Sarasota named the meanest city ... (Tampa, Bradenton: income, taxes, live)

[Sunshine Rules]

https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/2...person-at-time

Last year, the city’s two homeless outreach teams — commonly known as HOT teams, which consist of a case manager and police officer — helped obtain “positive outcomes” for 128 homeless individuals who were transported to the Salvation Army where the city rents out 25 beds. Nearly 70 of those overnight clients secured permanent housing through the Department of Housing and Urban Development with a lease, while an additional 41 entered HUD housing indirectly. Roughly 21 more people found housing off the streets with friends, family or through housing where a lease was not required, city documents show.

and

“The homeless outreach team has a very simple mission: to go out each day, try to contact every homeless person in the city, and with their assistance find them a housing solution or the services that may be needed,” Stiff said. “We put them on a bridge to services.”

The city’s homeless outreach teams last year made around 10,500 contacts with homeless individuals.



The city is not heartless, there are a number of options and programs to help those that truly want to get off of the streets.

[kspost]

Hats off to Sarasota. I came in the USA 6 years ago from nowhere, from East European country, and I've found a job, I've found a place to live, and I live in one of the most expensive places in the States - Key West. Here the homeless are big issue, and reason for crime and misery. I was able to settle my self here with my poor language, so there is no reason for these people, unless they are disabled or insane, to be able to adapt. If they are disabled, there is pensions. If they are veterans - there is pension as well. If the pension is not enough to Sarasota or Key West - it will be enough for Wisconsin or Montana..So I do not support homeless people, that is their choice, but I don't like to see them around, strong young people, begging for money for drugs and alcohol, while I'm working with sweat on my forehead!

[xz2y]

Originally Posted by kspost

Hats off to Sarasota. I came in the USA 6 years ago from nowhere, from East European country, and I've found a job, I've found a place to live, and I live in one of the most expensive places in the States - Key West. Here the homeless are big issue, and reason for crime and misery. I was able to settle my self here with my poor language, so there is no reason for these people, unless they are disabled or insane, to be able to adapt. If they are disabled, there is pensions. If they are veterans - there is pension as well. If the pension is not enough to Sarasota or Key West - it will be enough for Wisconsin or Montana..So I do not support homeless people, that is their choice, but I don't like to see them around, strong young people, begging for money for drugs and alcohol, while I'm working with sweat on my forehead!

Congrats to you for making things work after starting over in a new country. It's about work ethic, and even more important, where someone chooses to relocate. An earlier post in this thread mentioned that anyone can move anywhere in the US, there are no laws stopping anyone from relocating to a new place. That's accurate.

There are laws, however, that everyone needs to follow, including the homeless. If someone decides to move to Hawaii without any means of support, but thinks they can just panhandle and live on the beach, they need to be ready for local laws that could result in fines, or being arrested, or being hassled and not allowed to sleep on beaches, and possibly a one way plane ticket back to the mainland.

They would be better served to go to a lower cost area, find a job and get a place to live. The unemployment rate is under 4%, and there are plenty of jobs in lots of places. I know plenty of people who work 2-3 jobs to pay their rent. They don't expect anyone else to pay their rent for them. If someone has a job that doesn't pay the rent in a given location, then either get another job that pays better, get a second job, or move to a lower cost area.

[Edvard]

A large majority of the homeless you see do not want a job, it doesn't matter if the wages were $8 an hour or $20. They could care less what a job pays, they aren't going to clean up and go to work and wait a week or two for a check. They want fast cash in their hands and no rules governing what they do. They want to get high or drunk then pass out. If you watch people handing them fives every few minutes on a busy corner, they could easily be making over $40 an hour, but it's gone as fast as they get it, that's why they are out there with their cardboard sign 7 days a week. There are two main reasons many homeless flock to Florida: They won't freeze to death here, and the ones with warrants in many northern states know that their home states won't pay to extradite them back to face whatever charges unless it's murder or something huge. Parole boards also like to hear them say "If you release me I will relocate out of state". Helps them get rid of their garbage and save money.

[kiggy]

One person's "mean" is another person's "common sense". The left loves to point out the problems, but then pawns it off to the government (meaning us) to take care of it. They are the kings of NIMBY.

[kiggy]

Originally Posted by Sunshine Rules

https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/2...person-at-time

Last year, the city’s two homeless outreach teams — commonly known as HOT teams, which consist of a case manager and police officer — helped obtain “positive outcomes” for 128 homeless individuals who were transported to the Salvation Army where the city rents out 25 beds. Nearly 70 of those overnight clients secured permanent housing through the Department of Housing and Urban Development with a lease, while an additional 41 entered HUD housing indirectly. Roughly 21 more people found housing off the streets with friends, family or through housing where a lease was not required, city documents show.

and

“The homeless outreach team has a very simple mission: to go out each day, try to contact every homeless person in the city, and with their assistance find them a housing solution or the services that may be needed,” Stiff said. “We put them on a bridge to services.”

The city’s homeless outreach teams last year made around 10,500 contacts with homeless individuals.



The city is not heartless, there are a number of options and programs to help those that truly want to get off of the streets.

Good going!

[562026]

As a woman in New York nearing retirement age and looking forward to relocating to Sarasota when the time comes, I applaud everything Sarasota is doing to keep the homeless situation at bay. I have witnessed first-hand how fast the problem of homelessness spreads, and the consequences it brings. I have yet to see a single homeless person holding a sign asking for a hand up rather than a handout. As many of you have already pointed out, if the OP truly believes "Jack" is a decent employed fellow just down on his luck, genuine compassion would dictate that "Jack" would now be bunking in the OP's guest room until he could save enough money to get his own little place. If "Jack" really exists, the OP would do well to know that many seemingly "normal" homeless people are drug addicts, and drug addicts are notoriously charming and skilled tale-tellers who can easily manipulate naive and well-meaning do-gooders. They read people well and know just how to pull on the heartstrings to get what they need. That's not a lack of compassion, that's reality.

[sam Okeefe]

It could be worse, we all could be living in LA or now Austin!

[sarasotalaw52]

https://www.mysuncoast.com/2019/07/1...n-by-homeless/

[xz2y]

Originally Posted by Edvard

A large majority of the homeless you see do not want a job, it doesn't matter if the wages were $8 an hour or $20. They could care less what a job pays, they aren't going to clean up and go to work and wait a week or two for a check. They want fast cash in their hands and no rules governing what they do. They want to get high or drunk then pass out. If you watch people handing them fives every few minutes on a busy corner, they could easily be making over $40 an hour, but it's gone as fast as they get it, that's why they are out there with their cardboard sign 7 days a week. There are two main reasons many homeless flock to Florida: They won't freeze to death here, and the ones with warrants in many northern states know that their home states won't pay to extradite them back to face whatever charges unless it's murder or something huge. Parole boards also like to hear them say "If you release me I will relocate out of state". Helps them get rid of their garbage and save money.

Excellent post. Right on target. Homeless even get on buses and move around the country, and go to the warmer states in the winter. They have "gangs" of panhandlers in some cities that divvy up the "best" street corners, and have "shifts." They all have cell phones to coordinate their panhandling activities. Many many of them simply aren't going to play by any rules, as you mention, which means cleaning up, getting a job (or 2), getting back on their feet and getting a place to live. They would rather get tax-free money on street corners in "nice" cities, instead of actually taking responsibility for themselves and getting a job, in a lower cost area.

IMO, very few of the homeless are actually "down and out" due to the high cost of housing. Those that are will accept the help of local organizations, are usually working 2-3 part-time jobs, and will eventually find a place to live, or move on to a cheaper area. For the rest of the homeless, the vast majority, it's a lifestyle choice.

Where I live in Michigan, these guys around here "work the parking lots" even though it's illegal since it's private property, hassling people going into stores and going to their cars. Then after a day of panhandling, I've watched them get into their own cars and drive off!