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I Used to Be Homeless

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Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#141

Post by ameister14 »

nyghtly wrote: post #71
wjossey wrote: post #25

I live in Central LA (near LACMA / La Brea Tar Pits), and share my neighborhood with dozens of homeless. Most of the homeless in my area are what I would deem "regulars", as they tend to sleep / hang out in the same spots day in and day out. I can't tell you how they landed in the situation they are in, but I can safely say that 9/10 appear (and I'm not a doctor, so I can't obviously say for certain) to have at minim…

Homelessness != Substance Use Disorder Moreover, why does treatment have to come at the expense of self-determination? The reality is that people want to receive treatment--if they don't, it is because they encounter a barrier to treatment. Barriers to treatment include: lack of treatment facilities (hospitals do not count), poor quality of existing treatment facilities, unwillingness of treatment facilities to take…

>The reality is that people want to receive treatment--if they don't, it is because they encounter a barrier to treatment.

It sounds like you don't know many people with Schizophrenia.

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#142

Post by kazen44 »

munificent wrote: post #69
tarboreus wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd read a little about the problems caused by involuntary commitment. Even a novel like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman or Woman on the Edge of Time might give you a different perspective. I understand where you're coming from, but making it possible for people to get others committed against their will has historically not worked out.

Yes, institutionalization has many problems too, which is one of the things that led to a dramatic increase in homeless populations in the US[1] when many asylums were closed. But throwing mentally ill or addicted people on the street isn't a solution either. There needs to be some more complex system that avoids the ills of both of those. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinstitutionalisation

i don't know how this works in the US, but in the netherlands we have an extensive system of mental healthcare (financed through the public healthcare system). This system goes from crib to coffin as far as age brackets go, and is integrated with each other.

This system seems to work quite well because it has a lot of different methods of dealing with issues people have. Some people live in semi-independant communal homes and function normally in society, while other are being put in a closed enviroment ("gesloten inrichting").

Most people with mental health issues seem to be able to live relatively normal lives, although they need (some) support from the outside and society in general.

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#143

Post by nradov »

ska wrote: post #124
nradov wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's nothing dishonest about omitting irrelevant qualifications and experience from a job application.

Sure. But if you are asked directly you may not feel comfortable lying about it.

I can't imagine that the McDonald's manager is going to ask whether you have as Master's degree but just didn't write it down.

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#144

Post by scrumbledober »

wolfgang42 wrote: post #49
dumbfoundded wrote: post #37

In San Francisco, nearly $40K is spent per homeless person. How much money do we need to spend and how should we spend it?

Measuring "dollars per homeless person" is, IMO, worse than useless. The problem is that the better you do the job, the worse the number looks. If you manage to house all but 1 person, suddenly it rockets into millions of dollars per remaining homeless person!

measuring dollars per homeless person is useless, you're right. SF isn't spending money on people who are homeless, they're spending money to prevent the number of homeless from rising. If suddenly all 7000 homeless people left san francisco they would still need to spend money on the system to keep others from falling into homelessness

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#145

Post by milesvp »

This article reminded me of a childhood experience of mine. At some point when I was in high school my dad brought home a homeless man to live in our house. At first it seemed weird, but I understood that we were in a position to help so I got over the feeling that our family was different for helping someone from the street. Then it started to feel weird that this guy completely bunkered down in his room. The few times I was able to peer through his door, it totally looked like a horder’s nest. He kept all kinds of things that seemed of little value and layed on top of it all. And there was definitely a stink of body odor that wafted out whenever the door opened. Mostly he stayed in his room and watched TV day and night. Which made sense, he was on disability for back issues, so eventually I got over the weirdness that someone would choose to lock himself and in his room 24/7.

At some point though, after several years of this he seemed to really be getting better. He was always friendly, and he’d smile and say a few words if I saw him, but he seemed to be getting genuinely happier and psychologically better. The smell in the room started to subside, I think my folks had a talk with him about showering as terms of staying at one point, but it was still a steady increase. And he seemed to be getting out more and more, and I was more likely to see him outside than just in the hall.

I say all this, because it somehow feels pertinent in this forum. It’s also not something you hear a lot. There is a real healing that can often only be possible with long term stability. I often wonder how I’d cope if I was homeless, who I’d turn to. I’m not sure I have as many multi year options as I’d like. I also wonder if I’d be able to tolerate someone living in my house for as long as my folks did.

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#146

Post by hnal943 »

ravenstine wrote: post #42
ghostbrainalpha wrote: post #5

This man escaped homelessness by winning $50,000 on Wheel Of Fortune. It seems like he might have an even more interesting story to tell than what's in this article.

I wonder where he is now, though? $50k these days will only get a person so far.

If you are still homeless after getting an $50,000 pay day, your problem is not lack of money.

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#147

Post by kazen44 »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #23
yters wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It could be both/and instead of either/or. The other angle is we as a society have given up on personal responsibility for each other (i.e. lack of social safety net), and instead look for help from big government, which is notoriously inefficient, corruption prone and scammable.

Government is the framework through which we help each other. My tax money goes in, social services should come out. I will not comment on the unfounded generalization ("notoriously inefficient, corruption prone and scammable"). Government is not perfect, but it is not what you describe.

I would like to ask the parent comment if he thinks there is a more efficient way of managing society and all it's people.

Actually, lets start with defining what "efficient" actually means in this context? That the goverment spends little money? That it is able to do it's duties effectively?

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#148

Post by ameister14 »

mijamo wrote: post #14
yters wrote: post #3

I wonder if the high minimum wage makes it harder to employ people who tend to be homeless. I ask because I see many young people homeless these days, and it isn't clear why they are homeless.

The US has more holess problem than all the other developed countries yet has a very low minimum wage. So I would say no.

That's not true. The rate of homelessness is higher in France, Sweden, Luxembourg, New Zealand, the UK, etc.

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#149

Post by alistairSH »

manfredo wrote: post #100
alistairSH wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are those numbers correct? If so, that's insane. For $77k/year, SF should be able to house every single one of them with money to spare.

The latest tax increased it from 30k to about 60-70k. As to why it's doing so little, there's a variety of explanations. Some say that homeless often have mental or drug abuse issues that keep them from being able to live on their own. Others (including the mayor) say that the money is more than enough, and we need more accountability of what we already spend. 70k is about the median wage of a single person in SF.

Even losing half the bureaucracy, that leaves 35k/year for actual aid. Toss half of that at misc care and other programs. 17.5/year left for housing. Not much, but should still be enough for group home type arrangements. Or, at least I would hope so.

I've never been involved in these programs on either side, but it's amazing that $70k/year might not be enough to house somebody.

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#150

Post by kazen44 »

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #94
josh_p wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean by "high minimum wage"? Federal minimum wage in the United States is still $7.25 which is not enough for someone to live on, especially in a high cost of living area. I don't understand. https://www.minimum-wage.org/federal

>What do you mean by "high minimum wage"? Federal minimum wage in the United States is still $7.25 which is not enough for someone to live on, especially in a high cost of living area. I don't understand. He/she means "higher than the federal minimum". Homelessness problems seem to loosely correlate with cities and states that have higher minimum wage (edit: so do many other things and homelessness problems might act…

this has more to do with the fact that cities are far more favourable for homeless people to live.
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