[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by Zaba

Sheriff Mike Chitwood of Daytona put out these T Shirts.



Seriously OP.

Go be a bum elsewhere. Towns known for having robust 'homeless services (San Fran, Portland, etc) are your best bet. Florida has a long standing history of aggressive homeless eradication due to the seasonal issues and it being warm here during winter months and getting overrun with vagrants. This is not the place for you. I hear Austin, TX is welcoming of homeless. Florida is not.

LOL - alrighty then! If even Daytona doesn't want 'em, guess it's best to pick another state!

[HarryWho?]

I think Key West would be tough. But in the spirit of "stirring the pot" there seems to be a rather good place in St. Augustine,St. Francis House, And at least a dozen in Sarasota...

[beachmouse]

Originally Posted by Rabflmom

How does a homeless person even have a cell phone with internet access without having a permanent address? Without an income to show that he can afford to make the monthly statement, how do you sign up for service?

If you can scrape together $20 for the phone and $35/month for cell service, Virgin Mobile prepaid no contract plan. Walmart also has its own cheap smartphone and prepaid no contract plan that runs about the same.

[macrodome2]

Originally Posted by HarryWho?

I think Key West would be tough. But in the spirit of "stirring the pot" there seems to be a rather good place in St. Augustine,St. Francis House, And at least a dozen in Sarasota...

Sarasota has been cracking down in the last couple of years. There may be services, but the OP didn't want services, he wanted to stay homeless.

Originally Posted by Rabflmom

In some cities it is illegal to feed the homeless in the parks.

I know you didn't mean it to be funny, but you made me chuckle.

Although StarFishKey upset the OP, I think she's got the best answer to going down to Key West and if the OP choses to ignore it (at his peril), he'll have to find out for himself.

[bvanevery]

Originally Posted by StarfishKey

You actually don't have a right. Vagrancy,

There is no such constitutional legal construct in the USA anymore, just a cultural notion. The original legal meaning of "vagrancy" came from British common law. It was a means of keeping workers in factory cities so that they couldn't seek better paying work in other cities. Suggest you read up on the history.

trespassing,

Personally I've never had any need to park on private property at all. Excepting of course Walmart, who condones it.

public drunkenness,

I only drink socially, in bars. I do not have enough money to be buying a lot of alcohol, nor would I want to for health reasons. I've never been publicly drunk in my life. I do agree that substance abuse among the homeless is a sad thing to watch. I knew a balloon tying clown in Savannah. He plied a legitimate trade in my view, getting adults to cough up the money for the entertainment he was typically providing their children. He could make a lot of money that way. Then he'd drink it. Very sad.

public urination,

I've never been caught. I am a ninja. I'm hardly "public" about it, I'm very discreet. Since nobody leaves bathrooms open all night, and the number of 24 hour grocery stores in metro areas is limited, peeing on things is inevitable. I prefer to do it on trees, where I'm providing the beneficial effect of adding nitrogen to the soil via the urea I'm dispensing. Did you know that urea is one of the main ways farmers chemically fertilize their crops nowadays? Used to be ammonium nitrate was the preferred way to distribute nitrogen, but then Timothy McVeigh had to go and blow up that Federal building with it, and then we had 9/11. So the industry has moved on to stuff that Homeland Security takes less notice of. Anyways, consider nitrogen politics the next time you bite into some tasty produce at the grocery store.

public nudity or lewd acts,

Why would anybody need to do that? Unless they're mentally ill.

in some places even loitering,

I bet you can't even define it.

living in a vehicle in a yard,

Living in a vehicle in a yard doesn't sound like such a bad idea, but since "vehicle" in Florida typically means "RV", I'm not shocked they made a law.

camping in a yard...

My inner Cub Scout bleeds sweet tears for your reactionary mentality. Children everywhere shall be crushed, in the names of safety and conformity.

all are illegal here. And local cops will find any excuse they possibly can to ticket you and haul you away. Then they throw you right back out on the street again and harass you and pick you up again. (etc.)

Methinks you doth protest too much, like you have fantasies of all these things happening as some kind of just vengeance. Oh well have fun with your reactionary life.

there is nowhere to hide,

Like I said, nobody noticed me my 1st day. Bet I could have stayed longer if I had been more discreet the 2nd day, but why bother?

The title of this thread really irritates me, as does the OP's screen name, and the attitude of the OP,

Gosh. People in the world who irritate you. Call me shocked.

You sorta irritate me, which is why I've responded. But I won't be losing any sleep over it. I just feel a need to confront nonsense when I hear it.

Before my financial circumstances changed, I lived in downtown Seattle for 11 years. I had homeless junkies panhandling 2 blocks away from my front door every day. The consequences? I can say, it's irritating. I have a thick skin and made it a policy to never give money. Sometimes I gave food. But really, so what? The irritation at least gives me a social conscience, a sense of reality. What is, what isn't. I'm not some reactionary in Key West living in fear of something popping out from around a corner.

[bvanevery]

Originally Posted by beachmouse

If you can scrape together $20 for the phone and $35/month for cell service, Virgin Mobile prepaid no contract plan. Walmart also has its own cheap smartphone and prepaid no contract plan that runs about the same.

Dudes... you get a Lifeline phone, for free. Granted, getting a mailing address together so you can receive it can be a challenge. I've only gone halfway up the learning curve. Couldn't get it sorted before I left Asheville. Seems if I had gotten the homeless day center's help in writing the letter, I could have gotten it done in the 1+ month I spent on the problem. But I did it myself, not knowing, so Assurance Wireless kept asking about the hundreds of other people registered at the same mailing address.

Lifeline phones are need based and not limited to homeless people. Generally, receipt of some kind of social service is proof of eligibility. In my case I submitted my food stamp documentation.

[convextech]

Originally Posted by StarfishKey

I am local. You are NOT welcome. There are thousands of homeless just like you who move to the Keys, especially Key West, all the time. Expect constant harassment and imprisonment by the cops. Expect constant danger from other homeless, many of whom have severe substance abuse problems and/or mental illness. Expect problems from malnutrition, and severe exposure - skin cancer, dehydration, etc. are very common. Consider what it is like every hurricane season, which lasts for 6 months, during which torrential rains flood the streets sometimes up to several feet, and when a tropical storm or hurricane comes through you have a good 130-mile walk ahead of you to reach ground that is at least above-flood, and even then you are in very serious danger of drowning or being hit and killed by flying debris. Did you look at images of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, or Hurricane Sandy in NYC, or Hurricane Andrew in Homestead, and think "I want to be homeless in that"?

How many people do you think these islands can hold? The homeless shelter is always completely booked with a waiting list a mile long. Since you have internet access, why don't you check out the tons of posts by people on Craiglist every week begging for a place to stay, help with medical or rent expenses - people are SUFFERING! Even people who have a job and rent a place, are struggling to survive. It is a very expensive place that is packed to capacity with people who can't afford it already, with homeless wandering the streets all the time. People are hostile to homeless, and you will be in some danger, because more and more aimless people show up all the time to mooch off the local community. If you have a laptop, you are guaranteed it along with any other valuable possessions will get stolen. I don't know where you're from, but these are some desperate homeless here, if anyone sees you have anything you'd better not fall asleep or you'll wake up with your teeth kicked in and all of your stuff missing. Plus, there are absolutely not resources left to help you, and cops and locals have very little sympathy for you.

There are also a lot of critters here that are a danger to your health. There are scorpions that crawl the ground at night, snakes, and mosquitoes that do carry outbreaks of some serious diseases. There are cockroaches and rats and feral cats and dogs that will harass you in your sleep if you have any bits of food in your pockets. There are also a lot of poisonous plants that if you brush against them will cause you serious harm.

You should also know that the Keys are coral rock islands - there are almost no natural beaches here. The highways are patrolled all the time for people on the sides, and police are constantly on the look-out for homeless all the way from Key West up to all Miami beaches. It is an extremely hostile environment, and preventing more people moving down like you is a high priority to them. Thus moving to SFL anywhere along the coast is a far more stressful and hostile environment than in less popular places.

You also need to know that Monroe County has just ranked the second-highest county in FL for concealed weapons permits, and that is saying a lot! If you are found on someone's property - and every little square bit of land here is owned by somebody, even out a bit into the water - they will not hesistate to shoot first and ask questions later. And the sentiment of the public is such that when they find you have been squatting on somebody's land, using a hotel pool, or whatever, people will not feel any sympathy. Really, homelessness here is public enemy #1. People especially resent those who choose to be homeless and move from other locations to take up space and valuable resources when so many local families are struggling to survive and often end up needing those resources themselves - and they actually paid taxes their whole lives and contributed to the community to deserve that access. There is nothing considered more despicable than moving down here to TAKE TAKE TAKE, and not to be contributing member of society, when the community down here is so tight-knit and everyone knows each other. It's not just about the money - it's about the attitude that you think those palm trees or that beach are yours, and you don't need to get to know anyone, volunteer locally, or be a part of the community, when everyone else helps each other out and socializes and is part of a bigger effort to make things BETTER locally. People in the Keys are very giving, and they especially resent takers who move in to their community and do nothing to make it a better or safer or more prosperous place.

You clearly choose to be homeless, since you are together enough to be able to get your own laptop and internet access, and to move hundreds of miles from where you are at will. Given that you don't want any help to pay your own way through society, you should very seriously consider moving somewhere warm but not popular, where there is a lot of open space with no regular patrolling of cops looking to harass, beat, or imprison homeless. There is a wide stretch of area from NC down to Northern Florida, and westward to Missouri, where there is much more temperate weather, much better access to fresh water (SFL has a shortage and so being in the Keys particularly you'll have nowhere to go for water - there are not a lot of public parks or restrooms, it's nearly all fenced-in hotels and fenced-in private properties), and much more open space where no one will notice you. Why come down to a narrow strip of islands where there is absolutely nowhere to hide, where regular citizens and police alike are on constant look-out for people like you, and where hostility and even violence toward homeless is quite common? It would be a nightmare life full of stress and unhappiness - as it is for the thousands of other homeless stuck down here posting all over craigslist every week begging for a ride out on rideshare, week after week after week but finding absolutely no one who will help them because people here resent you with a passion.

So NO, you are NOT welcome, and NO, it is NOT an easy life down here! This is one of the most hostile places to be homeless in the country, particularly because everybody and their mother assumes it's a great place to be homeless without doing any research or any common sense thinking at all before dragging themselves down here to take away from the local communities. Rents for just a single room start at about $650/mo down here, and skyrocket upwards, and nearly everyone works 2-4 jobs just to make it - so what do you think these people will think of someone they suspect of trying to live the same life for free? Yeah, it makes them extremely angry. Which puts you in a lot of danger. I don't know what you're picturing, but the Keys are not just a bunch of uninhabited sandy islands ripe for the living for anyone who wants to come down. They are heavily populated, heavily taxed, heavily gated, and full of a lot of loose cannons who don't like someone hanging out on their residential or hotel property. The homeless here are much more unhappy than homeless I have met in Northeastern cities, where the resources are plentiful and there is more compassion for your situation. People down here do not take kindly to your choice to be homeless on their land at all.

DO NOT MOVE HERE!!!!!

I wish this could be a sticky in this forum as well as Hawai'i. Just because you like being homeless doesn't give you a free pass to go to the most beautiful places in the country and mooch off the locals. It's disgusting.

[bvanevery]

Originally Posted by beachbum44

Cant be as dangerous as downtown LA, sf, portland, ny, etc.. Ive been everywhere.. And no one bothers me..

Well, you probably have ingrained survival skills that most of us don't have. I'm "soft" by footbound homeless standards. If something doesn't feel right, I just leave. I like me a nice redneck Walmart in a small town somewhere, or a National Forest.

I don't park in risky areas, as I have an entire car full of stuff to lose, and getting killed is possible as well. Happened to some college kid who pulled over for a snooze on the Savannah Highway, in Charleston's West Ashley area. IIRC these 4 guys were just robbing him, but then for some reason decided to kill him. He survived long enough to tell the EMTs about what happened. They were subsequently caught and sentenced, the trigger puller getting the longest time. The one who most quickly informed on the others got the least time. You wouldn't look at that stretch of the Savannah Highway as being particularly dangerous. But it's near enough to the West Ashley neighborhoods, which are rough.

The lesson in my view is that the apparent safety of your immediate surroundings isn't enough. You have to consider the proximity to other stuff nearby. I consider much of Charleston to be unparkable. Some areas it's just too dangerous; I hear of car campers doing it, but *I'm* not doing it. Meanwhile the touristy bits are a parking fortress, there's almost nowhere you can legally park 24 hours, or even longer than 2 hours. That's because land is scarce and tourist dollars are at a premium. You need a residential permit to park longer and of course I don't have one.

My survival skills are really good compared to "regular people's" standards. Hey, the most trouble I've ever had is some half-wit woman banging on my car window at 1 AM in a Florida rest area! I chewed her out good for that. Among other things I told her, "Don't ever do that again. The wrong kind of person, would shoot you."

[beachbum44]

Guess i've gotta respond to a few of these "statements" from the homeless/poor hating posters.. I agree MANY things MOST of the homeless do CAN be "ticketed".. Public nudity, I would never do it.. public drinking, i'm a complete NON-DRINKER and non drug user! Clean clothes, check... In a way, I agree about the "filthy bums", many of them bring it upon themselves, by drinking, public drunkenness, not taking "precautions" while urinating or crapping, and generally LOOKING like lowlifes!! Of COURSE they are going to be harrassed by cops, almost anyplace they go!! However, I do NOT fit those profiles, and make it a point to keep up appearances, along with sleeping "stealthily", and under the radar!! By the way, I dont care how "talented" you may be.. ANYONE can end up and get stuck being helpless, when there are NO opportunities or help to be had for you.. Just because I can use a computer, does NOT mean ANYONE would hire me to do it, EVERYONE can do these things, at least in this country.. That does not make one hireable.. I have always been perfectly willing to work, but if no one will even consider it, then it doesn't really matter how hard you can work.. The opportunities aren't there for MANY poor people!! And Minimum wage in this society will not get you off the streets!!

[convextech]

Originally Posted by beachbum44

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!!!

I work with the homeless, and we don't give up, not ever, unless the homeless person has proven that they don't care about their plight, they do nothing to help themselves, and they have been deemed as a transient. I believe that is the category you are probably falling into. It's pretty obvious you like this way of life, or you would do something about it. But instead, you go to the homeless shelters and mooch off of them until they have to tell you they can't do anything else for you. Funny you remember your password for CD but said you can't remember where you've lived, but then suddenly you were able to post several cities when it suited you. By the way, if you got your ticket from an outreach, then it wasn't free. Somebody donated the money to buy that ticket.