A journey through a land of extreme poverty: welcome to America (Los Angeles: middle-class, to rent)

[GSR13]

Originally Posted by ryanms3030

anyone who talks about the "extreme poverty" in the United States clearly hasn't traveled outside of the country. Even the bums on skid row have it much better then the majority of the people in the rest of the world

But those other countries have intact families and supportive communities to help the poverty burden. America does not.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by expatCA

Oh, I agree. Homelessness has been a problem for centuries but it is getting worse. A variety of reasons and no real solution in so many cases. The increase in expensive places, replacing cheaper ones, is simply part of life and there is really not much that can be done about it.

I know a woman that rents motel rooms to people by the week. This helps people as no first and last payment, security deposit, etc. They can pay each week with even a poor job as she charges a reasonable amount. It is beneficial to her as if they do not pay she can immediately have them out, unlike apts and rental homes.

In LA the number is so high there is no place to house them, even if you could get them to take advantage of it. Some who are simply homeless due to loss of a job or other similar situation would until they found work. But so many are medically incapable, drug or alcohol addicted or just like living the way they want and with no real rules. They will not change.

It isn't just a Gov't that does not know what to do, it is so many of the homeless that won't cooperate.

The income disparity is growing and will make things worse. A wise person will downsize and cut expenses and live where they can afford to for the foreseeable future and be able to save, not just where they want to live and ... can't.

As an example my sister in law owns a small trailer in a park in TN and lives on her very small SS check and makes $200.00 a week and does just fine. No beach and cold winters but she does just fine. I know several people, married couples and families do so on low income. No real pressure in their life because they focus on living on less, not spending more. My wife and I are in a position that our combines SS would be above average for the income where we live and could get by if everything else we have in the way of income and savings, etc collapsed/disappeared. We have been careful for years and now are doing fine and have minimal worries unless the Gov't damages SS or the economy just collapses.

Maybe CA can take the money for the HSR qnd use it to make housing, hire enough people to handle the homeless, including keeping them in a "home/shelter" if they break the law, hire doctors to help the, etc. The savings in the costs the Gov'ts in the State, Counties and cites have now would be a lot.

Moving to a cheaper area is a good idea but not always feasible. I've worked with the poor and many of them don't have money for bus fare to a grocery store let alone transportation to a cheaper state. Some of the poor families I worked with in Reno had moved there from California but now high prices are chasing them out of there too, I'm not sure where they will go next.

You're right there are hard core homeless who are drunks or use drugs or have mental issues, but the conundrum is that you can only arrest them for sleeping on the sidewalk if there is shelter space available and in most big cities there aren't enough shelters.

I don't have any answers, I wish that this tax plan had incentivized employers to hire more people and pay them better...there is nothing sadder than seeing a family living in a car, especially when one of the parents has a job, that's just not right.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by GSR13

But those other countries have intact families and supportive communities to help the poverty burden. America does not.

You nailed it, that's a huge part of the problem

[jm1982]

There is program in Venice Beach to reunite homeless with their families .

Of course it's not always going to work but you would think the city of L.A would try to do something similar .

Seems like it's worth a shot and a lot cheaper than building $500,000 per unit homeless housing.

As article mentions there is an effort to make this program city wide .

---


" The Venice Neighborhood Council Homeless Committee’s Reunification Program has caught city-wide attention.
The Program, that reunites those homeless with family members and helps get lives back on track, began at the end of 2016 with a special ‘Home for the Holidays’ campaign. A number of volunteers hit the Venice streets, reaching out to homeless neighbors offering help to those willing to return home to family or friends for the holiday season."

https://yovenice.com/2017/12/11/veni...ogram-catches/

[majoun]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

Moving to a cheaper area is a good idea but not always feasible. I've worked with the poor and many of them don't have money for bus fare to a grocery store let alone transportation to a cheaper state.

For the money they spend on substances they could get a bus ticket to another state.

You're right there are hard core homeless who are drunks or use drugs or have mental issues, but the conundrum is that you can only arrest them for sleeping on the sidewalk if there is shelter space available and in most big cities there aren't enough shelters.

Which is why we need to build the camps in the desert, so that way they can be arrested even in Los Angeles.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by majoun

For the money they spend on substances they could get a bus ticket to another state. Which is why we need to build the camps in the desert, so that way they can be arrested even in Los Angeles.

What a silly response, I clearly was not talking about drug addicts relocating to another state, so why throw that in? And what makes you think that people who live in the desert want homeless camps in their area?

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by jm1982

There is program in Venice Beach to reunite homeless with their families .
Of course it's not always going to work but you would think the city of L.A would try to do something similar .
seems like it's worth a shot and a lot cheaper than building $500,000 per unit homeless housing.
As article mentions there is an effort to make this program city wide .

" The Venice Neighborhood Council Homeless Committee’s Reunification Program has caught city-wide attention.
The Program, that reunites those homeless with family members and helps get lives back on track, began at the end of 2016 with a special ‘Home for the Holidays’ campaign. A number of volunteers hit the Venice streets, reaching out to homeless neighbors offering help to those willing to return home to family or friends for the holiday season."

https://yovenice.com/2017/12/11/veni...ogram-catches/

It's a good idea, we did that in the Police Agency I worked for, we had volunteer Police Chaplains walk around and talk to the homeless and try to reunite them with their families, unfortunately some had burned so many bridges that their family refused to even consider it, but a number of the younger homeless worked things out with their family and were provided transportation to their home. It's certainly better than doing nothing.

[Chicano3000X]

Originally Posted by majoun

Which is why we need to build the camps in the desert, so that way they can be arrested even in Los Angeles.

I did Nazi that coming..

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by Justabystander

What a joke. There are massive cutbacks at HUD currently to house the homeless and initiate housing programs, along with a Housing Secretary that doesn't understand the intricacies of housing under this administration. Things, as bad as they are, are about to get a lot worse, and the gulf between the haves and have nots is now growing faster especially with the new tax cut.

It is kind of ironic because so much discussion about a Trump Presidency is how he was going to feather the nest of his Builder and Landlord Real Estate cronies.

HUD is Housing and so far I have not seen the massive expansion that was talked about and it has been contrary to the projections.

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

Try another source:

"Between 1983 and 2013, the wealth of median Black and Latino households decreased by 75% (from $6,800 to $1,700) and 50% (from $4,000 to $2,000), respectively, while median White household wealth rose by 14% (from $102,200 to $116,800). If current trends continue, by 2020 median Black and Latino households stand to lose nearly 18% and 12%, respectively, of the wealth they held in 2013. In that same timeframe, median White household wealth would see an increase of 3%. Put differently, in just under four years from now,median White households are projected to own 86 and 68 times more wealth than Black and Latino households, respectively."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikshe.../#408f16150f6a

Is there a statistic for Asian Households?

I live in the SF Bay Area and the Asian/Indian population has expanded a lot and many that I know came here as refugees...