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According to: National Coalition for the Homeless , over 700 who were homeless or at risk of being homeless (not sure what this means) die annually of hypothermia.
So over 11 sounds like the safe bet.
You didn't get here quick enough to keep from repeating Post #40.
It's sad, but the truth is a lot of homeless people are homeless because they prefer that to working. I personally know someone who is basically homeless. Well, he is homeless but he stays in vacant buildings. He has been offered jobs and will show up for a day or two and then not go back. He'd rather drink all day than work. He does odd jobs for people to get money for alcohol. Family has tried to set him up with rehab that would help him stop drinking and provide housing and a job. He will stay for a day or two and then leave. He gets food stamps, which he trades for alcohol or cigarettes or whatever else he wants. He has a bus voucher to ride the bus free. He has a free phone from Obama and gets so many free minutes a month. Once his minutes are gone, he can text but he can't call till the beginning of the month when his minutes are replenished.
It's sad, but the truth is a lot of homeless people are homeless because they prefer that to working. I personally know someone who is basically homeless. Well, he is homeless but he stays in vacant buildings. He has been offered jobs and will show up for a day or two and then not go back. He'd rather drink all day than work. He does odd jobs for people to get money for alcohol. Family has tried to set him up with rehab that would help him stop drinking and provide housing and a job. He will stay for a day or two and then leave. He gets food stamps, which he trades for alcohol or cigarettes or whatever else he wants. He has a bus voucher to ride the bus free. He has a free phone from Obama and gets so many free minutes a month. Once his minutes are gone, he can text but he can't call till the beginning of the month when his minutes are replenished.
There are many more just like him.
Sounds like he has mental health problems, alcohol addiction at the very least, perhaps clinical depression or ???
Hard to imagine why someone in their right mind would prefer drinking, odd jobs, and living in vacant buildings.
Sounds like he has mental health problems, alcohol addiction at the very least, perhaps clinical depression or ???
Hard to imagine why someone in their right mind would prefer drinking, odd jobs, and living in vacant buildings.
It's not hard to imagine at all if you know how alcoholics think. Most people don't understand that a lot of homeless people aren't just down on their luck; they are homeless by their own actions/choices and some would rather be homeless than have to work.
Of course he has alcohol addiction, but he had that even when he was working. He does it because he wants to drink rather than work. It's the same with many homeless people. He had a job until four or so years ago, got laid off and decided he'd "take a break" and collect unemployment until it ran out and then look for a job. But when the time came, he had decided he didn't want a job. He likes not having a job and being able to drink all day. He doesn't want help.
It's sad, but the truth is a lot of homeless people are homeless because they prefer that to working. I personally know someone who is basically homeless. Well, he is homeless but he stays in vacant buildings. He has been offered jobs and will show up for a day or two and then not go back. He'd rather drink all day than work. He does odd jobs for people to get money for alcohol. Family has tried to set him up with rehab that would help him stop drinking and provide housing and a job. He will stay for a day or two and then leave. He gets food stamps, which he trades for alcohol or cigarettes or whatever else he wants. He has a bus voucher to ride the bus free. He has a free phone from Obama and gets so many free minutes a month. Once his minutes are gone, he can text but he can't call till the beginning of the month when his minutes are replenished.
There are many more just like him.
It's called mental illness, which is untreated. Would you expect an untreated diabetic to get their happy butt to work????? The free phone "from Obama" is a crappy TracFone. It's not like it's a smart phone or Iphone. I work with differently abled adults and low income elders so I know about the crappy TracFone.
It's not hard to imagine at all if you know how alcoholics think. Most people don't understand that a lot of homeless people aren't just down on their luck; they are homeless by their own actions/choices and some would rather be homeless than have to work.
Of course he has alcohol addiction, but he had that even when he was working. He does it because he wants to drink rather than work. It's the same with many homeless people. He had a job until four or so years ago, got laid off and decided he'd "take a break" and collect unemployment until it ran out and then look for a job. But when the time came, he had decided he didn't want a job. He likes not having a job and being able to drink all day. He doesn't want help.
If you ever read The Glass Castle, the author's mother tells her "it's so easy to be homeless in NYC". They lived in an abandoned building. The father was an alkie, but the parents both were a little off, to say the least. Intelligent people, but not on the same page as everyone else.
For those who haven't read this book, it's written by a former MSNBC anchorwoman who was successful and wealthy but who had come up out of dire poverty due to her parents' lifestyle and choices. She was prompted to write the book when she was taking a cab to a Park Avenue party and spied her mother digging through a garbage can on the corner. She had tried to help her parents, but they didn't want help. They were content to live the way they lived.
It's called mental illness, which is untreated. Would you expect an untreated diabetic to get their happy butt to work????? The free phone "from Obama" is a crappy TracFone. It's not like it's a smart phone or Iphone. I work with differently abled adults and low income elders so I know about the crappy TracFone.
In his case, it's a choice.
Why does it matter what kind of phone it is? It's a free phone/free minutes provided by the government. No one said it was a smart phone or iPhone.
If you ever read The Glass Castle, the author's mother tells her "it's so easy to be homeless in NYC". They lived in an abandoned building. The father was an alkie, but the parents both were a little off, to say the least. Intelligent people, but not on the same page as everyone else.
For those who haven't read this book, it's written by a former MSNBC anchorwoman who was successful and wealthy but who had come up out of dire poverty due to her parents' lifestyle and choices. She was prompted to write the book when she was taking a cab to a Park Avenue party and spied her mother digging through a garbage can on the corner. She had tried to help her parents, but they didn't want help. They were content to live the way they lived.
I did read that book, and while I enjoyed it very much, I think in the parent's case, psychological issues unique to them, played a role in her tumultuous childhood. She had parents who pretty much dropped the ball when it came to parenting. I read "The Glass Castle" quite a while, but as I recall her parents did not seem terribly mature, nor able to feel compassion for others. Namely, their own children.
I remember in one part, their large brood of children was literally starving, and eating a mixture of margarine and sugar, while the mother was getting fat eating candy bars. They both disgusted me.
I think that this family does not typify most homeless individuals. They are a psychological anomaly, and not a part of the larger social problem of homelessness in America.
On the subject of people in danger of being homeless, brought up by another poster, I think that this term would include the working poor who rent their homes. Renters with low paying jobs are on average, quite likely to experience homelessness at some point, due to job loss, sale of their residence, and eviction.
If you read "Nickel and Barbara Ehrenreich, a journalist who voluntarily took low paying, low status jobs for one year, in order to write about the experience of the working poor, you will get an idea of how close this resourceful and educated journalist came to homelessness several times during her venture.
Since she vowed not to use her own money, even renting a small apartment was a difficult proposition.
In my own case, my parents paid first month last month and security, including the real estate fee for my first apartment in NYC.
When my husband and I bought our first home, each of our families contributed to our down payment.
In America, wealth begets wealth, security and an education.
Pulling your self up by your bootstraps is a Horatio Alger inspired myth.
I did read that book, and while I enjoyed it very much, I think in the parent's case, psychological issues unique to them, played a role in her tumultuous childhood. She had parents who pretty much dropped the ball when it came to parenting. I read "The Glass Castle" quite a while, but as I recall her parents did not seem terribly mature, nor able to feel compassion for others. Namely, their own children.
I remember in one part, their large brood of children was literally starving, and eating a mixture of margarine and sugar, while the mother was getting fat eating candy bars. They both disgusted me.
I think that this family does not typify most homeless individuals. They are a psychological anomaly, and not a part of the larger social problem of homelessness in America.
On the subject of people in danger of being homeless, brought up by another poster, I think that this term would include the working poor who rent their homes. Renters with low paying jobs are on average, quite likely to experience homelessness at some point, due to job loss, sale of their residence, and eviction.
If you read "Nickel and Barbara Ehrenreich, a journalist who voluntarily took low paying, low status jobs for one year, in order to write about the experience of the working poor, you will get an idea of how close this resourceful and educated journalist came to homelessness several times during her venture.
Since she vowed not to use her own money, even renting a small apartment was a difficult proposition.
In my own case, my parents paid first month last month and security, including the real estate fee for my first apartment in NYC.
When my husband and I bought our first home, each of our families contributed to our down payment.
In America, wealth begets wealth, security and an education.
Pulling your self up by your bootstraps is a Horatio Alger inspired myth.
No, Jeannette Walls' family was not typical, which is why the book sold so well. it was a unique tale.
No, Jeannette Walls' family was not typical, which is why the book sold so well. it was a unique tale.
At one point, Jeannette Walls realized that they could have been living in a house that her grandmother left her mother, that all the moving between one dreadful place to another was pointless. They had a house they could have lived in the whole time.
There is no doubt that her parents were not able to think straight.
Which is the situation with many homeless people. It is easy enough to call them a bunch of lazy bums, and while that could apply to some, it doesn't apply to all of them.
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