Homeless Woman Dies in Portland (Adrian: section 8, rent, health insurance)

[RiftReaper]

I saw a women who had to be in her early twenties holding a sign at the corner of the street. makes you wonder where her family is.

[semiok45]

Supernova, I have read several of your posts. You seems so intelligent and non-confrontational, and I your heart seems truly kind... I bet many of us could learn a lot from you. I have a bit of a crush to tell you the truth. I'm serious.

But... do you really believe the things you are saying? Does your city have homeless? How many of them have you brought home? You think the drug addiction and mental illness comes AFTER being homeless? Have you ever considered that some people find it easier not to work and to rely on others indefinitely? And complaining about shelters because the food isn't good, the mats or cots are uncomfortable, or there are too many people? Give me a break.

[semiok45]

I speak to homeless people every day, often times about being homeless.

A great deal of them have mental illnesses, which is a serious problem our country does not effectively address. Many of these people self medicate.

Many (MANY) are addicts. They don't like the shelters because you can't drink or do drugs. What do you do with addicts? You could give them a hundred thousand dollars and in a year they'd be back on the streets broke. You can literally love them to death but they won't get better until they choose to. I wish I knew how to help addicts once they are addicts.

And many (This may surprise you Supernova) just find it easier not to work and instead abuse the system. I don't know if they need inspiration or what, but what they don't need is any more of our money.

Don't give money to the homeless. If you want to help, give the money to the shelters or better yet volunteer your time and get your friends to do the same. Maybe a person who works fifty hours a week and has a nice home helps his community in other ways. He shouldn't be made to feel like Mr. Burns from the Simpsons just because he passes by a person who doesn't do any work at all.

[PDXBound]

The nationwide problem with homelessness is NOT a citizen problem, it is a GOVERNMENT problem. Over 75% of our homeless are mentally ill (a stat from my local mental health office). Our Government has failed these people, and their FAMILY'S last resort is to let them sleep on the streets.

I know this problem first had.

Here's our story...

My brother has mental illness. At the age of 20 he attempted suicide, and failed (thank god). He has been diagnosed with Bi Polar disorder and possibly a form of schizophrenia. He was put on medication, which my brother will not take because he says it "alters his mind." Because he refuses to take meds for his mental illness he self medicates with drugs. He has been taking Heroine for some time now, and as of late he is smoking Meth as well. We have tried and tried to get him to go to rehab. BUT.. in our country no citizen can legally be held against their free will for more than 3 days. If he choses to leave rehab, we cannot force him to go, unless he is deemed a threat to his or our lives. So, unless you are Lindsay Lohan and can afford to pop into a $30,000 rehab facility, there is little to no help for my brother. He is on disability and his psychiatrist has stated he is not stable enough to function normally in society. He cannot hold a job, and what money he does get goes to self medicating. My poor mother has let him live with her for 12 years since his diagnosis, and it has been VERY hard on her. She has had death threats from drug dealers, druggies coming in and out of her home, and people stealing from her. She finally couldn't handle the stress of housing my brother and now he is left to fend for himself. Inevitably, he will end up homeless, simply because he does not want to help himself. There are no Government run programs that we can turn to.... believe me, i've tried. So don't blame the citizens OR the homeless, blame the GOVERNMENT! This is a nationwide epidemic, and all the government wants to do with these people is throw them in jail!

So the next time you see a homeless person on the street, give them a smile, and maybe a bite to eat, but money will only feed addictions. The majority of these people cannot hold a job, or be financially accountable. BUT... they are NO less of a human than you or I.

Thank you.

[Supernova7]

Originally Posted by PDXBound

The nationwide problem with homelessness is NOT a citizen problem, it is a GOVERNMENT problem. Over 75% of our homeless are mentally ill (a stat from my local mental health office). Our Government has failed these people, and their FAMILY'S last resort is to let them sleep on the streets.

I know this problem first had.

Here's our story...

My brother has mental illness. At the age of 20 he attempted suicide, and failed (thank god). He has been diagnosed with Bi Polar disorder and possibly a form of schizophrenia. He was put on medication, which my brother will not take because he says it "alters his mind." Because he refuses to take meds for his mental illness he self medicates with drugs. He has been taking Heroine for some time now, and as of late he is smoking Meth as well. We have tried and tried to get him to go to rehab. BUT.. in our country no citizen can legally be held against their free will for more than 3 days. If he choses to leave rehab, we cannot force him to go, unless he is deemed a threat to his or our lives. So, unless you are Lindsay Lohan and can afford to pop into a $30,000 rehab facility, there is little to no help for my brother. He is on disability and his psychiatrist has stated he is not stable enough to function normally in society. He cannot hold a job, and what money he does get goes to self medicating. My poor mother has let him live with her for 12 years since his diagnosis, and it has been VERY hard on her. She has had death threats from drug dealers, druggies coming in and out of her home, and people stealing from her. She finally couldn't handle the stress of housing my brother and now he is left to fend for himself. Inevitably, he will end up homeless, simply because he does not want to help himself. There are no Government run programs that we can turn to.... believe me, i've tried. So don't blame the citizens OR the homeless, blame the GOVERNMENT! This is a nationwide epidemic, and all the government wants to do with these people is throw them in jail!

So the next time you see a homeless person on the street, give them a smile, and maybe a bite to eat, but money will only feed addictions. The majority of these people cannot hold a job, or be financially accountable. BUT... they are NO less of a human than you or I.

Thank you.

I thoroughly read your post and have a few things I would like to say to you. First, you and your mother strike me as loving and caring people. Mental illness and homelessness do coincide with one another, however, most people don't realize the severity of mental illness nor do they understand the mindset of many homeless people. Your brother reminds me of a friend of my family who turned to heroin and cocaine after being diagnozed with chronic depression. People become homeless for a variety of reasons, some are drug addicts and some are not, some are people who have been extremely successful and as a result of a traumatic event lost everything. I believe that "homelessness perpetuates a heightened state of mental illness and imbalance" because when you become homeless you tend to alienate yourself from the world that has brought you so much pain. You find refuge in a solitary existance where you no longer have to take risks with people and put yourself in a position to be hurt. This is the entry point where drugs come in to play, they give you stimulation from the world around you.

I'm convinced, without any question whatsoever, that our culture (western culture) is remotely unqualified to treat the mentally ill. I hear many people talk about "lack of funding" and while I believe that is an issue, I feel the greater issue is our societie's attitudes towards those that are less fortunate. Many people who live on the streets "become" mentally ill as a result of such a cold and lonely existance. The fact that people see you as a "filthy animal" is enough to make you want to bury your head in the hole. So the fact that people turn to drugs for comfort is to be expected (it's normal.) We as a society CAN prevent poverty. Let me say this again beause I feel that it's EXTREMELY IMPORTANT for all of us to understand. WE CAN (together) take a stand and force our government to allocate the much needed funds towards affordable housing, education, job placement, good living wages and most importantly rid America of this narcistic attitude that "it's not my problem" and "lock em' up" so that we don't have to see the population that we have created. We are all acountable for the well-being of one another. We need to teach with love and kindness and practice tolerance in all of our affairs. Sometimes it takes a long time to reach people but I can assure everyone here that everyone is reachable. Homeless people are broken people. If you've ever felt broken you know what I'm talking about. There are many people in America who are dealing with immense pain and see no way out.

I believe that LOVE is the most powerful drug, remedy, cure for any sickness out there. There is nothing wrong with giving money to people on the streets but you have to be assertive in whom you give too. There are many homeless who just need a beer and a meal to help them get through the day. It's understandable. If you feel uncomfortable giving money then that's ok too. Maybe you can buy them a meal or take a moment out of your day to get to know these people. You'll find that they are much like your brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, lonely broken people with dreams much like you.
Many of these people grew up in poverty, parents on welfare or in prison, been raped, tortured, beaten and told that they're worthless. The new face of homelessness are women and children and it's sad. We need to come together as a community and find lasting solutions to the problem. No more prisons, psyche wards and streets. We need to give people a sense of worth again and this is possible

I'm sure your brother loves both you and your mother very much and he'll be back. Eventually he'll find the courage to face his fears but this will come in time. Keep your spirts up and don't give up

[Supernova7]

Originally Posted by semiok45

I speak to homeless people every day, often times about being homeless.

A great deal of them have mental illnesses, which is a serious problem our country does not effectively address. Many of these people self medicate.

Many (MANY) are addicts. They don't like the shelters because you can't drink or do drugs. What do you do with addicts? You could give them a hundred thousand dollars and in a year they'd be back on the streets broke. You can literally love them to death but they won't get better until they choose to. I wish I knew how to help addicts once they are addicts.

And many (This may surprise you Supernova) just find it easier not to work and instead abuse the system. I don't know if they need inspiration or what, but what they don't need is any more of our money.

Don't give money to the homeless. If you want to help, give the money to the shelters or better yet volunteer your time and get your friends to do the same. Maybe a person who works fifty hours a week and has a nice home helps his community in other ways. He shouldn't be made to feel like Mr. Burns from the Simpsons just because he passes by a person who doesn't do any work at all.

Some have mental illness and some don't. Some are addicts and others are sober. I agree, there's certainly a major funding crisis but at the same time I don't feel that we know how to properly address such a complex issue. In America our solution is to medicate people with psychotropic "drugs" which are just as harmful as any other kind of drug. I also feel that "some" abuse the system while others are merely lost and hurting. The root cause of most of our social ills is "poverty" and we seriously need to address this issue as opposed to spending billions on wars abroad......The issue with shelters is not because they can't do drugs in them, this is obvious. They just go outside to get high so that wouldn't stop them. The issue with shelters is that they are very poorly run, underfunded and serve as "warehouses" as opposed to a loving/supportive environment.

[nancy thereader]

Years ago, I worked as a Rehabilitation Counselor . Then, most of the mentally ill were in hospitals. Believe it or not, many were actually happier there & would often ask me in worried tones if it is true that the hospitals would be shutting down. It was.
Now, these same people who had warm beds , meals and participated in group activities everyday are sleeping alone on the streets. Often I see some of them (28 years older, but I do know who they are) sleeping in the local train stations. It was very noble to close the "insane asylums" as per Ken Kesey or something, but the reality is that some people are & always will be the responsiblity of society. They truly are unable to fend for themselves.

[Supernova7]

Originally Posted by nancy thereader

Years ago, I worked as a Rehabilitation Counselor . Then, most of the mentally ill were in hospitals. Believe it or not, many were actually happier there & would often ask me in worried tones if it is true that the hospitals would be shutting down. It was.
Now, these same people who had warm beds , meals and participated in daily activites are sleeping alone on the streets. Often I see some of them (28 years older, but I do know who they are) sleeping in the local train stations. It was very noble to close the "insane asylums" as per Ken Kesey or something, but the reality is that some people are & always will be the responsiblity of society. They truly are unable to fend for themselves.

I agree completely. The reason that many were scared of the hospitals closing was because that was "their home" and all they knew. These people are not stupid, they realize that a cold and heartless world awaits them and they would rather hide behind walls of institutions that would accept them.

[nancy thereader]

They loved the hospital setting, supernova. Some of them had been there since the Roosevelt administration (I know that because I registered them to vote + they had to write down when they had last voted ) . They knew everyone who worked there, knew their way around and they felt safe . How did the government expect that they would be able to care for themselves without any support. Many just died of broken hearts, probably.

[Supernova7]

Originally Posted by nancy thereader

They loved the hospital setting, supernova. Some of them had been there since the Roosevelt administration (I know that because I registered them to vote + they had to write down when they had last voted ) . They knew everyone who worked there, knew their way around and they felt safe . How did the government expect that they would be able to care for themselves without any support. Many just died of broken hearts, probably.

I think people need to read the book or see the movie about Francis Farmer!