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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

#141

Post by dmichulke »

rdancer wrote: post #130
dmichulke wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now I understand your indignation with this and I totally agree with it. Yet, I believe the "system" is not the only culprit here, it's also you who is complicit - you say the system is good and still it didn't help in this concrete case. Now I know it's hard to not pay taxes so I wouldn't expect you to. But for starters you could admit that the system works poorly, is intransparent, doesn't adapt and covers only wha…

You make some great points, but are you replying to the right comment? For those, who are not of the biblical persuasion, "help thyself, and God will help thee" is a principle that says that you can count on a lot of help, but you have to do a little yourself first; that little is very hard, and no-one can do it for you.

I mainly referred to the implicit delegation to government in your comment. This is technically ok (because you pay taxes for it) but it's not morally ok if they don't do it well.

Naturally, I only picked the "bad things" (with a big IMHO) in your comment which didn't keep me from upvoting it ;)

Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer

#142

Post by buro9 »

temphack wrote: post #139
buro9 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fully escaped? I've spoken openly of my 30 months sleeping rough on the streets of the UK. I may have "escaped" homelessness, but the mental scars accumulated whilst on the street do still haunt me. I feel it, the sense of worthlessness, the self-doubt. There's a feeling that I shouldn't be alive let alone here in this workplace or surrounded by good people, a feeling that I don't quite belong. One can put a roof ove…

I wasn't really homeless but when I was a teenager I struggled with food for some years. I mean, sometimes eating only once per 2 or 3 days. For weeks or months. I can say now I'm much better, maybe not part of the 1%, but surely part of the 2% :) But not fully escaped. They say hard times build character. That's true, but the physical and psychological sequels are with me for ever. Nobody should be that poor.

That's what I mean.

They become a part of your shadow, always with you. Sometimes you catch a glimpse and notice but for the most part we can forget about it... but it's there.

Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer

#144

Post by richthegeek »

rdancer wrote: post #130
dmichulke wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now I understand your indignation with this and I totally agree with it. Yet, I believe the "system" is not the only culprit here, it's also you who is complicit - you say the system is good and still it didn't help in this concrete case. Now I know it's hard to not pay taxes so I wouldn't expect you to. But for starters you could admit that the system works poorly, is intransparent, doesn't adapt and covers only wha…

You make some great points, but are you replying to the right comment? For those, who are not of the biblical persuasion, "help thyself, and God will help thee" is a principle that says that you can count on a lot of help, but you have to do a little yourself first; that little is very hard, and no-one can do it for you.

I remembered a joke from my childhood earlier today, and your comment bought it to the fore again:

A man down on his luck prays in Church "God, let me win the lottery. All my troubles will be over".

A week goes by and the man is doing even worse, so he prays again: "God, please let me win. I've been a good man with poor luck, and I've never asked for anything before".

Next week, the man has been evicted, and once more he prays: "God, why have you forsaken me? I'm homeless, loveless, and penniless. Please, let me win the lottery!"

To which a booming voice answers him: "Meet me halfway! Buy a ticket!"

Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer

#145

Post by knd775 »

ambicapter wrote: post #132
exhomeless wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Engineering - self taught, and I have a GED (for non-U.S., this is a credential that is treated as an equivalent to passing high school).

So you haven't taken the professional engineering exam (forget what its called)? What was the first job you got out of homelessness?

"PE Exam" ;)

Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer

#146

Post by ryandrake »

jupiter90000 wrote: post #27
zodiac wrote: post #5

Why is he failing background checks if he's never been non-wrongfully convicted? Genuinely curious to hear from anyone with experience on the employer side of this.

Even if you are found not guilty or not convicted of a crime, if you have been arrested or gone to court these things can show up in public records. These records could be expunged with some effort, depending on the laws in the jurisdiction. Such expungement orders should clear someone from public databases. If it hasn't been expunged though, the info will still show up. Even if dismissed or wrongfully convicted, any…

Companies' paranoid "where there's smoke there's fire" logic is the major problem here. I've applied for jobs (tech jobs at big-name companies you have heard of) where they require you to list mere arrests, even if there was no conviction or even if no charges were filed.

Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer

#147

Post by imgabe »

jschwartzi wrote: post #89
imgabe wrote: post #82

Are there charities set up that could help with something like this? I mean it would literally take less than $5k to get this guy set up. A couple suits of decent clothes, a security deposit and first months rent for an apartment, a bus ticket to wherever his job is. That is a bargain for removing a homeless person from the system. Local governments and shelters should be jumping at the chance to do it.

It's not just that. It sounds like he gets the offer, but it's contingent on his background check clearing. If that's all he needs though, where's the Kickstarter?

Maybe I was confused. It sounded like some of them were possible but he had no way of getting to the city where the job was. Or maybe he was just saying that even if one did come through he couldn't follow up on it.

Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer

#149

Post by SilasX »

netcan wrote: post #54
sdrothrock wrote: post #12

In 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.

In a roundabout way, this is related to the big data world we live in, even though background checks & credit checks are not new. From the perspective on a motor insurance company, for example, they don't need to serve everyone. If they can classify the world of potential drivers as high, medium & low risk, that's enough. Whether or not an individual falls into one of these categories "incorrectly" is not important,…

Okay, but it should work in the reverse too. Just as there are ways to grind through the data and find non-obvious signals against an employee, there should be the same for signals in favor of an employee.

And there should be just as much incentive for big data techniques to help identify undervalued employees. For example, I'm sure you can find a separation between "vagrants who can code" and "vagrants who can't".

(An old-school example of such an insight would be early-GEICO's discovery that, "Hey, government employees have more reliable income than others'. So they're not as risky. We can use that!" So I heard.)

Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer

#150

Post by huac »

morgante wrote: post #48

One 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.)

From the story, he didn't seem like he owned the house or car - possible that he paid the leases while in prison.

The mental debt of being in prison probably doesn't help anyone's financial situation either.

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