Anyone else notice the rising numbers of homeless in Oakland & Berkeley? (San Jose: apartments, to rent)

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by 04kL4nD

I mean there's always been visible homeless in Oakland since I moved here in 2007. The tent cities didn't start popping up until fairly recently though.

In Oakland, that is a little unusual. In Berkeley, they've always come and go periodically. When I went to Berkeley High, that park right across the street and across from the police station was a tent city.

[mileena]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Many, but not all are also fakes in the sense that I would go to get them a cup of water only to be berated and told, I wanted coffee! Or I used to give my leftover food from restaurants until I was berated multiple times about eating used food and being sub-human.

Pot - kettle - black. Homeless are fakes? You are a fake too in that you fake compassion.

Give them water? Homeless can get water in any bathroom or garden hose?. I wouldn't want water either. I was homeless for a few years and simply got water at my health club and kept it in my car or got it at restaurants when I dined out.

Give them leftover used food? LOL. It's a health code violation. Who are you, besides being a cheapskate? Satan?

-----

EDIT: It gets worse for you: just realized you drive a BMW. Yep. That says it all. I see all these BMW drivers on youtube who are arrogant, self-entitled pricks causing accidents and road raging.

[Ultrarunner]

It is a problem daily at work... overnight homeless camps set up and dealing with the trash left behind is part of it...

Last week I picked up on two occasions used syringes just tossed on the ground.

The defecation and urine is another...

Every morning the doorways and sidewalks get washed down with disinfectant.

The police sometimes do pick up people for observation at John George and after getting cleaned up are right back... it is almost like a game because I have been told many times they plan on coming right back and they do.

I'm very much live and let live... but creating a problem is when you have crossed the line.

The local businesses with restrooms have all taken to locking them... it is not using the restroom as it is using the room to take a bath with water everywhere.

The manager was livid because yesterday... the man in the women's restroom smeared feces all over the walls... I saw it.

This kind of stuff never happened when I started working here 25+ years ago.

Adding a security patrol is about 10k per year... least expensive fence bid is over 50k...

[jade408]

I noticed a tent right off the Claremont 24 exit. Very unusual. The tents are definitely popping up in more neiggborhoods.

[Protagonista]

Yes I have noticed.

The lack of good mental healthcare with followup care post crisis in this country is shameful.
It has come back to bite us in the butt in the form jails full of the mentally ill, tent cities, sanitation issues spreading disease and public harassment and fear causing crimes in both directions.

If we took all the tax dollars and public funding we spend on clean up and lock up and used it towards mental heath everyone would be happier, healthier and safer.

Kaiser, UCSF, and Stanford have/are all building brand new hospitals. Check out how many new floors/beds and huge donations has been dedicated to mental health!

Mental health should really be called a neurological problem. More and more we are find it to be a brain structural problem or chemical problem (like diabetes or a thyroid problem).
If we re-categorized it under neurology it would be better covered by insurance and donations.

Then the people who have become homeless because of money/work issues would have avenues open up to them that have been clogged up by the chronically neurologically ill.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by Protagonista

Yes I have noticed.
The lack of good mental healthcare with followup care post crisis in this country is shameful.
It has come back to bite us in the butt in the form jails full of the mentally ill, tent cities, sanitation issues spreading disease and public harassment and fear causing crimes in both directions.
If we took all the tax dollars and public funding we spend on clean up and lock up and used it towards mental heath everyone would be happier, healthier and safer.
Kaiser, UCSF, and Stanford have/are all building brand new hospitals. Check out how many new floors/beds and huge donations has been dedicated to mental health!
Ignoring this problem has really come back to bite us in the butt here in the bay area (elsewhere also).

The bigger problem is that the mentally ill homeless need services delivered to them where they are, they aren't going to keep appointments at the hospital or clinic and most will not bother to get prescriptions refilled. Psych meds have to be monitored as they frequently need to be adjusted or changed, so those patients need ready access to a health practitioner who can deal with those issues.

The best solution is to provide supportive housing and have a psych tech on duty who can administer and monitor meds, but unfortunately in urban areas there aren't many places available to build housing for the homeless, and for the most part they are not going to be willing to move to the mojave desert so it's a real dilemma maybe we should look at making existing shelters more attractive to the homeless and try to provide mental health care there? As it stands most homeless people avoid shelters except as a last resort, they frequently cite examples of being assaulted or having their property stolen.

[Protagonista]

2 Sleepy

You and I were typing at the same time. I just edited to add this:

Originally Posted by Protagonista

Yes I have noticed.

Mental health should really be called a neurological problem. More and more we are find it to be a brain structural problem or chemical problem (like diabetes or a thyroid problem).
If we re-categorized it under neurology it would be better covered by insurance and donations.

Then the people who have become homeless because of money/work issues would have avenues open up to them that have been clogged up by the chronically neurologically ill.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by Protagonista

2 Sleepy You and I were typing at the same time. I just edited to add this:

I completely agree!

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by jade408

I noticed a tent right off the Claremont 24 exit. Very unusual.

Wow.

[shooting4life]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

The bigger problem is that the mentally ill homeless need services delivered to them where they are, they aren't going to keep appointments at the hospital or clinic and most will not bother to get prescriptions refilled. Psych meds have to be monitored as they frequently need to be adjusted or changed, so those patients need ready access to a health practitioner who can deal with those issues.

The best solution is to provide supportive housing and have a psych tech on duty who can administer and monitor meds, but unfortunately in urban areas there aren't many places available to build housing for the homeless, and for the most part they are not going to be willing to move to the mojave desert so it's a real dilemma maybe we should look at making existing shelters more attractive to the homeless and try to provide mental health care there? As it stands most homeless people avoid shelters except as a last resort, they frequently cite examples of being assaulted or having their property stolen.

The only way mental health care works is when it is mandate and forced upon those that are needed, which has been found unconstitutional. The medical and mental health services are available to those that need it, just unless you are a danger to yourself or others it is optional. Most people prefer to be homeless and self medicate than get treatment and take drugs that dull you even if that means being in a shelter.

Dealing with mental health issues is very challenging, but he had a time in this country when forced mental health care was common and it was not a pretty sight to those put into the system. Of course that is of little consequence for the majority of individuals because the suffering is not felt by them and the suffering that is happening is going on out of sight; which is why so many think it is a good idea to go back to such system. For decades, gays, women, elderly, the different and political opponents were put into mental facilities to suffer from experimental procedures.