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I don't know about Oregon, but in the Northeast there are lots of programs to help people such as yourself get housing and disability. If you're not on drugs, your lack of memory is likely due to brain damage (maybe from a prior injury? or from prior drug abuse). You should seek out mental health clinics and/or homeless nonprofits (start by contacting them online or visiting ones in the Northwest), and let them know that you need to be evaluated by a neurologist. Really, there are people who care who will help you document your problem, get the evidence needed of your medical condition, and help you get disability and a roof over your head, or the medicine you may need to reverse your situation. If you get turned down by one place, keep trying, because I know there are people out there who can help. A health clinic is another option for finding someone who might be able to get you a free diagnosis, and possible free treatment. You do need to ask for help though, and sometimes more than once, to get it. But you'll get a lot more help in a city up North than you would in a small town in the South, I guarantee it. Mental health services in the Keys for instance are under-staffed, under-qualified, under-funded, and over-worked.
Perhaps Seattle would have better help for you. There are also a lot of homeless in San Francisco, so you might be able to find an organization there online and contact them about resources and options.
You really DON'T have to be homeless forever. There is a reason you're losing your memory, and that reason can be documented at the least, and likely given a diagnosis. With documentation by professionals of the problem, you can then get help from a social worker to guide you through the process of applying for Disability, housing, and all the other things that you need to get by. It's not a glamorous life, but it's a lot safer than being on the street - especially in a hostile town - and there will be people who will work your case and care about you, and check in on you or be happy to hear how you're doing. You don't have to drift completely alone. If you have any religious affiliation, a lot of religious communities also will want to help.
Please do the work to get the help you need to solve the problem you have, rather than drifting around trying to avoid the problem. You are putting yourself in way more danger that way, and for all you know, you might have something that could totally be fixed by just some medication, or maybe a simple operation a doctor or organization might be willing to donate to you. I hope you remember to check these messages, and try finding appropriate care for whatever is going on with your memory, and people whose job and life calling it is to get people life you off the streets and into safe housing.
Appreciate the effort, but Ive TRIED that multiple places... Technically, since im considered "able-bodied" Im not considered "disabled".. And "light long term memory gaps" dont qualify as a condition serious enough for these agencies.. And since im NOT an "addict", drunk, or assorted versions of insane, I dont get the help they give to those(most of these so-called "programs" are set-up specifically for "recovering people", and since im not recovering from anything, many of them wont even deal with me, since they said my situation is not "serious" enough!! Trust me, ive tried that route.. However, since I cannot deal with any cold weather anymore, id rather be someplace else(hehe, maybe I should illegally "migrate" to mexico right?)...
Nice attitude.. But WHY do you assume homelessness is a "choice"? For many, it is not!! Some(like me) cannot work, and are disabled but NOT disabled enough to get a check, so we're screwed!! Also, you are making MANY assumptions about me just from a few posts... I have been in the WORST violent cesspool cities in america.. Ney york, LA, san fran, new orleans, just to name a few.. And ALWAYS homeless!! So I am no stranger to hardship!!
I do know in northern climes, I am in a serious danger of dying from the cold!! Im done with that! However, I was homeless for 2 years on daytona beach, and I liked the climate.. Hot sometimes, but being ON the water had a "cooling effect", and I enjoyed it... Only problem is, there was NO way to eat back then(the 80s).. Daytona had no free lunches or meal places.. I lived on donuts from an AA house for a long time.. Also, as far as "harrassment" goes, in all the places ive been, Ive never been hassled by cops(even though others around me are OFTEN harrassed!! Im not one of those "dirty bums" you see, since I dont drink, use drugs, and keep CLEAN every day!! So cops pretty much walk past me without even noticing.. There is a difference between homeless and "dirty bums"(the bums seem to be the majority).. Since Im RIDING a bicycle slowly down the coast, I have plenty of time to get there, no hurry.. By the way, Ive been through 2 hurricanes IN PERSON!! Both on the east coast! So im familiar with them.. ALso, consider this, if YOU had a choice between sleeping on a COLD sidewalk in a freezing place,where a shower is a LUXURY, and hard to come by, or a WARM environment where you have to sleep carefully, but warmly, which would YOU choose? Good question huh?
Why did you even post this thread at all? Clearly, you don't want an answer to the question, you already decided you know more than locals what it is like here.
Someone who is truly helpless does not have the ability to move all over the country to the most desirable places it has on a whim. Nor would that person be in enough shape to bicycle across the nation.
My answers are based on the fact that I have BEEN homeless before. I have also lived in Northern cities and in the Keys to know the difference, and how livable they are for homeless populations. I am telling you from a place of knowledge. You sound like you have chosen to stay in ignorance anyway. All you wanted was people who don't even live here to egg you on and say it's a great idea, because they don't care what happens to you. I'm telling you for real, this is not a safe or happy place to be homeless. You can also die from heat exposure just as you can die from the cold, you know.
But you didn't really want answers anyway. You just posted this thread to brag that you are coming down to mooch off of local life, apparently. I know for a fact that there are a lot of resources for you to get you off the street - millions of people are on Disability who have no visible disability, or get housing simply for being poor. But you spend your time and energy bicycling all the way down here rather than going in the doors of all the community centers, mental health clinics, and homeless organizations between Oregon and here to get the help you actually need and actually could get. That is a CHOICE. I have known people who really were helpless, who really had no choice because they were too sick to even get out of bed to ask for help, or too mentally out of it to use the internet. There is a huge difference between that and what you are doing. If you have the mental wherewith all to get down here after a plan that must have been at least weeks in the making, and to write online to ask for opinions, you could be working short stints to make some money doing physical labor, or contacting nonprofits to get help.
I have been on hard times, and gotten myself out. You have chosen to take a vacation. It has nothing to do with what a person looks like. It has to do with their willingness to do what it takes to solve their own problems, including asking for help from professionals who specialize in these issues. You instead brag on C-D that you're going to live under some palm trees, taking resources that other people paid for, and built with their whole lives of living and belonging to and contributing to their community.
By the way, you can work online on your own schedule and make enough money to at least rent a room from someone in a cheaper town. You don't need to be consistent to get paid.
Why did you even post this thread at all? Clearly, you don't want an answer to the question, you already decided you know more than locals what it is like here.
Someone who is truly helpless does not have the ability to move all over the country to the most desirable places it has on a whim. Nor would that person be in enough shape to bicycle across the nation.
My answers are based on the fact that I have BEEN homeless before. I have also lived in Northern cities and in the Keys to know the difference, and how livable they are for homeless populations. I am telling you from a place of knowledge. You sound like you have chosen to stay in ignorance anyway. All you wanted was people who don't even live here to egg you on and say it's a great idea, because they don't care what happens to you. I'm telling you for real, this is not a safe or happy place to be homeless. You can also die from heat exposure just as you can die from the cold, you know.
But you didn't really want answers anyway. You just posted this thread to brag that you are coming down to mooch off of local life, apparently. I know for a fact that there are a lot of resources for you to get you off the street. But you spend your time and energy bicycling all the way down here rather than going in the doors of all the community centers, mental health clinics, and homeless organizations between Oregon and here to get the help you actually need and actually could get. That is a CHOICE. I have known people who really were helpless, who really had no choice because they were too sick to even get out of bed to ask for help, or too mentally out of it to use the internet. There is a huge difference between that and what you are doing. If you have the mental wherewith all to get down here after a plan that must have been at least weeks in the making, and to write online to ask for opinions, you could be working short stints to make some money doing physical labor, or contacting nonprofits to get help.
I have been on hard times, and gotten myself out. You have chosen to take a vacation. It has nothing to do with what a person looks like. It has to do with their willingness to do what it takes to solve their own problems, including asking for help from professionals who specialize in these issues. You instead brag on C-D that you're going to live under some palm trees, taking resources that other people paid for, and built with their whole lives of living and belonging to and contributing to their community.
Really? You know in this country there are a good number of people who are considered "able-bodied" and are still "helpless".. In fact, not only that, but there is a whole CLASS of folks that homelessness is pretty much inevitable!! Think about it for a moment... Sky high rents are growing all over the country, credit requirements that MANY don't have and never will have to even QUALIFY to rent, LOW LOW minimum wages, for those who can actually GET hired, impossible amounts to raise, ESPECIALLY for those sleeping on cold sidewalks(which create their OWN physical issues).. Combine ALL these factors, and it creates a perfect storm of predestined homeless and helpless people just trying to survive!!
The yuppies and wealthy will have good jobs, and those others on minimum wage will either be homeless(if they are not already) or living 10 in one room(like the illegals do).. Id say within 5-10 years, homelessness will DOUBLE from the present census numbers, guaranteed!
And by the way, before you keep claiming I haven't tried to get help, Ive actually had 2 different caseworkers literally "give up" and tell me the best thing I could do was leave to another state(oregon and cali).. If thats not hopeless, I dont know what is!!
By the way, my ticket was FREE.. And I never said I was biking from oregon, I am starting in jacksonville and biking down the coast slowly!!!
Having worked with the homeless in Florida for many years, I realize that there are many types of dysfunction and reasons for being homeless. I've also seen a connection between places that are the most attractive to tourists ... and the least friendly to the homeless. Likewise, 'living in the bushes' in Florida is not much more comfortable (or safer) for older people, than anywhere else.
A good alternative for you might be HUD 'controlled rent' housing. This generally provides an apartment, utilities and often one meal per day for about a third of one's income (whether SS, SSID or whatever). Otherwise, there are missions and shelters, but, one is typically limited on how long one can stay there.
Simply hoping to move to Florida/Key West, 'where one can sleep on the beach and eat oranges' isn't really a well thought-out plan -- Starfish has provided a bit of the Key West 'homeless flavor' and you would probably do yourself a big favor to listen carefully. If you have simply made up your mind to head to Florida (or Arizona), you will probably do better if you avoid the 'tourist traps.'
Having worked with the homeless in Florida for many years, I realize that there are many types of dysfunction and reasons for being homeless. I've also seen a connection between places that are the most attractive to tourists ... and the least friendly to the homeless. Likewise, 'living in the bushes' in Florida is not much more comfortable (or safer) for older people, than anywhere else.
A good alternative for you might be HUD 'controlled rent' housing. This generally provides an apartment, utilities and often one meal per day for about a third of one's income (whether SS, SSID or whatever). Otherwise, there are missions and shelters, but, one is typically limited on how long one can stay there.
Simply hoping to move to Florida/Key West, 'where one can sleep on the beach and eat oranges' isn't really a well thought-out plan -- Starfish has provided a bit of the Key West 'homeless flavor' and you would probably do yourself a big favor to listen carefully. If you have simply made up your mind to head to Florida (or Arizona), you will probably do better if you avoid the 'tourist traps.'
Also, let it be known I am not against considering another beachtown along the coast, since I will be riding the whole east florida coast.. Only stipulations are they have to be ON the beach(for the cool atlantic breezes), and mid to SOUTH florida(for the warmth).. Im open to suggestions(NOT MIAMI, been there, another cesspool)... But since ive never even SEEN the keys I would like to... As far as "tourist traps", ive existed in plenty of them!! New orleans, SF, etc... And lived homeless on daytona for almost 2 years back in the 80s.. So im somewhat familiar with the idea you could say.. Im just looking for a place I can be generally comfortable, NOT cold, thats on the beach and ocean.. Is that really a difficult concept?
Hope you had fun talking to the reactionaries. :-)
I did Key West a few years ago in my car. 1st night I just happened to park in a slightly less affluent neighborhood and was left alone. 2nd day late afternoon, I chilled in my car for 2 hours doing laptop stuff. As dusk came, the cops showed up. They weren't horrible dicks, but they said, "They're gonna keep calling." So I had to leave. This is not an easy environment to car camp in at all.
It's also not my style: the whole place is set up for tourist retirees with money. Almost every square inch of property is owned by someone, there's not really any sense of public space. That's a function of the limited amount of land available on the Keys. The "dog beach" that I had read about, was a mere 30 foot strip of sand between 2 hotels. The only other dog beach I found in all of South Florida was midway through the keys. Pretty lame. People believe in private ownership in this part of the world and shutting the public out. What public beach is left, isn't dog friendly.
I had no desire to make any further go of it, so I'm proud to say I left without contributing one thin dime to the Key West economy. I lost $50 of gas to see the southern tip of the mainland USA, and I can say I've been there, done that. The only really good thing they had down there was this guy banging on plastic buckets. Man, he was way better than any of those music joints down there!
Subsequently, some Florida friends of mine have said there's a "service" side of the island where conditions might be easier. In the main tourist areas and wealth concentrations you're exceedingly likely to catch grief. The "service" side is where the people who work in all of those tourist industries actually live. Not the tourist class or the wealthy class.
I live out of a car and have no idea what it would be like to try it on foot. Hope you have a car. Makes things way easier.
Many other places in Florida, I haven't been bothered. Some bad places like Sarasota though have made the news about how they treat the homeless, with the ACLU stepping in. Just saying, don't assume everywhere in Florida is great. But for the most part, I haven't been bothered. I think it's mainly an exercise in going as far south as you wish to get warm enough. Standard drill is to skate Walmart parking lots and then figure other things out wherever you're at.
I saw my first ever "24 hour parking meeter" in Ft. Lauderdale. Wasn't just on the beach, it was anywhere you'd be remotely interested in parking, where nightlife is etc. I was so umbraged that I found somewhere free, walked the dog around, then left a few hours later. Although there were ways around the problem, why struggle with a place with a mentality like that? Similarly, I drove through Miami and didn't even get out of the car. No interest for me, your tastes may differ.
The Everglades are cool to visit. I recommend them if you're into that sort of thing. I stayed at a Walmart in Florida City 3 nights. It's the last city before you have to decide whether you're going to the Keys, the Everglades, or to the west coast of Florida.
Hope you had fun talking to the reactionaries. :-)
I did Key West a few years ago in my car. 1st night I just happened to park in a slightly less affluent neighborhood and was left alone. 2nd day late afternoon, I chilled in my car for 2 hours doing laptop stuff. As dusk came, the cops showed up. They weren't horrible dicks, but they said, "They're gonna keep calling." So I had to leave. This is not an easy environment to car camp in at all.
It's also not my style: the whole place is set up for tourist retirees with money. Almost every square inch of property is owned by someone, there's not really any sense of public space. That's a function of the limited amount of land available on the Keys. The "dog beach" that I had read about, was a mere 30 foot strip of sand between 2 hotels. The only other dog beach I found in all of South Florida was midway through the keys. Pretty lame. People believe in private ownership in this part of the world and shutting the public out. What public beach is left, isn't dog friendly.
I had no desire to make any further go of it, so I'm proud to say I left without contributing one thin dime to the Key West economy. I lost $50 of gas to see the southern tip of the mainland USA, and I can say I've been there, done that. The only really good thing they had down there was this guy banging on plastic buckets. Man, he was way better than any of those music joints down there!
Subsequently, some Florida friends of mine have said there's a "service" side of the island where conditions might be easier. In the main tourist areas and wealth concentrations you're exceedingly likely to catch grief. The "service" side is where the people who work in all of those tourist industries actually live. Not the tourist class or the wealthy class.
I live out of a car and have no idea what it would be like to try it on foot. Hope you have a car. Makes things way easier.
Many other places in Florida, I haven't been bothered. Some bad places like Sarasota though have made the news about how they treat the homeless, with the ACLU stepping in. Just saying, don't assume everywhere in Florida is great. But for the most part, I haven't been bothered. I think it's mainly an exercise in going as far south as you wish to get warm enough. Standard drill is to skate Walmart parking lots and then figure other things out wherever you're at.
I saw my first ever "24 hour parking meeter" in Ft. Lauderdale. Wasn't just on the beach, it was anywhere you'd be remotely interested in parking, where nightlife is etc. I was so umbraged that I found somewhere free, walked the dog around, then left a few hours later. Although there were ways around the problem, why struggle with a place with a mentality like that? Similarly, I drove through Miami and didn't even get out of the car. No interest for me, your tastes may differ.
The Everglades are cool to visit. I recommend them if you're into that sort of thing. I stayed at a Walmart in Florida City 3 nights. It's the last city before you have to decide whether you're going to the Keys, the Everglades, or to the west coast of Florida.
Hi.. You seem like a cool guy.. Congrats for providing some fairly "useful" info, without attitude, sarcasm, or just saying "keep out homeless bum"! No I dont drive, never can or will be able to get a license, but I longboard, and will probably get a bicycle while stopping through jacksonville.. As far as sleeping, Ive ALWAYS slept very "low key".. When I was on daytona a dug light graves and slept in them for many hours, and I try to stay off the radar mostly... Cops look for tents, and generally anything out of place that sticks up! Out of sight, out of mind I say.. We'll see I suppose.. I was waiting for suggestions as far as OTHER places on the florida coast I might like that are warm and more friendly to poor people, but so far nothing...
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