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Once a week, I teach a life skills at a Salvation Army homeless shelter. Most of my “students” are older white men who lost jobs and can’t find work. There’s some opioid and alcohol addicts in there, but a surprising number of them are clean. Some had good jobs but ageism and a long spell of unemployment works against them.
My hardest job is helping them to keep their spirits up.
Dumb question.
Yes I know its a crappy job but many big box stores near me. If you can fog a mirror and pass a drug screen, you are going to be making 10 bucks an hour inside of 3 weeks. (Drug screen takes 2 of the 3 weeks)
Tell them to go to truck driving school. Many places will pay for it for those in their 50s.
I live in the Atlanta area (outskirts of it). I work in the Downtown/Midtown area of Atlanta. I see alot of homeless people. Atlanta's homeless problem has always been there. Vast majority of homeless people I see are Black men, mostly older Black men. I occasionally run across a homeless White person, mainly an elderly man. I've come across slightly more homeless Black females than White males. And most of the homeless White people I've seen have been around the suburban area.
Where I live I'm amazed at the amount of homeless men I see begging at intersections. They are usually in their late 20s to 40s , white and look like they've had a rough life.
What is sadder is that the women that I see are usually older than these men and makes me wonder where are these people's families?
It's heart breaking.
Depends on where you live. If this was Seattle or Portland, I would expect it. In the Atlanta area, most of the homeless people I see are Black males, alot of them older men. Some might be younger. A life on the streets will age you fast.
I don't see a ton of homeless people in Raleigh or even Durham. Fayetteville (home of Fort Bragg) is full of homeless people at every stop light. Most are middle-aged white men, followed by middle-aged black men. Many claim to be military on the signs they're holding. It's rare to see a woman on the street begging around here, it's also rare to see Hispanics or Asians begging.
I don't see a ton of homeless people in Raleigh or even Durham. Fayetteville (home of Fort Bragg) is full of homeless people at every stop light. Most are middle-aged white men, followed by middle-aged black men. Many claim to be military on the signs they're holding. It's rare to see a woman on the street begging around here, it's also rare to see Hispanics or Asians begging.
You know it's mostly not true though. There may be a veteran or two but most of those people make up sympathy stories to get more money. They are shameless.
My favorite median strip beggar was a pretty blonde twentysomething woman wearing little shorts, smiling and flirting with the drivers and making "help me please?" faces. Her sign said her roommate stiffed her out of the rent and she was being evicted. That caused quite the traffic jam.
Where I live I'm amazed at the amount of homeless men I see begging at intersections. They are usually in their late 20s to 40s , white and look like they've had a rough life.
What is sadder is that the women that I see are usually older than these men and makes me wonder where are these people's families?
It's heart breaking.
I hear you. One of them might be my cousin.
They had a supportive family at one point but after 20+ years of *bad stuff* related to drugs (but especially some stuff with their kids which the extended family wound up raising) they now have zero contact with them.
Basically, if they had ever stopped they'd have had a job and a roof over their head the next day. I'm shocked they're still alive to be honest and yes, it's super sad. This wasn't a cousin I'd see once in a great while either, we have a close knit family so for them to get pretty much disowned took *a lot*.
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