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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"Amazing what happens when you treat poor people like human beings":
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@DanPriceSeattle
A group of homeless people in San Francisco got $500 a month for 6 months, no strings attached.
Two-thirds of them got on their feet and secured stable long-term housing.
Amazing what happens when you treat poor people like human beings
underpants
(182,270 posts)For not very much.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)Once they have addresses and phone numbers, many will find it much easier to get a job. Then it just gets better from there.
Haggard Celine
(16,820 posts)want to live like that. Ridiculous! There might be a very small minority of mentally ill people who want to live on the street, but I believe that most of them, by far, want a place of their own just like the rest of us. Considering how many vacant buildings we have in this country, there's really no good reason for people to be on the street.
Johnny2X2X
(18,731 posts)I've volunteered working to feed the homeless. People mistake homeless people preferring the streets to the homeless shelters as meaning they want to live that. The shelters are not good places to be, they can be dangerous and there is less privacy in some ways. And there are rules.
I wish more people got to know someone experiencing homelessness, they'd find out those people aren't much different from anyone else. They all have a story, they all thought this was the last place they'd end up. People can slip into homelessness so easy I don't think the average person appreciates that it could happen to them too.
People lose loved ones and end up homeless. They get sick and lose their lively hoods and end up homeless. People pick up and head to a new town for a job that falls through and then their car breaks down and just like that they're without the resources to put a roof over their heads. Not everyone has family and friends they can rely on for a place to crash.
And once you're there, it becomes about survival more than getting yourself out. When you don't have an address how are you supposed to shower and get ready for a job interview? I suspect this $500 a month allowed people to simply get a roof over their heads so they can get a job, it allowed them first month's rent and a de[posit, some food in the fridge, and a chance to get a job after that.
Haggard Celine
(16,820 posts)I came close to being homeless myself at one time, and if it hadn't have been for a couple of very patient people who loved me, I most likely would have fallen through the cracks, and who knows if I'd have been able to find my way out. I don't know if I'd have been able to stand the stress of being homeless.
Some people like to pretend that homeless people are carefree, but there's little that's more stressful than not knowing where you're going to sleep that night. People come up with all sorts of reasons to blame homeless people for their p!ight, but all they're doing is coming up with excuses not to help. Sometimes the smallest thing, like $500 a month, can make a huge impact on a person's life. I hope more cities will do what San Francisco did.
Johnny2X2X
(18,731 posts)If it wasn't for being able to move back home with my parents when I was at my lowest I would have had to sleep on friend's couches.
It can happen so quickly, buddy from college didn't get a job out of college, and our lease came up, his car broke down and he had to use all of his savings on that, move out day comes and we're all moving to new apartments. Kid had nowhere to go, he was estranged from his family and didn't have $50 in his bank account. We had no idea that he planned on sleeping on a park bench that night, but I found out he had nowhere to go and he crashed on my couch for a week before he got paid and went to live in a co-op near campus.
You really don't know how people got out there. Some went to college. Some lost loved ones and were never able to get over the grief. Mental illness. And yes, addiction too. Some just didn't grow up with the safety net of stable families or friends to fall back on. Some got sick and lost everything through medical bills. Everyone, and I mean everyone has a story.
slightlv
(2,635 posts)that wasn't there after I'd moved... then, no money for an apartment. Luckily, I had money for fast food, etc. My daughter and I ended up sleeping and living in my Horizon car until I happened to run into an old buddy of mine from a former apartment complex where we'd lived years ago. We bunked with him (purely asexual in a studio apartment) for a few weeks while I got enough temp work to afford first and last week on my own apt... and a full time job. Having a 4-yr-old in tow, it was a real nerve-wracking time for me. I didn't want any of it to rub off on her, so I kept as much of it to myself as possible, and Alan was great at distracting her. But it sure left a scar on my life. I have a deep-seated terror of economic insecurity. Which isn't good when you survive on Social Security alone. This is why when we sold our old house and bought this one, we bought one we could pay cash for and own outright.
Haggard Celine
(16,820 posts)I'm afraid of going back to that period in my life, too. I lived in public housing for 10 years, but I was able to buy this house 4 years ago, and I was so happy. My mortgage is less than my rent was, so it was definitely the right move. But yes, it's scary to think about how close I was to begging for change. No matter how much you make, you never forget an experience like that.
Sanity Claws
(21,822 posts)hippywife
(22,767 posts)Poor people aren't any different than people with means, except when they haven't any.
barbaraann
(9,083 posts)What helped these people wasn't just the money, but government and community support, non-profit support, and peer and sometimes family support.
lame54
(35,130 posts)Let's see more of that
obamanut2012
(25,905 posts)It's what I've worked for and fought for since I came of age in the 80s: more free and subsidized resources for Americans of all ages. College tuition, socialized healthcare, rent control, a living wage.
Solly Mack
(90,740 posts)John Farmer
(68 posts)Among other things, there are fines, having your stuff stolen or trashed by some city's 'removal project.'
BlueIdaho
(13,582 posts)And they all end about like this. Huge positive impact on peoples lives at a small cost. It really does my heart good to see how people respond to an opportunity to improve their lives. More Please!!!