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Old 05-30-2018, 05:10 AM
 
Location: Concord, CA
7,154 posts, read 9,256,289 times
Reputation: 25444

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'Handouts don't help' New signs target Colorado Springs homeless - KRDO

"The HelpCOS campaign will be launched on Thursday with the Springs Rescue Mission."

This effort by the city to re-direct charitable contributions is one small step.

But I think it's just too easy for these folks to receive handouts.

As shown in the video, if guys like "Irish" can make $75 in a few hours, that beats a W2 job which requires pushing a broom or hammering some nails.

They are holding their cardboard signs and playing a virtual "slot machine". People who hand them money mean well but it just encourages more of them.

I've noticed that way too many are younger people who are fit enough to stand on the median for hours. They have just found an easier way to make a buck.
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Old 05-30-2018, 06:00 AM
 
Location: In an indoor space
7,685 posts, read 6,176,073 times
Reputation: 5154
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vision67 View Post
'Handouts don't help' New signs target Colorado Springs homeless - KRDO

"The HelpCOS campaign will be launched on Thursday with the Springs Rescue Mission."

This effort by the city to re-direct charitable contributions is one small step.

But I think it's just too easy for these folks to receive handouts.

As shown in the video, if guys like "Irish" can make $75 in a few hours, that beats a W2 job which requires pushing a broom or hammering some nails.

They are holding their cardboard signs and playing a virtual "slot machine". People who hand them money mean well but it just encourages more of them.

I've noticed that way too many are younger people who are fit enough to stand on the median for hours. They have just found an easier way to make a buck.

Not far from me here in NJ there used to be this till law enforcement stopped it.


So law enforcement should do something about it or get enough citizens to complain to get law enforcement to do a days work imo.
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Old 05-30-2018, 06:41 AM
 
6,809 posts, read 10,473,068 times
Reputation: 8314
I don't think we have enough law enforcement to tackle this the way NJ did - our officers are spread pretty thin.
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Old 05-30-2018, 07:07 AM
 
Location: Colorado Springs
3,961 posts, read 4,362,124 times
Reputation: 5273
I like that these signs are going up and provide a means to instantly take that altruistic moment and turn it into a donation to charities that will help. But, I also agree that as long as people are willing to give directly, it will continue. As pointed out in the example, why go to work if you can make as much or more in a day, tax free, with no rules or restrictions being placed on them to do so. I give it another week before bumper stickers start covering up the signs to make them unreadable.

Police here won't touch these issues unless it becomes a gross public safety problem with an individual person, place, or activity. The local ACLU has seen to that by challenging all attempts to eliminate pan-handling and loitering by calling protected free speech and typical egress, so long as the beggars are not aggressive with solicitations.
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Old 05-30-2018, 12:33 PM
 
54 posts, read 99,224 times
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I wish Colorado Springs would look at the bigger cities and see what the "cost" of doing nothing or not enough truly is. Once you let it get out of hand it is really hard I think to try to fix that bigger problem you now have. I live in Houston, Tx. The homeless here are out of control with no common decency for where they live or co exist with. They go to the bathroom in peoples yards, camp where ever they want, do drugs and just trash where ever they are at. They are on many street corners pan handling. At least they usually aren't pushy or aggressive. The big thing a lot of them do here is "wash" your windows while you are sitting at a red light whether you want them to or not. Then people feel guilty that they did that and give them money.

I'm all for donating to a program that will get them off of the streets and help them get a job. I just don't think that the majority of them want that.
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Old 05-30-2018, 12:45 PM
 
Location: Colorado Springs
3,961 posts, read 4,362,124 times
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IMO, a large % of them don't want to work because they could if they wanted to. There are help wanted signs all over this city. I pointed this out to one guy on a corner because you could see the sign from his vantage point. All he did was flip me off.

There are some grass roots movements to address this, hence the signage and direct links to donation centers. There also are some official agency efforts as well to add transitional housing, work skills trainin,g and related activities at the biggest local shelter. The city is trying to do what they can be making standing in certain sized medians illegal due to safety issues, but we have a long way to go. Fortunately we do get harsh enough winters to drive some of them away, but I don't think there is a simple answer to dealing with them.
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Old 05-30-2018, 01:23 PM
 
Location: Colorado Springs
4,944 posts, read 2,928,379 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TCHP View Post
IMO, a large % of them don't want to work because they could if they wanted to. There are help wanted signs all over this city.
That may be the case but if you have a criminal record or no address finding even menial jobs is next to impossible and since Colorado detests organized labor you can be fired for any reason at all. For alot of folks that could be due to the fact they are homeless.

Another huge issue is mental illness physical disability all of those making finding gainful employment difficult if not impossible. The nature of being homeless is going to exacerbate those issues. The fact is we are always going to have an underclass there simply aren't enough jobs for everyone to go around and with increasing automation I see the problem worsening over time. The taxpayers are going to need to take a long hard look at what kind of society they want to fund.

Last edited by BornintheSprings; 05-30-2018 at 01:40 PM..
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Old 05-30-2018, 03:58 PM
 
Location: Colorado Springs
3,961 posts, read 4,362,124 times
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It is only impossible if they make it that way. I've seen a number of homeless interviews where they simply do not want to conform to the rules for housing or assistance. In simplest terms, they do not want to put in the effort most of us do daily to be productive members of society. Certainly some do want to make this effort, but many others appear to not want to nor care to.

Springs Rescue mission can provide address services as well as short term housing with bathing capability and clothing loaners, interview assistance, and resume writing. This bridges the gaps needed to land a job.

Criminal records, again this depends as there are companies out there willing to hire people with past records. Comcor works with some of this in that regard, so it certainly possible. It won't get you a secret clearance job, but you can find work with a criminal record.

At will employment is a fact of life most of us have to deal with regardless of our housing situation. Rules to avoid being fired willy nilly are pretty simple; show up, on time, ready to work, without being chemically altered. There are enough places hiring that if you can do these four things,you can have a job. Minimum wage is $10.20 an hour. That's over $1600 a month, which is not going to get a nice condo, but can get you into through transitional housing. However, this is taxable income and requires you work a steady 40 hrs and adhere to rules. If you make the same $80 a day on a corner in half the time, stinking to high heaven and totally stoned, you can see why they don't want to to work.

Physical disabilities aren't an excuse either. If you can sit/stand on cold/hot concrete for half a day, then you can sit in a chair in an air conditioned office at a call center making phone calls and stand at a hot oil machine dropping fries.

Obviously there are a percentage of them with mental health issues, but its unlikely that percentage is any more than a third of them. If we can take care of the other 60+% that are overburdening the system because of their own personal sloth or recalcitrance to follow simple rules, then it will be much easier to deal with the mental health issues.

The city in combination with Springs Rescue Mission, Salvation Army, Norwood, and local non profits are trying to address. Look up The Colorado Springs Initiative to End Homelessness sometime. The research has been done and the efforts are coming together, but it flat out doesn't work if all of us continue to give hand outs to all of them. It comes back to the old adage of give a man a fish or teach a man to fish. We have to quit giving them fish. Cut off the cash and they have to deal with the systems or move to somewhere else that will allow it.
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Old 05-30-2018, 07:47 PM
 
Location: Arizona
1,013 posts, read 972,419 times
Reputation: 1173
There is the assumption that these people are homeless. Many aren’t. They make a fair amount of money from handouts, and qualify for free housing, food, and medical care. Who needs a job.
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Old 05-31-2018, 07:47 AM
 
Location: Where the mountains touch the sky
670 posts, read 1,048,664 times
Reputation: 1325
TCHP, the forum won’t let me rep you again but you are spot on.
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