Take someone who has already demonstrated the know how to make money selling illicit drugs and, as punishment, ban them from legitimate employment for life... That must be super effective! /s
Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer
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Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer
#62He could try working as a freelancer, on websites like Elance/Upwork or something and make some money. Then he could use that money move out of the homeless shelter and then look for a decent job.
It seems like he has more experience in the enterprise world ("Security Compliance"), not sure that's the type of jobs you'd give to a freelancer, or at least not on Elance/Upwork.
Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer
#63I was homeless for about a year and a half. The first 6 months were spent sleeping on the streets, and when possible, in a shelter - but realistically, in the area where I was, most shelters were not really a safe place to be, and the few that were filled up early. The remaining time, I crashed at a drug dealers house and helped sell in return. I didn't have much more than the belongings that fit in a mid-sized duffl…
Great story indeed, and really inspirational. But that just reaffirms what other commenters already pointed out: the problem is not homelessness per se, but a (unfair) criminal record that doesn't mix really well with a job in security. What I find incredible, though, it's that this record still persists after he has been cleared of the past accusations.
Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer
#64In his case, it sounds like the problem isn't homelessness itself, but: 1. A crappy background check system that reports him as an ex-con/drug dealer when he's been exonerated. 2. Companies using those systems and judging him without giving him a chance to speak up.
> A crappy background check system that reports him as an ex-con/drug dealer when he's been exonerated
The article states:
> Three months after his conviction, though, the King County deputy whose testimony led to Simmons’ conviction, James Schrimpsher, was fired for dishonesty in a different drug case [..] Simmons insists he didn’t sell drugs and believes he was profiled [..] he served the full prison term at the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton, plus a year of probation when he got out.
This means it has not been exonerated. The background check superficiality is not what this case is about.
The problem in this case is a system where it's not easy for a convicted person receive a retrial unless the defendant has big money.
> That the deputy was being investigated for lying at the same time as Simmons’ trial had not been disclosed to Simmons’ attorneys.
Point 2 still holds.
Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer
#65In his case, it sounds like the problem isn't homelessness itself, but: 1. A crappy background check system that reports him as an ex-con/drug dealer when he's been exonerated. 2. Companies using those systems and judging him without giving him a chance to speak up.
> A crappy background check system that reports him as an ex-con/drug dealer when he's been exonerated The article states: > Three months after his conviction, though, the King County deputy whose testimony led to Simmons’ conviction, James Schrimpsher, was fired for dishonesty in a different drug case [..] Simmons insists he didn’t sell drugs and believes he was profiled [..] he served the full prison term at the Wa…
> This means it has not been exonerated. The background check superficiality is not what this case is about.
The article also says
> What’s alarming about Simmons’ story is that his drug-dealing conviction was eventually stricken from the record. He was retroactively exonerated in 2010 . . . He is listed on the National Registry of Exonerations as being wrongly convicted.
which seems to directly contradict your claim that he was not exonerated.
Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer
#66I was homeless for about a year and a half. The first 6 months were spent sleeping on the streets, and when possible, in a shelter - but realistically, in the area where I was, most shelters were not really a safe place to be, and the few that were filled up early. The remaining time, I crashed at a drug dealers house and helped sell in return. I didn't have much more than the belongings that fit in a mid-sized duffl…
>It's possible to get out of the situation if what got you there isn't addiction or mental illness - the system does little to help, and without being resourceful it's easy to get stuck in that position for a long time. But it can be done.
Glad it worked out in the end for you!
I have a small issue though with the "it can be done" thing.
Getting to have 10 top 10 hits at the charts can be done too. The question is how easy it is, and what percentage will be able to do it.
The reason I'm saying that is that, while giving the message "it can be done" is good and can help people not give up in a similar situation, it can also give the false idea that it's a workable situation when it might not be save for very few outliers (and even for them, mostly when the right "stars" and chances are aligned, and not just due to their determination and work).
This also gives some people a chance to overlook the issue, thinking ("it can't be done, so people who don't do it are just lazy, not trying enough, thus, we don't need to help them").
For such issues who plague thousands, people who have escaped can often be the worse sources to learn about the difficulty of the situation -- because they tend to generalize their outlier experience (and sometimes minimize the chances that helped them escape), and sometimes look back at others still in the same situation as not trying enough (since that will justify their self-image as them being "more worthy/resourceful/persistent" than them).
Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer
#67I was homeless for about a year and a half. The first 6 months were spent sleeping on the streets, and when possible, in a shelter - but realistically, in the area where I was, most shelters were not really a safe place to be, and the few that were filled up early. The remaining time, I crashed at a drug dealers house and helped sell in return. I didn't have much more than the belongings that fit in a mid-sized duffl…
Great story indeed, and really inspirational. But that just reaffirms what other commenters already pointed out: the problem is not homelessness per se , but a (unfair) criminal record that doesn't mix really well with a job in security. What I find incredible, though, it's that this record still persists after he has been cleared of the past accusations.
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Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're too old. You have a criminal background. You're too overeducated. We think you'll sue. You're too young. It seemed that companies are loathed to take risk on employee. At the same time, lot of environments contained toxic working conditions, so it's not clear if their choice of employees matter much. But people must find a job to keep themselves afloat or depend on someone having a job. It didn't matter if you…
At the same time, there are a lot of employees suing companies "just because", so the feeling has some justification.
Only in places like the modern US, where suing is a kind of hobby, and you can be sued for anything. In other places (and in the US in the past) neither the companies expect to be sued and take pre-emptive measures, nor the employees sue "just because". At least not any significant numbers.
Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer
#69Top kek. This article is full of shit. If your skills are worth _anything_ in security then you can make easy money via bug bounties or vulnerability acquisition programs. Most web companies pay thousands of dollars for trivial XSS vulns and you want to tell me that this poor chap can't help himself? Yeah right.
Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer
#70One thing I'm curious about is how he actually ended up homeless. Before the conviction, it seems like he was doing very well (BMW, townhouse). Why did he not have sufficient savings to survive after he got out of prison? (Not trying to blame him for anything, trying to plan for my own life. I strive to maintain sufficient savings so that I would never be homeless even if I never worked again.)
Making just shy of $100k in Seattle could be tricky to build up a lot of savings and live in a desired/fancy area with an expensive car. The median home price is well north of $500-600k.
Plenty of people live in West Seattle/Kent/Renton/Vashon. You can even live in the CD and still be in commuting distance for affordable rates. There's also no shame in having a roommate. I live in Queen Anne in a 2br house and still have net savings at a comparable salary. Also if you're living in cap hill, slu, Queen Anne, etc., you don't need a car. Everything is in walking distance or busable. You can even go hiking with the buses here! It all just depends on how you live.