Homeless people needing bus or train tickets (Fort Worth, Howe: apartment complex, foreclosure)

[Twincam666]

Problem is you do not know who really needs it and whos just lazy and trying to scam a person.
I was at the 7-11 on Harry Hines getting gas last week ( i had to stop or I would not have) and it was 2:00 in the afternoon. A guy come up to me praising Jesus and then told me he needed $10.00? I told him I did not have it to give. He started rambling about my nice car and fine clothes. I was attempting to get in the car and he grabbed the door.
I simply pushed the door open and got in...

Point is some will get aggressive or even violent and this trash needs to be off the streets......

[veronica31]

I'm in the same situation. Believed family came out here to Dallas. My sister got evicted she had somewhere else to go I went to the streets with my sons getting help from complete strangers. Now I am on a mission looking for some way to go back home where I'm from don't have a house out there cuz I moved over here. But I know my town better then I know Dallas. I'm looking for organizations that will help get me and my boys back home can anyone help me and tell me what organizations will help thank you.

[Texan1010]

I recall someone at a parking lot (during the day) asking me for money because their truck "ran out of gas", I gave the man $20 and stayed in my car for a while. Right after he took the money, I saw walk towards his truck... and he literally left in less than a minute, not only did his truck have gas but he didn't take any of the roads that led towards any gas stations...

The next week the same man asked me for money (again) and I asked him, "You ran out of gas again?" and he left running...

[the_little_truth_writer]

Once in a while I encounter a homeless person who asks for money. I do not necessarily think that every one of them is trying to con me, that they are all drug addicts or mentally ill or alcoholics, etc. I go with my gut feeling, and most of the time, I will give them a few dollars if I have it to spare that day. Whilst some of the people to whom I have given money may have been con artists, drug addicts, etc., I know not all of them were, and if I had to lose a few dollars to the first kind in order to help the other kind, I am okay with that outcome. Once, I saw a homeless man come into the laundromat where I was doing some washing one day. He came in more for shelter from the cold than anything else, and he looked starved. Once my laundry was finished, I drove down the street to a burger joint and bought him some food and drink and brought it back to him. You should have seen the gratefulness in his eyes. He thanked me and woofed down the food. I was glad I could help a needy fellow human being regardless of how he ended up in that position.

At the moment, I know a woman who is about to become homeless. She is divorced, is out of work with dated job skills because she stayed home to raise her daughter. She has not been able to make a house payment for over one year, but for some reason I cannot fathom, the mortgage company has not yet evicted her. She has no automobile, no income, and little hope. She is in her fifties, in poor physical health, and she is NOT a drug addict or even a social drinker much less an alcoholic. She has put in more job applications in the last year than Carter has pills. She finally just landed twenty hours a week at a local retailer for the holiday season only. She is earning slightly more than minimum wage, which as we all know, is a pittance. She is mostly on foot wherever she goes. If the mortgage company finally decides to evict her before she has found full time employment with a living wage, she will be homeless. She has no family other than her eighteen year old daughter, who will probably end up going to live with her alcoholic father, so the woman will have no choice but to go to a shelter. I would have her stay with me, but I live in a very tiny place. It would become difficult very quickly. However, I told her she is always welcome to come here for a hot bath, something to eat, and to use the computer.

The divorce and all that has gone with it has been really hard on her. She looks positively awful, and if you saw her on the street and realised she was homeless, you might conclude "oh, she must be either a drug addict or an alcoholic," but you would be so wrong. I have known her her entire life, and she has never touched drugs. She probably has had less than ten alcoholic beverages in her life, too. She has never been a smoker or a gambler, either. She is just a victim of a failed marriage, poor physical health, no family, and a poor job market, and that is all it takes for many, many people to become homeless.

Anyway, the moral for me is that a knee jerk reaction to why people are homeless and whether you should give them a couple of dollars because they are likely drug addicts or alcoholics or mentally ill who do not want true help is wrong. Many people are homeless who are neither drug addicts, alcoholics, or mentally ill. Sometimes people fall through the cracks because there simply is not enough help out there, and what is out there is mainly for the real drug addicts, alcoholics, and mentally ill, not for people like the lady I told you about.

I read a newspaper article a long, long time ago that talked about this problem. The author posed as a homeless man for a week before he wrote the article. He lived on the street, and it forever changed his mind about the homeless. It was one of the best articles I have ever read, and it resulted in the opening of the Day Resource Center in Fort Worth. If you can find the article on line, I highly recommend you read it. In the meanwhile, do not close your hearts to every one who is homeless and asks for some change or a couple of dollars. If you do, you will be turning your backs on fellow human beings who are in real need and who are very embarrassed of their circumstances. I am not a Christian, but it seems to me that Christ's message applies here if it applies anywhere.

[maclipgloss]

All those may b true but when your a mother and can't get help and you've never been on drugs or alcohol and you get put out and have no where to turn or anyone to turn to and want to go home then what

[orvil]

hello world is there any resources out there that can help a family get back home if so please let me know thank you and god bless you

[angelabrittain210]

some homeless is trying to get home to their families that they left for some reason I am not actually homeless I live with some ladies but I am trying to get back to Colorado I am in texas right now but still jobs are hard to find and every thing like that until u lose every thing then none of u should have a right to judge them walk in there shoes and see what they went through and what they go throught then try to say the same thing

[mschrief]

I donate at the office. It's called taxes. Heck, I even made a VOLUNTARY donation in April of $2500.

I do not give to anyone soliciting for money.

[Angie682]

Originally Posted by rhettwp

Has anyone come across homeless people asking for money to purchase a bus or train ticket.

They all have been using the same tactic which goes like, "How are you doing today sir? You know I am trying to buy a ticket to get home could you spare a dollar?"

Two homeless people asked me this tonight when walking from the Flying Saucer Beer Emporium. I drank iced tea so no I was not drunk.

Last week while pumping gas a homeless person gave me the same story. I never give money.

But it is odd that every homeless person that has asked me for money while living in Downtown FW has basically the same scripted story. I find that very odd. Thoughts?

IMO this is a total scam. When in Dallas pumping gas this has happened to me many times. They just want your cash for booze or drugs and are tugging on your heart strings to get it.

[johnnyjay1970]

not everyone says they are stranded and telling a false story. So for anyone to say that you have a computer or internet doesn't mean they can sell it. their is welfare smart phones now. I know, I made a bad choice by relocating and now I am at a stand still and close to homeless with no way of making money. I even went to day labor and it was a joke. people fighting, cheap people avoiding going in office so the person next in line could get work for the day. its rough out here anymore. people only care about themselves. I was born in 1970 and raised to have a heart. but our youth today is so spoiled and rotten think life is easy. And the ones born with a silver spoon in there mouth mow a days.