. . . he's now part of a protected class in three states. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100425/ap_on_re_us/us_homeless_hate_crime
on the flip side, some homeless individuals also tend to aggressively panhandle in areas, almost to the point of causing a little fear in those being accosted for money. But I still remember the sight of seeing a woman who must have been 75-85, standing in a terminal. She was quiet, humble, and just put out a small hand, not looking at any one, just hoping for a little kindness. That could be our grandmother... The best thing would be if the homeless situation could be better handled than the way it is now. It seems that both the cities and the homeless each don't do enough to at least minimize it.
If a person falls into that trap due to any cause (medical, job loss, addiction, etc) there is pretty much no getting out of it. Their only choice is to live what life they can until they die. They have no address and no phone. Try filling out a job applicaiton wiht no contact information. That leaves day labor and daily jobs, yard work, etc. and most people don't want them around their homes due to the understandable desperation their situation causes. Society may benefit from spending a little money. Build a bunk house that has an address and accepts mail so they have an address. Have a phone complete with a phone number and an answering service or answering machine. Provide sanitation so they can bathe and have Goodwill donate some clothing. Toiletries are cheap; probably $0.50/ day/ person. They already qualify for food stamps so that (added) cost is nil. In fact the faster they get back on their feet the faster they get off the food stamps. So if society can spend another $100/ person to get 500 people back into the mainstream of taxpaying, productive citizens, isn't that worth it? There are "transitional shelters" in some cities but those are run by private entities who rely on donations with very limited resources. If public sector would look at how private entities does it, they could scale it up for the betterment of our communities as a whole. I think we can all agree quality of life improves for everyone if homelessness is erradicated.
That's all been tried. What happens is that a lot of them don't want to live by any rules, so they refuse to live in the shelters.
that is very true. When very cold winter days come, they almost have to beg some homeless to come into shelter.
Speaking of giving bums money. Once years ago back in college me and a bunch of friends drove over to Memphis to have fun etc. We were in downtown Memphis on a cold night. We were all basically broke. We had beer and gas money but that was it. We were eating at this KFC. Outside on a bench. This bum was hanging around being real real pitiful and all. No one was paying any attention to what the other was doing. Turns out we get the little 2 piece to save money and this bum comes out the door with the top of the line model. We had all given him money without even realize others were doing it do. lol