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Homeless alone

homelessalone.blogspot.com

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Re: Homeless alone

#141

Post by Mz »

return0 wrote: post #37
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 never taken up the opportunity of food, shelter, or clothing offered by the city, because frankly I'm doing this on my own accord, so I can't speak to how that part of the system helps people get back on their feet. I think you don't qualify as a homeless. You 're living in a van. There's a reason people prefer homes to a van. I can't fathom what is so pressing that makes you sleep in a van instead of moving t…

I have never heard of a homeless services center that would not count sleeping in a van as homeless.

Re: Homeless alone

#142

Post by Mz »

infinite8s wrote: post #139
Mz wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard for me to understand how someone can get productive work done when they don't have a comfortable, safe place to rest their mind for a few hours. It's called a library.

It's difficult to sleep in a public library (especially if you look homeless).

I think you misunderstood my remark. I don't sleep in the library. I get most of my work done at a library. I am medically handicapped and this substantially interferes with my ability to be productive. But finding a place to work mostly boils down to making sure I have access to a decent public library.

I sleep in a tent. I blog about that.

Re: Homeless alone

#143

Post by infinite8s »

Futurebot wrote: post #113
refurb wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

In California, one of the most generous states with welfare, here's what it looks like for a single person with no children: WORK REQUIREMENT Non-assistance CalFresh recipient over age 17 and under age 50 must satisfy the ABAWD work requirement as a condition of eligibility unless they meet specified exemption criteria or live in an area where the ABAWD work requirement is waived. ABAWDs cannot receive CalFresh (food…

Not only that, in Germany you have universal health care, while in California (or anywhere else in the US) you will be uninsured (you can still be treated in the ER of any hospital, but that's not going to help in preventative situations).

Re: Homeless alone

#144

Post by mgkimsal »

chinathrow wrote: post #73

There is a GoFundMe page set-up for this guy - no idea how legit it is. Can anyone confirm? https://www.gofundme.com/NeilTortorella Edit: He's also on Twitter. https://twitter.com/ntortorella

It's legit. They're working with Neil to get some GFM funds released ASAP. He had a paypal set up , and I donated, but Paypal has frozen his funds for 30 days (nice).

Re: Homeless alone

#145

Post by ars »

chefkoch wrote: post #131
ck2 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And in the USA you might not get any benefits at all, depends how long you worked, if you previously got benefits and how you lost the job (fired vs let go vs quit, etc)

How is it that people don't starve, especially the ones with mental health problems? Or does it happen and just is so accepted it is not worth reporting?

Because food is extremely cheap. It's not good food, but it's food. You can get 2,000 calories for under $4, it doesn't take long to panhandle for $4.

On top of those half of the food available is thrown away, so those who are very motivated go and take it.

And then there are lots of organizations that help people with food, religious organizations mainly but not exclusively.

Basically if someone really needs food and is not picky about it, it's available.

Re: Homeless alone

#146

Post by mgkimsal »

windowshopping wrote: post #57

I find this pretty fascinating. Firstly because I'm overwhelmed with sympathy for this guy, and I stopped to ask why. I live in Chicago and I see the homeless every day, and I know it's a problem and I wish I could fix it but I don't know how, and giving a dollar to every person I pass would actually start to have a hefty toll ($20+/day or more, easily. ) So since moving to the city I made it a blanket rule not to gi…

I don't know Neil well, but he did speak twice at my conference several years ago (2010 and 2012). In 2012, he was walking with a cane, and had had a stroke between those two times I met him. Still in good spirits, but was definitely a little physically slower.

I'm pretty sure there's more to the back story that led up to this, and I've encouraged him to write more about this at some point when he's more stable. If I were to guess, based on the few points he's made in writing, there's some family rift going on, and I might also presume that he may have been paying for things for his mother that might have otherwise gone in to savings.

He's been through a divorce, which can certainly have a financial toll on anyone, and I think it was a bit later in life, which may be harder to recover from.

A late divorce, some health problems, trying to support a family member - all of that may quickly deplete someone's funds.

As to the homeless part, I think there's a certain pride involved, and asking for help may be embarrassing, especially to have to involve friends. It may be that many of his local friends would be tied to his mother/family, and may not be as supportive as one might hope.

I sent money to paypal, but it's frozen, and I'm wondering if I can reverse it and senf via GFM and he'll get access faster. Hrmmm....

Re: Homeless alone

#147

Post by sedachv »

e40 wrote: post #87
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 gett…

> This was a swing of +$1m to -$70k.

The crazy thing is that at a 3% withdrawal rate $1m would have been $30k a year for personal expenses for the rest of your brother's life.

Re: Homeless alone

#148

Post by Mz »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #4
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 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.

You would need to provide services that were as middle class as possible and help them find real solutions to their specific problems.

I do blog a bit in hopes of helping other homeless people find viable solutions and bootstrap themselves. http://sandiegohomelesssurvivalguide.blogspot.com/

I have a second blog with very little content where I try to talk about What Helps The Homeless: http://whathelpsthehomeless.blogspot.com/

A far, far better approach is to work on a) providing more senior and student housing -- aka affordable housing, but aimed at single people and childless couples and not marketed as "affordable" because that means "Built for poor people!" and that is always a terrible idea b) promoting walkable communities and c) helping people who can't fit a "regular" job to find a means to support themselves with some kind of paid work (freelance, part time, whatever).

Homeless people are just people. Once they get off the street, they are again simply referred to as people. You wind up homeless when your problems outrun your ability to cope. The difference between a homeless person and person in housing can be as little as one more problem or one less resource. Some particular thread snaps, it all comes unraveled. Trying to reverse that after the fact is a lot harder than trying to prevent it from happening to begin with (aka "A stitch in time saves nine").

But most people don't really want to hear that. Building more affordable housing (or otherwise trying to make society work better for ordinary people) doesn't feel heroic enough. It doesn't have the same rush of adrenaline of talking about getting people off the street after their lives have gone to hell.

Re: Homeless alone

#149

Post by sushid »

homero wrote: post #59
beachstartup wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how can you devote 100% of yourself (or as much as is possible) to something when so much of your cognitive resources are devoted to surviving day to day? are you sure you've thought this through?

Hacker squats are getting more popular and are extremely important. All I need is $5/month for digital ocean. No other bills is freeing. While the Facebook slaves think their $100k salary is a lot but go into debt with $7000/month condos.

This is a highly absurd comment. No one I know is paying anything more than $3000/month and they all make well over $100k as software developers.

I love how when people come up with these numbers they cite salary-only/pre-negotiation/entry-level income and then they compare this to a small-family sized rent expense to justify your "typical" SV absurdity.

The fact is, many people make well over that with stock options, raises, etc. And even while making that money, lots of my friends in their mid-20s opt to live with multiple roommates and flex their living rooms to reduce their rent cost further.

Re: Homeless alone

#150

Post by refurb »

infinite8s wrote: post #143
Futurebot wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In California, one of the most generous states with welfare, here's what it looks like for a single person with no children: WORK REQUIREMENT Non-assistance CalFresh recipient over age 17 and under age 50 must satisfy the ABAWD work requirement as a condition of eligibility unless they meet specified exemption criteria or live in an area where the ABAWD work requirement is waived. ABAWDs cannot receive CalFresh (food…

Not only that, in Germany you have universal health care, while in California (or anywhere else in the US) you will be uninsured (you can still be treated in the ER of any hospital, but that's not going to help in preventative situations).

Uh.... no.

Read my original post. Medicaid is available to low income individuals. In fact, it was expanded (in most states) up to ~175% of the federal poverty level. You can get it even when you have a job!

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