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Homeless alone

homelessalone.blogspot.com

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Re: Homeless alone

#81

Post by dragonwriter »

refurb wrote: post #66
thesimon wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looks like there are no more state payments and you have to depend on charities, family or friends.

What? No. You go on welfare. And get free healthcare through Medicaid. As much as people outside the US like to think it's some sort of heartless society, the US has a substantial safety net setup.

> You go on welfare.

If you have children, you may qualify for whatever your states implementation of Temporary Assistance for Needy Family (TANF) is -- which has a work requirement.

If not, your jurisdiction may have a "General Assistance" program, but these tend to be very small benefits, and often restricted in how long someone deemed "employable", whether or not they actually can find employment, can be on them (either in total, or within a given period; e.g., some jurisdictions have something like a 3-months in any 12-month period limit.)

> As much as people outside the US like to think it's some sort of heartless society, the US has a substantial safety net setup.

The US has an extraordinarily weak social safety net compared to most other developed countries.

Re: Homeless alone

#82

Post by mindslight »

padmanabhan01 wrote: post #47
lowglow wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correct. I had decided what I wanted to do with the time I have.

Aren't you hijacking the topic of homelessness here then? When people say homeless they don't mean someone who is homeless out of choice and can get out of it whenever they want to?

Probably the best thing we can do for homelessness is to not see it as a problem of "others", but as a continuum with a self-sustaining end that anyone could end up at.

Re: Homeless alone

#83

Post by tssva »

refurb wrote: post #66
thesimon wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looks like there are no more state payments and you have to depend on charities, family or friends.

What? No. You go on welfare. And get free healthcare through Medicaid. As much as people outside the US like to think it's some sort of heartless society, the US has a substantial safety net setup.

Getting on welfare and Medicaid is not as simple as you seem to think nor is it quick. Also if you are a male without any kids in most states you are out of luck.

Re: Homeless alone

#84

Post by wutbrodo »

atarian wrote: post #63
lowglow wrote: post #2

I recently sold everything I owned and started living out of my converted dodge caravan while I was prototyping what I wanted to build next. With an eye on my burn rate, I lived as cheaply as possible. I can tell you without a doubt that there is no natural system in place for homeless to get out of that rut, and it looks and feels dehumanizing. I wasn't completely broke but I couldn't keep affording rent as expensiv…

I've been seriously considering living out of a van with basic amenities like a propane stove and solar. I was pretty much set on doing this 100%, but one of my close friends talked me down to like 90%. Do you feel the impact to sleep/well-being is worth the freedom you get to work on your prototype?

In case you're someone who usually sleeps pretty well, I would caution against talking poor quality of sleep too lightly. Forget the impact to your health, it can fuck up pretty much everything about your life, including your productivity (partly negating one of the reasons you'd be doing it in the first place).

Re: Homeless alone

#85

Post by ryanSrich »

thesimon wrote: post #3

Wikipedia says you only get unemployment benefits for 6 months in the US, is that correct? Seems quite harsh.

Depends on a bunch of factors. I've seen people who have reapplied and received it for years. I think the cutoff is 2 years under any circumstances. You have to prove that you're actually looking for a job to continue extending.

Re: Homeless alone

#86

Post by toomuchtodo »

refurb wrote: post #66
thesimon wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looks like there are no more state payments and you have to depend on charities, family or friends.

What? No. You go on welfare. And get free healthcare through Medicaid. As much as people outside the US like to think it's some sort of heartless society, the US has a substantial safety net setup.

> As much as people outside the US like to think it's some sort of heartless society, the US has a substantial safety net setup.

This is not true whatsoever.

Re: Homeless alone

#87

Post by e40 »

lowglow wrote: post #2

I recently sold everything I owned and started living out of my converted dodge caravan while I was prototyping what I wanted to build next. With an eye on my burn rate, I lived as cheaply as possible. I can tell you without a doubt that there is no natural system in place for homeless to get out of that rut, and it looks and feels dehumanizing. I wasn't completely broke but I couldn't keep affording rent as expensiv…

A cautionary tale of what this can lead to:

My brother's startup wasn't bring in much money and there was always the near promise it would. He went through all his savings and retirement funds and went close to $100k into CC debt. This was a swing of +$1m to -$70k. Yes, he had a problem (unacknowledged, btw) that was more dire than yours. Just be aware that this stuff can get out of control, if you let it.

After getting to the -$70k state, he asked me and my parents for money to continue. We all refused because we knew that our money would be like the $1m+ he had already gone through. We told him to get a job. He refused. He couch surfed for a while. After 6+ months doing that he realized, because his family had abandoned him, he would have to get a job. He did ($155k/yr). He started a month ago. He's angry at the family and won't talk with us now. Ironically, he admitted that he wouldn't have the job now, which he needs, if we had given him money last year. However, that doesn't matter. He still maintains he did the right thing and we didn't support him.

It's been a sad year for my parents and me. Actually, sad few years, since we all saw this coming (and tried to prevent it, but he only got angry at us for being "negative").

It was personally hard for me to let him go right to the brink of being on the street. I did it because giving him money would have drained my resources, and for no reason. His reality distortion field was so strong, he would not listen to anyone.

Re: Homeless alone

#88

Post by astazangasta »

fapjacks wrote: post #69
astazangasta wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely not, I agree; I'd just say that "interesting" varies widely with the context. If what you're interested in is running a tech startup, Detroit is less "interesting". There are many, many terms on which San Francisco is less "interesting" than the rest of the country.

Do you lump Ann Arbor in with Detroit? Just curious.

Huh. Never lived in Ann Arbor or Detroit, just visited/had friends and family who lived there. My impression of Ann Arbor is that it's a college town where the population is relatively insulated from the surrounding community, unlike Boston where the colleges are heavily connected to local industry and so on. Everyone I've known from Detroit is an activist of some kind, so I probably have a biased sample set. But based on that I'd say "no", whereas I would definitely lump Cambridge in with Boston or Berkeley/Oakland in with SF.

Re: Homeless alone

#89

Post by marincounty »

aeorgnoieang wrote: post #29
toomuchtodo wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can tell you without a doubt that there is no natural system in place for homeless to get out of that rut What would such a system look like? EDIT: Totally serious question. To build something, you must first architect it.

I'd start by legalizing every form of 'marginal' housing, e.g. boarding houses, micro-apartments. I have no idea where to start if one accepts the current political, legal, and cultural environment as-is. Assuming you did just accept the status quo as a given, I can better appreciate why the idea of 'just giving homeless people housing' is so enticing. [And there is evidence that it works well. I'm skeptical about th…

We need to offer free camping in federal, state, and county parks to citizens? We have a catastrophe that's just going to get worse. It is homelessness.

We need to allow homeless to sleep in their vechicles, if said parking allows overnight parking.

We need to build Kibbutz's. (Or just give them a field to pitch a tent? A outhouse? Anything?

We need to stop making homelessness a crime. Every homeless person I know is camping illegially. They get tickets. They can't pay tickets. Tickets turn into felonies. It's just wrong.

If Jesus appeared, he would be ticketed for a multitude of municipal/criminal violations in a matter of days?

Re: Homeless alone

#90

Post by metasean »

vt240 wrote: post #16
Tharkun wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What happens after that?

At least in Washington State, unemployment payout is almost immediate, within two weeks of losing your job. You can use the time before it runs out to apply for other federal or state assistance programs. These may take longer and have more complex qualifications.

Different states have different time frames and may have conditions on those.

I was laid off a while back. Because I got a severance package comparable to 1.5 months salary, I couldn't get unemployment assistance for 1.5 months plus 4 weeks - even then I had to document that I had applied to a minimum of 3 jobs a week from the day I was laid off.

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