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There was a young guy who sounded nice enough, saying that he had been living with his grandmother and going to school, but she died, and then his life apparently imploded and was politely asking for any money. Yes, I'm sure there are some people here who will automatically assume that he was a scammer. But there are in fact a lot of desperate people, some of whom are perfectly sane. I wished I had an information card to hand him, saying, Okay, kid, first set yourself up with a free counselor...
It would be nicer if there were people who could occasionally hand out useful information which would be better than spare change.
Anyone out there in that situation should not be on the subway begging for change. they have so many government services that can help. Job Corp is one of them if they are under 24. They get a free bed, food, education, and job placement as long as they behave themselves.
I have family members that went through that program where they lived on site and came out a nurse, and an electrician making good money.
Last edited by SoullessOne; 08-29-2018 at 04:53 PM..
I did do something once - not on the subway, but with a guy I would see occasionally on the sidewalk, very disfigured, begging for money for medical care/surgery. I carried around information about a free clinic until I finally saw him again, and gave it to him. I figured that he probably wouldn't follow up, but at least I gave him the information.
But that was because I was already aware of the clinic. And social workers would be aware of resources for people begging on subways.
There was a young guy who sounded nice enough, saying that he had been living with his grandmother and going to school, but she died, and then his life apparently imploded and was politely asking for any money. Yes, I'm sure there are some people here who will automatically assume that he was a scammer. But there are in fact a lot of desperate people, some of whom are perfectly sane. I wished I had an information card to hand him, saying, Okay, kid, first set yourself up with a free counselor...
It would be nicer if there were people who could occasionally hand out useful information which would be better than spare change.
Please.
City spends *billions* each year on homeless including a vast outreach network. In case you've missed them there are outreach workers driving or otherwise getting around the city distributing information, food, etc...
All anyone has to do is go onto internet, call 311, or even walk into a local NYPD precinct (if not up to an officer), and ask for assistance. They will point in proper direction.
Took the 1 train earlier and some brother was reciting a sad tale of woe and misery that only slightly shorter in length than Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
City spends *billions* each year on homeless including a vast outreach network. In case you've missed them there are outreach workers driving or otherwise getting around the city distributing information, food, etc...
All anyone has to do is go onto internet, call 311, or even walk into a local NYPD precinct (if not up to an officer), and ask for assistance. They will point in proper direction.
Took the 1 train earlier and some brother was reciting a sad tale of woe and misery that only slightly shorter in length than Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
The city offers every homeless person shelter. The problem is many of the homeless are mentally ill + don't want to live constrained by shelter rules
Also, many shelters are dangerous. Whether they are all dangerous or more dangerous than the streets, I have no idea.
Either way homeless people should not be allowed to sleep on the trains or camp out on the sidewalks. Isn't it insane that people living in weeks worth of their own shieeeet and pizz, who are clearly and severely mentally ill, are allowed to roam around with complete freedom? It's absolutely inhumane. These people should be in institutions getting medications and square meals
Kid was a scammer. Which doesn't mean he wasn't in need, but if you're going to give to those folks, accept that it's very likely that you're funding their habit so they don't have to steal to do so. They're not going to want info, though they might take a candy bar.
Some people are in a place where harm reduction is all you can hope for at that moment.
(Now, those guys who pretend to be outreach workers, those guys are just *******s. Wouldn't mind seeing those guys arrested every single day.)
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