I have a cousin that opted to become a 'nomad' at 18y of age and has lived that life style for almost 6 years now. Just travels from place to place with nothing but small duffle bag and a dog he found about 3 years ago, named him Dumpy (found near a dumpster). Great dog. They would come visit when traveling through. His parents are both MD's and he is welcome there anytime (visiting or permanent), so it is a choice he made. Unfort. he was involved in some altercation that involved the police and Dumpy was shot and my cousin now can't leave the state of NC for a year as a result of whatever happened.

Honestly I have such mixed emotions anyway you look at it

What miffs me is that we have homeless in this country at all... we give millions to other countries, but refuse to help our own.

Many of the homeless in this country are mentally ill persons unable to get help.. hospitals have a "treat 'm and street 'm" attitude that does nothing for their welfare. I saw a lot of this when I interned at the state mental hospital. They give a Schizophrenic 3 days worth of meds and turn him out on the street knowing full well he didn't have a home. It's sickening, and enough to make you cry most days.

I agree that the dog was probably a stray, and hooked up with this person. They fulfilled a need in each other, and who are we to judge?

--Kelly (climbing off my soap box now....)

 Quote: Kelly At Leerburg

.... Many of the homeless in this country are mentally ill persons unable to get help..

That's for sure.

Where I live, it's kind of a mecca for homeless people because of the relatively mild weather, but also because the city I live in has homeless services to an extent that many cities do not. Anyway, I'm just explaining that there are thousands of homeless people in the smallish county where I live.

Volunteering for any arm of these services (from shelters to soup kitchens to referral services to clothing and shoe drives and on and on) makes it all too clear that the number of homeless people who actually choose to be homeless or even who prefer homelessness, no matter how it happened, to working for a living and having a home --- that percentage of the homeless population is small enough that I personally don't consider it to be the most significant piece of the problem.

One's POV after doing food pantries or working in a family shelter can undergo a radical shift from what it may have been after volunteering at a shelter catering more to addicted/alcoholic folks.

There's a family shelter a few blocks away that gives homeless families a private apartment and meals and requires that the adult(s) actively look for work, in which they are helped by the shelter staff, and requires that a percentage of their earnings be set aside for the purpose of more permanent housing and requires that no one in the family does drugs or drinks .... this is a pretty big shelter, and it has an over-88% success rate (rating success as the family acquiring income and their own place to live outside the shelter within six months) and a waiting list a block long.

There's a huge other side to homelessness besides in-your-face panhandlers lounging downtown all day and then using the collected change for alcohol or drugs.

A whole lot of people are one illness or one injury accident or one layoff away from homelessness.

Imagine trying to send resumes, set up interviews, dress nicely and be well-groomed for the interviews .... imagine that with no home, and maybe even with hungry kids.

And add to these families the mentally impaired homeless ... what are the chances of someone who was released from a state asylum in that huge wave starting in the 60s and reaching huge numbers in the 80s (no matter how hideous conditions were in many state institutions and no matter whether or not advantages of local community support of mentally ill persons were oversold, the result was that many thousands of previous asylum patients were released to the street with prescriptions) .... what are the chances of successful job searches for these people? Finding a job with the same challenges of no contact information for an application, no telephone, no reliable way to be appropriately clothed or groomed ... and with a mental illness that, if it's being managed, may be a full-time job to apply for that help, to report to those appointments, to get around the city from clinic to mental health services centers to shelters to food pantries .....

What miffs me is that we have homeless in this country at all... we give millions to other countries, but refuse to help our own.

--Kelly

DITTO!

I volunteered for a local homeless shelter for a couple of years after college. Honestly, the experience jaded me more often than inspired. One thing that most folks had in common was a feeling that they wouldn't stay that way. Almost all of them who didn't have major mental illnesses had a "one day, I'll..." scenario that gave them hope.

But most couldn't stay sober. And not just alcohol, some had hundred+ dollar a day drug habits. As much as I felt for their situation, if they could come up with even twenty extra bucks a day, they could have shelter! One of the worst drunks was just a mean, vile, profane and filthy man who was hospitalized for some sort of cyst or leg infection that was amputation-dangerous. He had to detox while they tried to save his leg, and when he came back to the shelter after weeks of sobriety, he wasn't even the same man. Not just cleaned and shaven; he didn't even have the same speaking voice. His gravely yell and cracked face had softened, and he was quite eloquent. I had a lot more hope after that. Later that summer, I was walking downtown and saw him sitting in a stoop and said "Hey, Tom, is that you?" He screamed back in the old voice, "What the f* are you looking at!?!" I wanted to cry.

I agree we send lots of aid overseas that is direly needed here. I just wonder what type "program" we could even create with a decent batting average that could help people who (even when forced to clean up) can't keep booze and drugs from destroying them. And then there are the crazies. I met a percentage who just fell upon bad fortune and had no family or friends to help them out. And lots of those turned into addicts just by being on the streets and trying to cope. I really don't begin to know the answer, but did take away from that experience to take the time to buy a beggar a meal rather than giving a penny that will go to booze/drugs more often than not.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

A whole lot of people are one illness or one injury accident or one layoff away from homelessness.

I really think reality is most people in this country unless they're very fortunate or wealthy are in this boat. My neighbor had his loan called last January. For those not in the know that's when the bank just says you have X number of months to pay the balance in full, no matter how good your payment history is, what your credit score is, whatever. Last week he got the last of his stuff out into storage and he is essentially homeless with his wife, his two kids and a little dog. So now about 50% of the homes in this development are unoccupied and about 33% are bank owned.

So I guess how many missing checks would it take for your family to be homeless? I was given my last check today by my employer, I was told my last day would be Friday but he decided to move things up. I'm a lucky person in that I'm on good terms with my landlord and would likely will have several months to get a job. So at least in the immediate future I'm alright.

 Quote:

Many of the homeless in this country are mentally ill persons unable to get help.. hospitals have a "treat 'm and street 'm" attitude that does nothing for their welfare.

Unfortuately we also have someone in the family like this,happens to be the son of the previous person I was talking about. He goes to the hospital when he wants smokes; they put him on his meds; he feels better, leaves and then goes off his meds. He was even beat up one time. Right now I think he's living on the street in Chicago. He's had his share of pets that he "found". He gets SSI, only 24 years old. As part of my job I do home visits and it's funny how people feel they are entitled to have a pet even though they are living on welfare. Have smokes and liquor but no dog food. I'm sorry I don't think money should come out of my check to pay for their luxury items. I'm not talking about temporary TANF receivers. Welfare is suupposed to be temorary. Everyone needs help once and awhile. I'm talking about chronic welfare abusers. As far as homeless people and pets. If they meet up and serve each others needs it's just a sad situation. I long for a country that can provide homes and /or help to them both. Yikes I guess I need to step down off the box now myself.

I'm not capable of discussing the problems of the homeless and "welfare abuse" without putting on my Che t-shirt, So I won't even go there.

I will suggest that anyone interested in these topics read Nickeled and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich. I would also suggest watching Elizabeth Warrens lecture on the two income trap to see how close you may actually be to these issues yourself. Someone titled it on YouTube "The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class", search and ye shall find.

The photo is really sad and sweet.

If I'd gotten PTSD from anything else, I'd be screwed right now.

The end.

Lauren..I'm watching that now...it's very good!!!!!!