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Actually, SOS is one of the ones that has complaints all over craiglist saying they are trafficking people and drugs, and exploiting the homeless. The complaints are being posted by numerous different people with different reply information, mostly homeless and also former employees who are relating personal experiences with them. To my knowledge there has not been a criminal investigation yet, but it sounds like there should be, because people are claiming it is a non-profit front for a for-profit criminal ring. But you know how it goes in the Keys, the Bubba system tends to keep such situations running rather than straighten out corruption, if it helps a few local Conchs line their pockets...
Sounds like you should call '60 Minutes' and see if they'll do a story on this organization if it's as bad as you claim.
By the way, how are all these homeless people getting access to the internet and computers to post their stories? If it's so unwelcoming, I would think the public libraries might be a little more stringent on resources uses?
Show me some of these 'stories' you're telling us about? Drug mules? Rape? Rough police and a society that doesn't care?
I have already posted all of these stories in another thread. I believe you were also on that thread, advocating that homeless life is great again. I have no reason to waste my time posting the same 100 news stories on every single thread you write on about how great being homeless is. If you like being homeless, wonderful for you. I did not like it, never wanted it, and hope not to be in that situation again. I care enough about others to let them know how it really is, not some fantasy that was never true about some utopia where everybody helps the homeless and life without a roof or legal protection is great. When they come down here looking for this amazing life you describe, they are going to get really hurt, and I want them to be safe.
By the way, how are all these homeless people getting access to the internet and computers to post their stories?
You're kidding right? Clearly you haven't met a homeless person since 1994... All it would take for you to correct your mistaken perception is simply to read online in places where homeless people post, which would take you all of 2 minutes of time invested. Your lack of awareness of what real homeless life is like in today's world is a choice. There is an entire network of homeless information-sharing that takes place online, to help warn other homeless of dangerous situations and hook-ups. If you don't even know how they got access to a computer, you're too far behind the times for me to spend the effort to catch up. Do some reading if you actually want to know. But I doubt you will.
I have already posted all of these stories in another thread. I believe you were also on that thread, advocating that homeless life is great again. I have no reason to waste my time posting the same 100 news stories on every single thread you write on about how great being homeless is. If you like being homeless, wonderful for you. I did not like it, never wanted it, and hope not to be in that situation again. I care enough about others to let them know how it really is, not some fantasy that was never true about some utopia where everybody helps the homeless and life without a roof or legal protection is great. When they come down here looking for this amazing life you describe, they are going to get really hurt, and I want them to be safe.
I've never said being homeless is great nor have I advocated that a homeless existence is something people should do.
BUT....what I did say was that if someone is going to be homeless by choice or just plans on dropping out of society (neither of which I think is a good idea, but most people in those situations aren't known for making the best ideas in the first place, so what I say to them isn't going to matter), why not do so where you take one of the difficult elements of that situation (weather) out of the equation?
I mean, if you (not you, but anyone) decides they don't want to work, earn money or pay bills and are willing to live day to day in survival mode, why not do that where you can at least look at palm trees, smell the ocean and spend your days laying in the shade on a beach? Especially when your other option is sitting on a hard sidewalk, freezing your a$s off, listening to traffic and looking at tall buildings?
I've never said being homeless is great nor have I advocated that a homeless existence is something people should do.
BUT....what I did say was that if someone is going to be homeless by choice or just plans on dropping out of society (neither of which I think is a good idea, but most people in those situations aren't known for making the best ideas in the first place, so what I say to them isn't going to matter), why not do so where you take one of the difficult elements of that situation (weather) out of the equation?
I mean, if you (not you, but anyone) decides they don't want to work, earn money or pay bills and are willing to live day to day in survival mode, why not do that where you can at least look at palm trees, smell the ocean and spend your days laying in the shade on a beach? Especially when your other option is sitting on a hard sidewalk, freezing your a$s off, listening to traffic and looking at tall buildings?
Well, that's a reasonable way to look at it. But since I have actually been homeless, several times, due to circumstances beyond my control because I grew up with a rough childhood that left me with no support and serious medical problems, I am speaking from experience out there. And that's why I have detailed on several different threads in C-D just WHY your assumption - which is a common one - is incorrect.
Additionally, the Keys are exceptionally against homeless, more so than many other places that have less of a tourism economy - laws are stringent such that nearly everything a typical homeless person would have to do to survive would land them in jail, and would expose them to violence by MCPD. And, in the Keys, as I have linked to on other threads, there are numerous instances in the past 3 years of MCPD being violent with, and even killing, persons they thought to be homeless (even though in the case of Charles Eimers they were mistaken, and he was not). The Keys are crowded and there is no place to hide. Police are LOOKING for parked vans, tents, and other signs that people are living on the streets without paying for a traditional residence. The police, and the local government, tend to be aggressive with such people.
Moreover, the Keys have far fewer resources than Northeastern cities. I was homeless up there, and also homeless in a hot area where there were no significant resources, and I know what a difference this makes. Key West has a few, but the homeless who use some of them are pretty adamant that some are simply fronts for tax purposes, and actually are not safe places for homeless to go to. And considering how crime operates in Key West/Stock Island, that is not really surprising. There are a lot of opportunists here. The ones that are legitimate, are WAY overbooked all the time. It's not like you can just come down and get a free bed.
On top of all that, the Florida Keys have an acute affordable housing crisis right now, and all kinds of working people who make middle-class money are being thrown out of their homes as rental prices increase, and owners sell while the market is on the rise for a profit. That means there are tons of people who actually paid into the system here and have friends here, who are homeless, and they are the Keys' #1 priority for space and assistance. Anyone coming here from outside, into a small-town environment, to sleep on the street or in some mythical backyard that does not exist because it is illegal to camp in someone's yard here (or in most cases to do so in a boat or trailer on private property - and locals DO report offenders), can be met with a lot of hatred because you are seen as taking resources right out of the mouths of their friends and their friends' kids, just because you think it's "fun" to be here. The Keys are very tight-knit and will always try to protect their own - even the screw-ups - over any outsider. It is not fun living somewhere where you are acutely not wanted.
There are people who really do read these comments, and are affected by them. I know because people PM me all the time and tell me so, both people intending to buy houses, and people intending to be homeless. So it's important to give them accurate information.
Yes, you are certainly right that it sounds way better to be homeless in the Keys than in the frigid North. However, a person who makes such a choice, is choosing far more likelihood of targeted violence, constant hassling, far fewer services than one would find in most Northern cities, and also constant exposure to heat and dehydration, mosquitoes, and various poisonous critters and plants. I have known people down here who were homeless here, because of my work, and I can tell you they came out way worse for the wear and all said they really regretted coming down, that they were better off homeless where they came from. Plus, again, the posts all over craigslist from such people who are begging for rides out of here, are easy for anyone to read - it's not just me saying it, but so many homeless people here themselves saying it. A rational person would believe such evidence when it is before them, in such abundance. Not all people who choose to be homeless are rational, of course, but some are.
I don't know that there is an ideal place to be homeless, of course. I would think anywhere in the US would not be it, because of attitudes about it, and laws against it. But, if it were me (and in the past it has been), I would choose if I actually had the means that some of these people do to travel (I was never in such situation, because I was not homeless by choice), to be in a temperate climate a bit inland from the sea. That way you have decent protection from hurricanes, you have moderate temps for most of the year, and if you are near a major city, you have resources when you need them. Too far North, and too far South, are not good. Too far into the middle and you deal with too many tornadoes. Any major tourist destination that is not also a metropolis, is not good because you will stick out like a sore thumb and they will want to get rid of you because you are, in their minds, affecting tourism (even if you look reasonably clean-cut). You need a place that has wide open spaces of land that no one will notice you on, or a major city that is so full of people you won't be noticed - both of which are the opposite of the Keys. And places up in middle states have better access to fresh water than the Keys, if you are forced into the woods. The Keys have virtually no fresh water at all.
So although plenty of people on C-D seem to like to argue this point, I am simply presenting it as it is, from someone who has been there. The choice to be homeless to "escape" the stress of modern life is a fallacy - being homeless, even by choice, is an incredibly stressful life, particularly in the US where you become a target for hatred and violence everywhere you go. But whether you have a choice or not in the matter, I know for certain that the Keys, and Florida in general, are much worse to be homeless in than multiple other locations throughout the US with more temperate climates, less targeted violence, and more resources per homeless individual in the area. Plenty of people who have tried it will tell you, if you just take the time to look online where homeless typically post to read their stories, and at the numerous news stories of violence against and accidental death of homeless in the state of Florida. It is really rough here, and I already know if I become homeless again someday, I would leave FL as soon as possible if I had the chance for a place with better resources and safety.
Comparing services offered in a city with 500,000 plus people to county with no more than 85,000 residents is like comparing apples and oranges. the keys have plenty of help for the low income and homeless. they have a taxpayer funded homeless shelter called KOTS. what other county of less than 85,000 people have a taxpayer funded homeless shelter? I know cape may county NJ does not have one and offers way less services to the homeless. i would bet hands down that if you scaled the help for homeless and low income people based on population density alone the keys would offer way more help to the homeless than most northern cities.
I have many times been to the mangrove camp of big pine pine key saw at least 50 homeless people living in harmony for the most part helping one another out to survive. they are some of the happiest go lucky stress free people you will ever meet and wiling to give you the shirt off their back. some actually work and make $300 a week and still choose to be homeless. I think they actually enjoy the camaraderie of mangrove encampments. I know people that have been homeless here for ten plus years and still loving life in the keys. a personal friend gene from south jersey been here homeless since 1999 and life goes on with a smile every day for him.
if your going to be homeless in florida at least in the keys you have the lowest unemployment rate in the state better chance at getting a job in the keys then anywhere else in florida
if your going to be homeless in florida at least in the keys you have the lowest unemployment rate in the state better chance at getting a job in the keys then anywhere else in florida
Yeah but, as starfishkey has said, if you don't have a job there you either get out or get kicked out, hence, low unemployment numbers.
Yeah but, as starfishkey has said, if you don't have a job there you either get out or get kicked out, hence, low unemployment numbers.
jut wondering but have you actually been to key west and saw the vast amounts of homeless people. they have a place called KOTS for the homeless to sleep and shower at the taxpayers expense. they have job assistance for the homeless and many find jobs and shared housing with help from social services. you must have never been to a mangrove encampment or even saw the beaches in key west with homeless people all over the place. the police don't kick them out. they wait for the homeless person to break the law and put them in jail. this will cause some to leave and others enjoy the 3 hots and a cot style living. I suspect the low unemployment is due to the tourist based economy and a thing called "keys disease" that afflicts many newcomers to the keys.
There are literally at least 50 people living in a homeless encampment on big pine key at least half of them don't have jobs. they aren't going anywhere except occasionally to my house to use the outside shower. I am sure they are many homeless encampments all over the keys. the last bridge leading into key west back in the day (circa 2001) was literally know to the locals as bum bridge. i believe its proper name was cow key channel bridge. lots of homeless people lived underneath that bridge. they even flew a flag from the bridge too. It was great place to avoid the sun and the locals uptight about the homeless. the only reason the cops made them leave was too much fighting broke out between the homeless people trying to get the best spots under the bridge.
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