent. She applies for 2-3 jobs a day. Getting an acknowledgement is a success. She has had one interview.

My nephew graduated from Notre Dame last Spring. (He got Obama for commencement.) He is waiting tables.

Our office advertised for a legal secretary in a community of 60,000. We got more than 100 applications.

There are no jobs.

[peace13]

17. My son and his friends have the same problems.

No feedback after applying online for job after job. Anyone with a job is underpaid, no benefits or vacation and paid the absolute minimum. Tough times.

[Lars39]

18. Student loans would then become due, worsening the situation.

[conscious evolution]

6. PC students?

[orion007]

13. Why didn't you post the newspaper article??

There's too many holes in what you wrote to start addressing what's going on.
300 homeless students????

[Tsiyu]

14. When the economy gets tough

a lot of young adults get kicked to the curb.

Also, given the War on Drugs creates more and more young felons, you have a whole new mess of kids who can't get any assistance: food stamps, housing, tuition assistance, because of felony drug convictions.

Times are very hard for teens and young adults these days. They suffer in silence in the current scheme of things, but their suicide rate speaks loudly.

[Liberal_in_LA]

16. I know of community college kids in Los Angeles that are homeless. Bathing at school, using the

services. maybe it's easier to be homeless in an urban environment. many spend a lot of time at the library. More shelter to be had.

[Quantess]

20. This afternoon the dog & I took a walk in a small wooded park, and

crossed paths with a young man with a massive backpack. I'm sure he was going to set up camp for the night.

[mdmc]

21. $